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As is often the case, words hardly do justice to the most impactful experiences of our lives. I stood on a rock in the middle a remote salmon river in BC listening to one of our students work her way through that very point. We were casting about with the excuse of fishing but mostly it was a conversation about coming to terms with integrating back into the larger life after beingstruck with awe and seeing a larger purpose propose itself. Overwhelmed in real time, right there, we…
Our story is my story, is our staff’s stories, our students’ stories, partners’ stories, stories of landscapes as told by their inhabitants and natural history. Our story is the ever-growing collection of the experiences of people with similar sentiments getting out there to be of
service to the natural world. It is the connections made and the adventures that unfold. This is the active part of our story. The one we experience by pursuing our mission to achieve enduring conservation… The time after a flood when salmon swam through the wall tent beneath our cots and bobbing cans of corn. The pack of African wild dogs chasing impala through camp. The countless flat tires and broken-down trucks on deserted roads all over this earth. The millions of protected acres in the Taku River Watershed of northern British Columbia.
Round River was established in 1991. I have only been here since 2000, but I have been told by our founders that they had a vision to be outdoors, to learn about wild places through an ecological lens, come to understand the threats they might face, and then the important part: do something about it.
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.
When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
Rick Bass’s novel, The Lost Grizzlies, chronicles an early stab at this vision where a Round River student program got on the ground in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains with one of our co-founders and grizzly bear expert, Doug Peacock, to search for rumored grizzlies. A review of the book by the Washington Post said we were: “…striving to find something lost in ourselves, something that can be supplied only by solitude and wilderness and the presence of creatures more powerful and self-assured than we are.”
What that book review alludes to is a story of transformation: personal transformations of students, staff, and partners as they cast for salmon, search for grizzly bears, and seek the clarity that comes from wild places. But also, a collective transformation, one that is greater than any individual story. One that comes from countless cups of coffee consumed around kitchen tables, from stumbling through introductions in a second language, from sharing a meal over a campfire, from watching a people’s land ethic morph into a mapped vision, then into a
conservation design, and then into established protected areas that will continue to be stewarded by their descendants after they pass. This greater story comes from an exchange between people whose lived experiences could not be more different on paper but who are inextricably linked by a commitment to place and a love of the natural world. Our founders envisioned a science-based organization versed in ecological literacy, navigating by the ethos of Leopold’s land ethic, training students, and making contributions in large-landscape conservation. I am proud to say we have done that. And we continue to do that. But
our story is greater than any single conservation success. It is greater than my own time or anyone else’s time with the organization. Its greater than any technical tool or planning process. What makes Round River special is the collective energy that every staff member, student, partner community, colleague, and friend has put out into the world in pursuit of their
own vision of….
The whole concept of ‘wild’ was decidedly European, one not shared by the original inhabitants of this continent. What we called ‘wilderness’ was to the Indian a homeland, ‘abiding loveliness’ in Salish or Piegan. The land was not something to be feared or conquered, and ‘wildlife’ were neither wild nor alien; they were relatives.
Round River was founded in 1991 out of a shared desire to move beyond the European perception of “wilderness” conservation. From the beginning, we have prioritized collaborations with local people with strong, enduring land ethics, and long-term commitments to the places in which we work.
At the same time, we recognized the importance of bringing students into our work. Round River Student Programs are field-based, authentic experiences where students become part of our efforts working alongside our local community partners.
As a small organization we are proud of our outsized impact, assisting with the creation of recognized conservation plans exceeding 100 million acres and over 10 million acres of designated protection. We have also continued our partnerships long after the plans are completed, staying true to our commitment to maintaining a long-term presence in each site. We have helped implement and monitor success of our collaborative efforts and continue to gather critical information to inform on-going conservation decisions.
Round River was founded out of a shared desire to move beyond the European perception of “wilderness” conservation. From the beginning, we have prioritized collaborations with local people with strong, enduring land ethics, and long-term commitments to the places in which we work.
