Wallace Stegner And The Effort—The Dream—To Create “A Society To Match The Scenery”
How Well Have We Done?
Starting roughly in the early 1970s, citizens of the American West began an earnest search to understand the history and peoples of the region and its possibilities, and, ultimately, to find ways to protect the magnificence of the landscape and preserve the slow-moving, community-oriented culture of the real West.
From the beginning, Ketchum was a significant locale for that kind of thinking. Many Westerners still aim for that.
In his first of two evening presentations, Professor Wilkinson will offer some thoughts on the progress of that effort and engage the audience in a discussion of how well the West of the 2020s fits with Stegner’s formulation.
This program will be LIVESTREAMED for virtual viewing.
Charles Wilkinson is the Moses Lasky Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Colorado. A graduate of Stanford Law School and an associate with Phoenix and San Francisco law firms, Wilkinson joined the Native American Rights Fund in 1971 as a staff attorney. Since 1975 he has taught at the Oregon and Colorado law schools, receiving many awards for teaching and research. He is the author of 14 books, including Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West (1992); The Eagle Bird: Mapping a New West (1992); Fire on the Plateau: Conquest and Endurance in the American Southwest (1999); Messages from Frank’s Landing: a Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way (2000); and Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations (2005.)
He has served on the boards of The Center of the American West; the Western Environmental Law Center, the Wilderness Society; and the Grand Canyon Trust. Over the years, Wilkinson has taken on many special assignments for the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Justice. He served as special counsel to the Interior Department for the drafting of the 1996 Presidential Proclamation establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Wilkinson was also Special Advisor to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition for the creation of the Bears Ears National Monument in 2016.
