Success in tribal environmental management is topic for Oct. 30 lecture

Charles F. Wilkinson, a professor from the University of Colorado, will discuss natural resources management by Native American tribes as part of Western’s Huxley College of the Environment Speaker Series at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Communications Facility 120 on Western’s campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Recent generations of Native Americans have accomplished a stirring revival. A leading example is in the area of natural resource and environmental management. Wilkinson’s lecture “Stewards of the Land: The Critical Role of Modern Tribal Environmental Management in America” will highlight cutting-edge work by tribal governments on salmon, water, timber, and other contemporary issues.

Wilkinson, the Moses Lasky Professor of Law at the University of Colorado, is a former attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. His 14 books include “Messages from Frank’s Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way” “Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations,” and “Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West.”

In addition to his Huxley Speaker Series lecture, Wilkinson will speak at Northwest Indian College at noon and at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30. These events are sponsored by Huxley College of the Environment, Northwest Indian College, the Sierra Club’s Mount Baker Chapter, and the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship’s Native American Connections Committee.

The presentation at Western will include a question-and-answer period. Anyone interested in the topic is encouraged to attend and participate.

The Huxley Speaker Series, sponsored by Western’s Huxley College of the Environment, is intended to bring together environmentally-minded members of the Western and Bellingham communities. Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

Western’s Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized leader in producing the next generation of environmental professionals and stewards. Huxley’s distinctive, interdisciplinary curriculum reflects a broad view of the physical, biological, social, and cultural world, and has earned international recognition for quality.

For more information, please contact Western’s Huxley College of the Environment at 360-650-2554.