Conservation, Religion and the Power of Conversation With Betsy Gaines Quammen

Betsy Gaines Quammen is a writer, historian, and conservationist. She is the author of American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Western Public Lands. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Daily News, and the History News Network. She has a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University and a Master's of Science in Environmental Studies.Over the years, she has studied various religious traditions, with particular attention to how cultures view landscape and wildlife. The rural American West, pastoral communities of northern Mongolia, and the grasslands of East Africa have been her main areas of interest.We will discuss the protection of our lands from a broad perspective, with Betsy bringing into focus new understandings of the issues around the abuse of our indigenous people with respect to what was their land. She shares knowledge gained from her experiences with religious communities that feel no obligation to care for the land to militia actions intent on removing indigenous people.We'll also talk about her commitment to having fierce conversations across the aisle to find inevitable common ground and begin to heal the deep rift in our culture and address the enormous problem of the Climate Crisis. All this and her next book, True West: Sorting Realities on the Far Side of America, out in the fall of 2023.https://www.betsygainesquammen.com