Author Michael Dax will discuss his book Grizzly West: A Failed Attempt to Reintroduce Grizzly Bears in the Mountain West at the New Lebanon Library on Thursday, October 8, at 7 pm. Q & A and signing will follow.
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Environmentalists and the timber industry do not often collaborate, but in the years immediately following gray wolf reintroduction in the interior American West, a plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho and Montana brought these odd bedfellows together. The partnership won praise from diverse interests across the country and in 2000 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan for reintroduction. When the Bush Administration took office, however, it promptly shelved the project. Grizzly West explores the political, cultural, and social forces at work in the West and around the country that gave rise to this innovative plan but also contributed to its downfall.
Michael J. Dax is the New Mexico Outreach Representative for Defenders of Wildlife’s national outreach team. He works with a range of organizations and media outlets to increase public support and awareness for wildlife conservation and endangered species. Before joining Defenders of Wildlife, he worked for the Montana Wilderness Association and as field director on a ballot measure in North Dakota to dedicate existing oil tax revenue to conservation. Michael also worked at the Grand Canyon and in Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide. He earned a Masters degree in environmental history from the University of Montana where Grizzly West began as his thesis. He received his B.A. from Brandeis University. He lives in Santa Fe.
All are welcome at this free event. For more information, please call the library at (518) 794-8844. The library is located at 550 State Route 20, 1/4 mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22.[/private]