BISMARCK - A coalition of North Dakota's leading conservation organizations will host a three-city film screening and discussion series Oct. 14-16 featuring Walt Dabney, a nationally recognized public lands leader whose 43-year career spanned the National Park Service (NPS) and Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Dabney, a retired park professional, began his career as a ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone and rose through leadership positions in Yosemite, Grand Teton, Everglades, Mount Rainier and as Chief Ranger of the NPS in Washington, D.C. He later directed the Southeast Utah Group of parks and served as director of Texas State Parks. Known for his expertise in law enforcement, search and rescue, fire management and public land policy, Dabney continues to share his insights through teaching, leadership training and public speaking.
The three events in Dickinson, Bismarck and Grand Forks each will feature a conservation-themed film at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A session with Dabney beginning at 7:30 p.m. Local conservation leaders will facilitate the discussions. The events are free and open to the public.
The Grand Forks event is set for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Gorecki Alumni Center Gransberg Room on the UND campus. Valerie Naylor, former superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, will moderate. Other events are:
"I am very much looking forward to coming to North Dakota and experiencing more of the state firsthand," Dabney said in a statement. "In my program on the history and future of America's public lands, I speak often about President Theodore Roosevelt's extraordinary legacy in conservation and the protection of special places in perpetuity. Much of the land we enjoy today - and that many depend on for their livelihoods - would not exist without Roosevelt's actions before he left office in 1909.
"On this trip, I am especially excited to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the first time. It is absolutely fitting that a national park bears his name in the very place that shaped his vision. I also look forward to revisiting the Badlands, another incredible and beautiful treasure that North Dakotans are rightly proud of."
The upcoming series is presented by the Badlands Conservation Alliance, North Dakota Wildlife Federation, North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, North Dakota Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, North Dakota Chapter of The Wildlife Society, North Dakota Sierra Club and the Dakota Resource Council.
"These events are an opportunity for North Dakotans to connect with one of the nation's foremost voices on the history and future of America's public lands," Shannon Straight, executive director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance, said in a statement. "Walt Dabney brings unmatched experience and perspective from decades of stewardship in our national and state parks."