Bozeman Magazine

Join Mike Phillips, co-founder and director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund and Lisa Upson, director of People and Carnivores for this Library Community Forum on Wednesday, April 21st at noon.

Zoom link on the Library website www.bozemanlibrary.org

No registration necessary

As we know, conserving wildlife—in the Gallatin Valley, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and in public and private landscapes across Montana and throughout theWest—contributes to our lives and livelihoods in many ways, some beyond imagining even 30 or 40 years ago. The central issue of wildlife conservation iscoexistence, which is only being magnified by the numbers of people moving intoour region.

To help understand how wildlife and people, conservation, and coexistence fit together, Library Community Forum welcomes MikePhillips, director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund, and Lisa Upson, director of People & Carnivores.

How do we conserve wildlife and promote biodiversity across large landscapes? What are local examples of projects that conserve wildlife on ranches, farms, and public lands? If coexistence with wildlife is a primary focus of conservation, howdoes it work? How is it working?

Mike will provide an overviewof conserving biodiversity, and Lisa will talk about how her nonprofit workswith private landowners and public land managers to prevent conflicts with bigcarnivores—grizzly bears, wolves, and mountain lions.

Join us to hear from thesetwo experts who get their boots muddy walking the land, talking with the folkswho live there, and developing strategies for people and wildlife to thrivetogether.

Lisa Upson, director ofPeople and Carnivores, has worked in large carnivore conservation for 15 years,with a focus on grizzly bear and wolf coexistence. She has also worked as amediator and taught public administration at the University of Montana. Shereceived her Master in Public Administration at MSU.

Mike Phillips is theco-founder and director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund. His work hasincluded the reintroduction of gray wolves to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystemand working with the Obama administration and the U.S. Senate to pass cleanenergy jobs and climate change legislation. Mike is a former Montana state legislator, serving from 2006 to 2020.

Library Community Forums are free and open to everyone.

They are a Bozeman Public Library program of civicengagement

sponsored by the Bozeman Public Library Foundation

and offered the 3rd Wednesday of each month, September-May.

We hope you will join us.