John grew up in the small mountain town of Brevard, North Carolina, where he spent much of his childhood rambling down Appalachian backroads in search of good trout streams, long trail-runs, and backcountry adventures. His passion for natural resources and recreation followed him through college and graduate school where he received a B.A. in Environmental Studies with honors as a Morehead-Cain Scholar at UNC Chapel Hill (2010–2014) and a Masters in Environmental Management at Duke University (2015–2017). Before cutting his teeth on western land management issues, John worked as the Conservation Forestry Fellow at The Forestland Group studying wetland and stream mitigation for large forestland owners. John is a field instructor and former Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for the National Outdoor Leadership School. He currently lives in Lander were he continues to enjoy those things he did growing up, except now on a Wyoming scale.
This year the Wyoming Outdoor Council is proud to award $1,500 scholarships to five graduating high school seniors from Wyoming — who all have demonstrated a commitment to conservation values and protecting Wyoming’s environment and quality of life. The five students plan to study a wide range of topics in conservation and resource management and will be pursuing related degrees. These scholarships were made possible thanks to the generous support of the Blue Ridge Fund of Wyoming. Congratulations!
Tessa Coughenour (Natrona County High School) will study environmental design at Montana State University.
Parker Goodwin (Cody High School) will study engineering at the University of Wyoming.
Mallie Gray (Natrona County High School) will study reclamation and restoration ecology at the University of Wyoming.
Kai Lynn (Cody High School) will study biology at Northwest College with plans to transfer to the University of Wyoming to complete a degree in wildlife biology.
Rachel Stoinski (Lander Valley High School) will study wildlife and fisheries biology and management at the University of Wyoming
We will continue to offer these scholarships each year to help support the next generation of conservation-minded Wyomingites. If you know a young person who may qualify, please spread the word and watch for the next opportunity to apply in early 2021.
The winter of 2019 was a bad season for ozone pollution in the Upper Green River Basin, particularly near Boulder where monitoring stations recorded nine days in which ozone levels exceeded federal standards.
Winter ozone is not new for this region, but increasing concentrations over the last several years have called into question whether the regulations governing fugitive emissions from oil and gas operations — and our clean air — need tightening. This was the context that led members of the local Pinedale advocacy group Citizens United for Responsible Energy Development and the Wyoming Outdoor Council to tour the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline natural gas fields with Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality. Our goal was to better understand current operations — and learn what state regulators are doing in response to last season’s unhealthy ozone conditions.
CURED member Jana Weber looks at the emissions from a combustor through a flare camera. These cameras can cost more than $100,000 and are used to quickly identify emission leaks.
As one might expect, there’s a lot to see in the state’s largest natural gas field. Our group visited facilities owned by the three major energy companies in the area: Pinedale Energy, Ultra Energy, and Jonah Energy. We examined lake tanks, pig launchers, combusters, disposal facilities, production units, and dehydrators with state-of-the-art flare cameras used to detect leaking emissions from a distance. Looking into these cameras is like looking under a microscope where the invisible world of gasses and heat is revealed in ghostly detail. Technological advances like this are essential for quickly identifying leaks and monitoring emissions and are a key component of what’s known as Leak Detection and Repair.
New technologies might make inspections easier and more efficient, but it remains a daunting task over such a large area. Currently, the Upper Green River Basin has more than 8,000 permitted facilities and only two full-time DEQ air quality inspectors. Even with each inspector performing hundreds of inspections annually, the vast majority of these facilities will go uninspected each year.
Fortunately, DEQ has ways of prioritizing the most important inspections based upon factors like the facility’s previous violations, its potential for emissions, and when it was last inspected. With low compliance rates a lingering concern and priority, it was also refreshing to learn that inspectors took enforcement actions against several operators this summer for permit violations.
Touring the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields was a reminder of the good work and intentions of our state’s Department of Environmental Quality in the Upper Green River Basin. But, while we were pleased with what we saw, the bar for whether or not current efforts are enough will be determined by the ozone levels we see in future winters. We’re encouraged that the DEQ seems to be taking last year’s violations seriously and has set ambitious goals for engine monitoring and working to bring on a third air quality inspector in the basin this winter. However, funding for the department’s two current full-time inspectors will need to be added to the DEQ’s budget next year, due to the elimination of the federal contribution for this work.
We have to make sure that DEQ has the resources it needs to prioritize inspections and improve compliance rates to achieve better air quality in the Upper Green. You can be sure that the Outdoor Council will be advocating for this at the 2020 legislative session in Cheyenne.
The DEQ’s annual pre-season ozone meeting is slated for November 18 at the Boulder Community Center in Boulder, WY. Outdoor Council staff and CURED members will be in attendance. More information can be found here.
DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: In early 2020, the Bureau of Land Management anticipates releasing the long-awaited draft land use plan for the Red Desert and surrounding areas. The plan will determine which resources are protected and which areas are open to industrial development. This means that important wildlife, cultural, scenic, and archeological resources — like Steamboat Mountain and its resident desert elk herd, the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor, Native American petroglyphs and sacred sites, and historic trails like the Oregon and Mormon trails — could be at risk. Stay tuned for updates on the draft and for opportunities to tell BLM and Governor Gordon to stand up for balanced use and to protect the Red Desert.
The Red Desert is a land of extremes and poetic contrasts. Depending on the time of year, you could find yourself panting for breath in oppressive heat, stuck axle deep in the mud, or shivering despite being bundled in every layer you own. These challenges — and the chance to test one’s mettle against them — are what make the rugged Red Desert the perfect place to host Run the Red, one of Wyoming’s emerging endurance races.
Run the Red is Wyoming’s only ultramarathon designed to raise awareness and advocacy for the Red Desert. This year’s race was held on the state’s first Wyoming Public Lands Day on September 28, with a newly designed course that started and finished at historic South Pass City. Two new distances were also added — a 45K and 90K — so that participants could experience the best of the Northern Red Desert: imposing views of Continental Peak, the towering Oregon Buttes, and undulating high desert bisected by the Sweetwater River. Despite the challenging weather, which shifted from snow to rain to wind to sun, this year’s race was the most successful on record, bringing 155 runners from all over Wyoming and as far away as Texas and Oregon.
“Wyoming people are tough,” said Shaleas Harrison of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. She organized this year’s race and the Wyoming Public Lands Day events that followed at South Pass City, along with partners from NOLS and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. The day was full of wet, smiling runners, laughs from hardy aid station volunteers, memories made around drum circles and banjos, and, most importantly, a deeper appreciation for a wild place many Wyomingites hold dear.
Following the race, runners and locals from Lander and Rock Springs enjoyed a series of events to celebrate the newly created Wyoming Public Lands Day. A range of speakers — including representatives from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, state legislators, Red Desert experts, and sponsored athletes shared their perspectives about the importance of landscapes like the Red Desert in maintaining Wyoming’s quality of life, wildlife, and rich outdoor heritage.
Although the race has changed over the years, the goal of Run the Red — to build a connection to a wild landscape — has remained the same. Jonathan Williams, Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for NOLS, couldn’t have said it better:
“The great thing about Run the Red is that it gives people the opportunity to create a deep sense of place for themselves and then carry that forward as advocates for the desert.”
– Jonathan Williams, Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for NOLS
In coming months, the Bureau of Land Management, will release its revised land-use plan for much of the Red Desert. There’s a lot at stake. Our hope is that all the runners, volunteers, and participants — along with anyone who cares about this wild landscape — will weigh in and urge the BLM to protect what makes this place so unique. Stay tuned … the race isn’t over yet!
