11:00 – 11:50 am, Morristown & Morris Township Library
Randall K. Wilson
Randall K. Wilson is a professor of environmental studies at Gettysburg College where he teaches courses on environmental history, environmental policy, natural resource management, and the geography of the American West. Born and raised in California, he earned his B.A. degree from Humboldt State University before spending much of his twenties living abroad and working on a Colorado dude ranch. Returning to academia, he completed graduate degrees from the University of Colorado and the University of Iowa. His work on public lands and protected areas is grounded in environmental history and frequently explores issues of access, use, and the meaning of nature. His book, America’s Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond, was named an Outstanding Academic Title of the Year from Choice Reviews and won the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize from the American Association of Geographers. His most recent book, A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park, won the Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History from the New York Historical Society, as noted in the New York Times.
MFOB featured book: A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park
A Place Called Yellowstone details the evolution of Yellowstone National Park from a remote and ”far-away” landscape into one of the most prominent and influential places in American history. Just as the National Mall in Washington, DC, serves as a touchstone for public discussions of social and political matters, Yellowstone has done the same for questions about the natural world.
Yellowstone marks the birthplace of the national parks, the first effort to restore endangered species, and the rise of a new industry based on nature tourism. Today, Yellowstone remains one of the few entities capable of bridging ideological divides in the United States. Yet, the park’s history is also filled with episodes of conflict and exclusion, setting precedents for Indigenous land dispossession, public-private land rights disputes, and prolonged tensions between commercialism and environmental conservation. Yellowstone’s legacies are both celebratory and problematic. Rigorously researched and packed with fast-paced adventure, this unique place-based biography tells the colorful story of Yellowstone as the story of the nation itself.
