FEATURING: Lesli Allison, Robin Boies, Erik Glenn, Rick Knight, Gail Steiger, Jim Stone.

"Heard any good news lately?" It often feels as though we are being fed and inordinate amount of discouraging words. Not to fear! Across the West, hundreds of people are working to strengthen ties between rural and urban communities around food, land, and animals. Come listen to the “good news from the back forty” from Partnerscapes (Jim Stone), the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts (Erik Glenn), the Stewardship Alliance of Northwest Elko (Robin Boies), and the Western Landowners Alliance (Lesli Allison).

Hosted by Rick Knight.

From the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

…..

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Lesli Allison
Santa Fe, NM
Lesli is a founding member and executive director of the Western Landowners Alliance. She was also a founding member of the Chama Peak Land Alliance. For the past three decades, Lesli has worked extensively with private landowners and multiple stakeholders to advance conservation, sustain working lands, and support rural communities. Prior to Western Landowners Alliance, Lesli managed a ranch in the southern San Juan Mountains of Colorado. During her 16-year tenure, she implemented progressive conservation management through award-winning programs in restoration forestry, prescribed fire, grazing, stream restoration, hunting and wildlife management, and scientific research and monitoring.

Robin Boies
Jackpot, NV
Robin Boies is a northeastern Nevada rancher. Along with husband Steve, she operates the Boies Ranch, which has been in the family since the 1950s. Their holistic, collaborative approach to resource management improves land and riparian areas, restoring wildlife habitat through range practices like rotational grazing while maintaining economic viability. The Boies’ work is well-recognized as part of the Shoesole Resource Management Group, a collective effort to repair working relationships between ranchers, local stakeholders, agencies, and other actors (such as beavers and sage grouse). In 2020, the Boies' were honored as Northeastern Nevada Ranch for Outstanding Environmental Stewardship. Robin's deep roots in the traditions of family ranching, combined with her respect for other stewards of the land, have promoted both health and sustainability for the Boies Ranch.

Erik Glenn
Parker, CO
Erik is the president of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts (PORT). PORT is an alliance of agricultural-focused conservation organizations dedicated to conserving America's working farms and ranches. Erik also serves as executive director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) and is a trustee of the Western Stock Show Association. He holds a bachelor’s of science in natural resources management from Colorado State University, and two master’s degrees from the University of Denver in business and resource law studies.

Rick Knight
Fort Collins, CO
Rick Knight works at the intersection of land use and land health in the American West. A professor of wildlife conservation at Colorado State University, he received his graduate degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin. He sits on a number of boards, including the science board of the Malpai Borderlands Group, the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, the Land Conservation Assistance Network, and the Colorado Land Library. In 2007, Colorado State University honored him with the Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a five-time recipient of the Student’s Choice for Favorite Faculty Member in the Warner College of Natural Resources. His most recent book (2020) is Twenty-five Years of Keeping Working Lands in Working Hands: The Story of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust.

Gail Steiger
Prescott, AZ
Gail Steiger is a songwriter, filmmaker, and cowboy, and since 1995, foreman of the remote Spider Ranch in Yavapai County, Arizona. He has been playing guitar and writing songs for over 30 years and often recites works by his grandparents, Delia Gist Gardner and Gail I. Gardner. Gail also collaborates with his brother, Lew, on various film and media projects, including the acclaimed documentary Ranch Album. He has released two CDs: The Romance of Western Life (1999) and A Matter of Believin’ (2015).

Jim Stone
Ovando, MT
Jim Stone is the owner and operator of Rolling Stone Ranch in Montana’s Blackfoot Valley and the chair of the board of directors for Partnerscapes. Partnerscapes brings people, working landscapes, and communities together to sustain natural resources and human communities. They are a landowner-led organization that connects private landowners to partner organizations and agencies that share a common purpose–to sustain working lands for people, wildlife, and natural resources through voluntary conservation partnerships.

…..

Filmed in front of a live audience at Western Folklife Center’s G Three Bar Theater in Elko, NV on Feb. 4, 2023.

Made possible by the Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group and the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

…..