Natural Herstory

Kristie Thompson looks and sounds the same to me today as she did when I first met her a decade ago. Maybe that is what happens when you work at a job you love; one in which you get to support 2.4 million acres of some of the wildest lands in the lower 48 states. Kristie serves as the Public Affairs Officer for Shoshone National Forest, and in that role she often interacts with the public, educating people on the incredible value of preserving and maintaining wild spaces in today's busy world.

In this episode, Kathy's guest is Susan Ahalt, director of Ironside Bird Rescue, a wild bird and animal rescue and recuperation facility located near Cody, Wyoming. Susan's efforts to single-handedly run Ironside since the 1980's have been heroic and it is almost impossible to count the lives she has saved over the decades she has lived and worked among the wildlife she cares about so deeply.

In this episode I talk with Christy Fleming, Chief of Interpretation at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, about her work and why it means so much to her. We share our impressions of this land, how it draws people in and seems to find a permanent place in the soul that entices visitors to return over and over again. There is a sense of history in the canyon that affects me as few places have. I feel like I am walking beside ghosts from long ago whenever I take time to explore its remarkable landscape. 

In this episode, Kathy talks with Dr. Mary Keller, researcher, teacher and lecturer in religious studies at the University of Wyoming about our place in this world - past, present and future.   

Leslie Patten lives a life many can only dream of. From her remote cabin in Wyoming's beautiful Sunlight Basin, she has written a variety of books about her surroundings and the animals that share that world. In this episode we discuss how she got here and why she feels so at home in this remarkable wilderness. 

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Dorothy Tuthill, Associate Director and Education Coordinator of the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Wyoming. In addition to her work at the Institute, Dr. Tuthill is a founding member of the steering committee that created the Wyoming Naturalist Program, now entering its second year as a viable undertaking providing volunteers to organizations supporting the natural world in Wyoming. 

The Chamber of Commerce is probably not the first entity that springs to mind when you think about interactions with the natural world. Rebekah Burns, my guest on this episode, is  Executive Director of the Powell Economic Partnership which oversees both the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Center in Powell, Wyoming. She recognizes the value of living and working in a town that sits within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and all it offers. Our discussion centers on her efforts to create an event that encourages women to interact in a natural setting on nearby Heart Mountain. 

Despite advances in gender equality in the workplace over the last 50 years, there are still some industries that remain dominated by men. Jobs in outdoor recreation have long been skewed in favor of male workers thanks to stereotypes of gender roles and an outdated history of social expectations. But more and more women are finding their way into employment as naturalists, guides and outfitters.  Denise Wade runs a successful adventure company based out of Big Sky, Montana. She and her female business partner have made it a goal to not only make sure their guests have a great time but that they walk away with an increased knowledge of and respect for the ecosystem. 

As a recent transplant to the state of Wyoming, Thermopolis resident Kim Bartlett found herself in an environment quite different from the one she left behind in Missouri and Oklahoma.  Her passion for the outdoors includes a love of native plants and she has been educating herself in local flora through immersion in the environment and as a student of the inaugural Wyoming Certified Naturalist Program. 

In this first episode of Natural Herstory, I talk to Kim about the program, her plans for developing a business centered around native plants and the fascinating building project she and her husband have undertaken to make a home for themselves in Hot Springs County.