Sally Jewell: the Right Choice for Outdoor Recreation in Wyoming
This opinion piece by NOLS Executive Director John Gans was first published in the Casper Star Tribune in Wyoming April 15.
One week ago, The United States Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Sally Jewell as the next secretary of interior. At the helm of the federal department that encompasses the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and other agencies responsible for stewardship of our public lands and waters, she will have a positive impact on Wyoming’s outdoor recreation economy, while being mindful of our energy portfolio.
Jewell’s resume demonstrates the balance sought when managing diverse interests on federal lands. She spent her early career as a petroleum engineer, and evolved to become the chief executive of outdoor retailer giant REI. Through her experience, Jewell understands that our nation’s public lands directly support the economy, both through responsible energy development and through access to recreational opportunities.
In Wyoming, we know that having a robust energy portfolio does not require sacrificing our inspiring landscapes. Careful planning and local input ensure that we can have both. The success of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act is an excellent example of our state’s ability to achieve that balance. With the focus on activities in the outdoors that Jewell would bring to the Department of Interior, Wyoming’s record of success can be a model for the nation.
Outdoor recreation is already a significant economic driver in our state. It generates $4.5 billion in consumer spending and $300 million in state and local tax revenue (based on a report by the Outdoor Industry Association based on surveys taken in 2011 and 2012). It directly sustains 50,000 jobs in the state, and supports $1.4 billion in wages and salaries. Towns like Cody, Lander, and Jackson are heavily dependent on the outdoor recreation economy.
Indeed, most of us live here for the outdoor opportunities available. Whether hiking, climbing, horsepacking, four-wheeling, biking, fishing, hunting, birding or myriad other activities, we hold dear our access to public lands and the opportunities they provide. Jewell, too, thrives outside, and is an avid skier, kayaker and mountaineer.
Jewell’s values are reflected in her advocacy. In her time at REI, she was closely involved in efforts to promote opportunities on public lands. She engaged in the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, which fostered a national conversation on connecting people with the outdoors, providing access opportunities, and seeking out partnerships. Through her close association with the initiative, she gained a solid understanding of the ongoing priorities for the Department of Interior.
At the National Outdoor Leadership School, we are keenly aware of the value gained from having someone with an understanding of the significance and the benefits of recreation on public lands as the secretary of interior. From national parks to the Bureau of Land Management, NOLS operates extensively on Department of Interior lands across Wyoming and the American West. Teaching in these unique landscapes provides immeasurable opportunities for our students to develop as skilled outdoors people and mature into positive ethical leaders who understand complex land use issues.
With this new face of leadership at the Department of Interior, we have high hopes that our priorities in this state will be reflected in the management of the BLM and the national parks. Getting young people into the outdoors, making public lands accessible to outdoor enthusiasts, and supporting the economy that continues to thrive on these values need to be priorities as we progress in the 21st century.
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Apr 17, 2013 in the following categories: Alumni, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Leadership, On The Net
NOLS SW SOE: Digging for Bighorns
Howdy from NOLS Southwest! Staff members recently joined a Southwest Outdoor Educator (SOE) course for volunteer work. Since I did not attend due to sushi plate complications, Kathryn Sall represented interns at this event. Luckily between splitting wood and cleaning groovers after her adventure, she was able to give a quick interview. Here's how it went:
Welcome back, Kathryn! Do you mind telling me a little about where you have been the past couple of days?
Hi, Sarah. Thanks for having me on. Great to be here. What would you like to know?
What was the purpose of your volunteer project?
Protecting the Bighorn sheep is one of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's objectives in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. A while ago, a dam was built to create a watering tank for the sheep. The dam created a pool that filled with gravel over years, which prohibited access to drinkable water. Also, the dam was seeping and needed to be patched.
NOLS Southwest staff and SOE students met in the Kofa for the service project, which involved digging gravel so water could collect in the dam again; a fair amount had accumulated. The last time the gravel had been cleared was 1985! We also laid out .7 miles of hose from the road head to the dam to refill the tank.
Tell me a little about Bighorn sheep in the Kofa.
A decade ago there were about 800 Bighorn sheep in the Kofa. Over the course of two or three years, the population shrank to less than half of that for no clear reason. However, during the past few years there has been a steady incline in population. It now hovers over 400. The current SOE has seen one Bighorn sheep on their course and they are hoping to see more!
Sounds like a worthy cause, Kathryn. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to talk to me about this.
You're most welcome. Check out these pictures from the trip!
SOE students enjoy a campfire with representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the night before the volunteer project. This offered good eats, many laughs, and learning about the purpose of this project - protecting a water source for the Bighorn sheep in the Kofa.
SOE students help carry a fire hose up to the base of the dam, which will help provide water for Bighorn sheep during desert droughts.
In-town staff Sydney Hartsock and Kathyrn Sall shovel gravel as instructor Andy Altepeter collects the stones and passes them to students to assist in emptying the tank.
Permalink | Posted by Sarah Murphy on Jan 29, 2013 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Leadership, Southwest
Lizann Peyton: Donor Inspired by Her Daughters
If there is one thing that we love to hear from our graduates or their parents, it’s that they continue to be leaders and positive motivators in their communities after their NOLS education. NOLS parent and NOLS Annual Fund supporter Lizann Peyton, a non-profit consultant, remains inspired by the strength and outgoing nature of her daughters, Natalie and Emily Clark, both NOLS alumni.
She continues giving to NOLS because of the overall calm-confidence she has witnessed in her daughters.
The girls have grown even more confident in traveling abroad and their ability to navigate peers calmly through fatigue and conflict. Lizann has seen her daughters encourage others to get out and explore.
“I wanted to be able to provide this experience to someone that may not be able to afford it otherwise,” Lizann explained.
Lizann and her two daughters, Emily and Natalie, hiking in the White Mountains.
Emily and Natalie have used the desire for challenge and adventure gained at NOLS to pursue worldly educations, further leadership opportunities and the confidence to share the wilderness experience with others.
At the age of 16 after returning from her first NOLS course, Alaska Backpacking, Emily took it upon herself to encourage and teach her family to backpack the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She continues to pursue leadership positions, most recently forming an outdoors club in her International Relations graduate program in Bologna, Italy.
Natalie will soon be studying abroad in Copenhaagen, pursuing an education in sustainable architecture. While her daughters are out exploring the world, Lizann has begun to host through hikers attempting the Appalachian Trail. She enjoys listening to the inspirational stories of adventurers, and much like those that resonate from her daughters, these stories have transferred into her overall approach to life. Families like these—those that motivate each other to get out and test their strength and good will—are just what makes the NOLS community so uniquely inspiring.
Campaign NOLS: Endowing Our Core Values challenges NOLS to raise $20 million by the end of 2013, ensuring long-term stability for the school so that we can continue to support scholarships and other essential programs. To learn more, visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-332-4280.
Written by Meredith Hardwick, NOLS Alumni Intern
Permalink | Posted by Larkin Flora on Jan 10, 2013 in the following categories: Alumni, Campaign NOLS, Leadership
Campaign NOLS: Explaining Our Core Values, Part 2
NOLS’ core values are at the heart of our institution. Leadership, community, safety, excellence, wilderness, and education inspire everything we do. We share a commitment to these values; they define and direct who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
NOLS is an international community composed of talented individuals who care deeply about what they do. We value diversity, integrity, and personal responsibility while recognizing that our strength lies in teamwork and commitment to our mission and each other. We appreciate creativity, individuality, and passion among our staff and as an institution. We take our jobs seriously and pursue our mission with enthusiasm, and we cherish our sense of humor and our ability to laugh at ourselves.
Sadie Sarvis (left) and coursemate enjoy the pictographs in Desolation Canyon during their river section.
Sadie Sarvis on Community
My NOLS experience was truly life changing. I learned how to make my voice heard, deliver constructive feedback, embrace hardship and the unknown, be intentional, and live minimally. I learned to appreciate each moment; that the past and future are only thieves of today. I hold all that I learned close to tackle the next adventure.
I found NOLS through a guidance counselor at my high school in Portland, Maine and decided on a semester course because I wasn’t as engaged in my coursework at high school as I might’ve liked. Life is too short and wonderful to spend time doing something you’re not excited about; there are too many amazing things to experience!
My course taught me the value and power of community. Everyone tried to be fair-minded, open, compassionate, respectful, and helpful. We worked hard at effective communication and conflict management, which paid off incredibly well. I will never forget the power of expressing even the smallest frustration to maintain a healthy relationship. By the end of our course, we completed tasks efficiently and relied on each other for support.
Sadie and coursmates pose in front of NOLS headquarters in Lander, WY after graduation.
In the backcountry you can’t let things “brew.” Although this is common in the frontcountry, it is not healthy or productive. Since my course, I am more aware of myself as a function of the whole community of my school, workplace, and teams. I understand that when everyone is decent and respectful, we can accomplish more.
I think everyone should experience outdoor education. One of the hardest parts of the course was raising enough money to be able to participate, and I could not have done my NOLS course without a scholarship. I have never seen myself, or anyone else, grow in leadership skills, competence, self-awareness, judgment and decision-making, risk management, and expedition behavior in such a short time. Everyone deserves to experience that.
Sadie Sarvis is a 2011 Semester in the Rockies graduate and scholarship recipient.
To donate or learn more about Campaign NOLS: Endowing Our Core Values visit giving.nols.edu.
Permalink | Posted by Larkin Flora on Dec 3, 2012 in the following categories: Alumni, Campaign NOLS, Curriculum, Leadership, Rocky Mountain
Sharing the Joy of Wilderness Classrooms- The Trina and Jess Peterson Endowed Scholarship
After graduating from high school in 1982, Trina Peterson set out to take on the Wind River Wilderness course, an experience that has been an inspiration to her since that time. As an alumna, Trina continues to incorporate aspects of her wilderness course into a lifelong commitment to the NOLS core values and community.
Trina and Jess Peterson near their home in Colorado.
The Trina and Jess Peterson Endowed Scholarship will honorably give future students the opportunity to receive the gift of learning about leadership and the environment, as well as a sense for self-empowerment through an awarded scholarship.
“It wasn’t even that Jess and I were inspired. More like compelled,” Trina explained.
“We figured that among the recipients of the scholarship, there would be a healthy number whose life course would be altered by their NOLS experience and who would, in turn, spread the word about the power and importance of wild places. The benefits of wise judgment and the pure joy of learning skills and gaining confidence while traveling through amazing landscapes.”
Trina and Jess share their passion for the outdoors with their two children, son Soren and daughter Tessa.
Trina is as enthusiastic about her NOLS experience today as she was thirty years ago, when she could be found sporting her wind pants, hiking books and hydration systems around her hometown of Cambridge, MA. Giving to NOLS came as naturally to her as her passion for leadership and the grand classroom of the wilderness.
With a community of alumni as supportive and generous as Trina and Jess Peterson, NOLS will continue to inspire a growing audience of students.
Read more about the NOLS Scholarship Program here. To learn more about giving to Campaign NOLS: Endowing Our Core Values or creating an endowed scholarships visit NOLS Giving or contact us at (800) 332-4280 or development@nols.edu.
Written by Meredith Hardwick, NOLS Alumni Intern.
Permalink | Posted by Larkin Flora on Nov 1, 2012 in the following categories: Alumni, Campaign NOLS, Leadership
Linda Lindsey named to Governor's Council
Linda Lindsey, NOLS human resources and inclusion director, has been named to the Wyoming Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
She was nominated for the three-year seat by a fellow member of Leadership Wyoming.
The council’s mission is to “promote, educate, encourage and provide opportunities for all citizens of Wyoming to help them achieve overall well-being through physical activities and health awareness,” a mission Lindsey said her beliefs alight with strongly. Previously a nurse, she is familiar with the dangers of obesity and inactivity. On the other hand, working for NOLS, she gets to witness the value of NOLS students being active in the outdoors.
Lindsey is looking forward to learning about all the ways the council affects change and bringing her experience and interest to the table. She is particularly interested in reaching the various segments of Wyoming’s population. We'll keep you updated on what she accomplishes on this council over the next three years.
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Oct 10, 2012 in the following categories: In The News, Leadership
Notes from the Field: Summitting or not, the work doesn’t stop
The last time we heard from Phil Henderson on this blog, he had returned to Everest base camp with a bad chest cold. He was unable to heal quickly due to the elevation, so he descended and took over the team’s communication.
There was about 10
days before our next rotation on the mountain, which would be our summit push.
I didn’t have time to get better. I ended up taking some antibiotics in base
camp and it still was about 12 days before I was back to 95 percent.
It’s easy to go, ‘Oh, I’m sick, I’m just getting out of here,’ but the rest of the team still needed support. We needed to get things out to sponsors, things out to National Geographic, and a lot of logistical things. That’s what I do here in my job at NOLS every day. It was a natural fit, and I wanted to continue to support the team that way.
It was awesome. It was great. It was a success. There had been so much up and down prior to that; every member of the expedition had gotten sick at some point, or sprained an ankle … Things weren’t looking good at one point. The weather wasn’t cooperating.
When it was all said and done, five of eight climbers ended up summitting, and that was pretty successful. For me personally, it was a disappointment, but I have no regrets in terms of not going on that summit push.
Once everybody came down, we had to break down base camp, as well. There were the logistics of getting out, which I was doing while the team was making the summit push. With there being so few summit windows, everyone on the mountain went at the same time and left base camp at the same time. All the climbers wanted to fly out at the same time. But planes were grounded because of the weather.
Phil managed flights, luggage, and expensive cameras and gear over the next nine days before being the last to leave Kathmandu and return home. Over those nine days, he visited the Everest Days festival in Namche, witnessed the first annual Outdoor Festival in Kathmandu, and interacted with “the broader community, in terms of outdoor industry, in that part of the world.”
“It was a good ending to a good expedition,” he concluded.
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Aug 29, 2012 in the following categories: In The News, Instructor News, Leadership, Rocky Mountain
Campaign NOLS: Explaining Our Core Values, Part 1
NOLS’ core values are at the heart of our institution. Leadership, community, safety, excellence, wilderness, and education inspire everything we do. We share a commitment to these values; they define and direct who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
We believe that leadership is a skill that can be learned and that our alumni come away from their courses with the experience to lead with integrity, accountability, and humility.
Sydney Hartsell leading her coursmates up an ascent to Goat Flats
Sydney Hartsell on Leadership
NOLS generates real leaders for today’s world: active and concerned citizens who are not only adept in the backcountry, but also conscious of the size of their footprint, can collaborate effectively with others, and exemplify strong leadership, passion, and self-responsibility.
I grew up in Salt Lake City and received a Morehead-Cain Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which allowed me to take a NOLS Rocky Mountain course the summer before heading to college. I already loved backpacking, but wanted to learn technical skills, challenge myself, and become a better leader.
In high school, my leadership roles were on sports teams and were largely gained via seniority. I was the second youngest on my course and one of only three females. However, NOLS taught me that to be a leader you don’t have to be the biggest or the oldest—the right attitude and skills are what matter.
Sydney and fellow scholarship recipient Justin Van Der Horn on the summit of Flagstone Peak
NOLS helped me develop the self-confidence to assume leadership roles at a large university, even as an underclassman. I made it a point to encourage active followership and peer leadership among fellow students. I felt comfortable making decisions myself, but tried to facilitate group consultation and delegate tasks in order to cultivate leadership abilities in my younger mentees, similar to how our NOLS instructors prepared us for independent backcountry travel.
I am 22 years old, just graduated from college, and I give what I can to Campaign NOLS because “thank you” doesn’t begin to cover how grateful I am to the Morehead-Cain for enabling me to take a NOLS course. I would not be the person I am today without this experience, and helping another student have the same opportunity is the least I can do to show my gratitude. NOLS empowered and changed my life; it can certainly do the same for many future students.
To my fellow NOLS graduates: remember those leadership principles your instructor once wrote on the sleeping pad whiteboard? “Model the way” and give what you can to Campaign NOLS.
Sydney Hartsell is a 2008 Wind River Mountaineering graduate, scholarship recipient, and donor.
Donate now to support Campaign NOLS
Permalink | Posted by Larkin Flora on Jul 16, 2012 in the following categories: Alumni, Campaign NOLS, Leadership
ABC 6/27 Hike resupply 15/July/12
Paul, the primary NOLS Australia driver, has this past weekend headed into the King Leopolds to resupply both the ABC 6/27 and SAS 6/8 courses. The Australian backpacking course received their 2nd of 3 food resupplies. All appear happy, enjoying the adventure, supporting each other and at one with the Australian outback!
The group sent out a story update on their travels for the blog... here are their words.
"This past week we passed from the Adcock River area into the Lady Forrest Region. We welcomed the relief of a lighter ration of 6 days of food, four less than our last ration of 10. Our first instructor-free day of hiking was a success as both groups arrived at the designated campsite unscathed and well before sunset.
The next day, we undertook a solo, which consists of 12 hours spent in reflection solitude following a collective vow of silence. We took the opportunity to consider our group and personal goals in the context of their relevance to life after NOLS. After the much-anticipated reunion we cooked a hearty meal with our leftover ration with a newfound appreciation for the gift of conversation.
The climax of our week, however, came two days earlier when we made our way through a swim thru canyon gauntlet. This entailed extensive waterproofing, floating backpacks, clambering up waterfalls and of course a flair for the unknown and adventure. Despite a night spent
in wet sleeping bags, we are all glad to have had the experience and agree we have enough college essay material to last a lifetime!"
Permalink | Posted by Cassandra Colman on Jul 15, 2012 in the following categories: Alumni, Australia, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Leadership
Gans named Champion of Change by the White House
Here at NOLS Headquarters, we all know and love John Gans, NOLS executive director for the past 16 years. He is the sort of leader who remembers the interns’ names and every staff member’s latest venture. He brings a passion to what we do at NOLS every day when he walks through the door. We’ve long known he’s a hero who leads our effort in changing the world for the better.
We were joined in our belief by the White House this week. Gans was named a Champion of Change, selected as one of 11 from over 1,500 nominees to be recognized this week.
“This group was chosen because they embody the spirit and mission of the Champions of Change program—to recognize ordinary Americans across the country who are doing extraordinary things in their communities,” a statement from the White House Champions of Change program said.
John’s nomination letter documented the extraordinary difference he has made here at NOLS, as well as the difference NOLS has been able to make thanks to him:
John [has] championed significant change during his tenure, shifting the focus of the school from purely a wilderness education school to a leadership school, and furthering the concepts of environmental stewardship that made NOLS the pioneering developer of the Leave No Trace curriculum. So now, not only are we reconnecting youth with the great outdoors, teaching them environmental ethics through our Leave No Trace curriculum and a simpler lifestyle, teaching them active outdoor skills, and engaging them on topics such as natural history, biology, and other sciences, but most importantly, we are formally teaching students how to be leaders.
You can read John’s biography and blog on the White House website now.
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Jul 10, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Leadership, On The Net
