MSU Wonderlust Community Event: Public Land Business and Local Community

Montana State University Wonderlust, in partnership with the Belgrade Community Library, will host a presentation by Bill West on “Public Land Business and Local Community: A National Wildlife Refuge Example.” This event is presented online via Zoom.

Bill West, who recently retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after 30 years of managing National Wildlife Refuges in Montana, will discuss land conservation across a patchwork of land ownership in the Centennial Valley. Located in Southwest Montana, north of the Continental Divide, the remote Centennial Valley consists of a high-elevation and nearly intact landscape of forest, sagebrush steppe, wet meadow and the largest wetland complex in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The valley is the uppermost point of the Missouri/Mississippi watershed, 3,768 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and includes the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. West will discuss how partnerships that respect the business climate of the local community while protecting public land can result in a thriving local economy as well as successful conservation efforts.

Bill West managed national wildlife refuges in Montana for 30 years, including assignments at the National Bison Range and Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. His skills include partnership building for the conservation of fish and wildlife, neighbor/landowner relationships, sustainable agriculture, negotiations with Native American Tribal governments, and the management of wild bison, trumpeter swan, grizzly bear and Arctic grayling.

This presentation is free and open to the public, but you must register in advance. To register, please visit the MSU Wonderlust website at www.montana.edu/wonderlust/. Upon registration confirmation, participants will receive an email with the Zoom link and instructions to join the program.

Wonderlust Lifelong Learning is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach (ATO) at Montana State University. ATO works across MSU to support and advance our land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement.