Podcast appearances and mentions of sara dant

Environmental historian Sara Dant's book Losing Eden traces the history of the American West from the time of elephants and camels to the near destruction of entire ecosystems—and the movement to bring nature and industry into balance. 

On this episode, Clay Newcomb explores the personal benefits of wilderness, but also criticisms of this federally managed land. He's again joined by Dr. Dan Flores, Dr. Sara Dant, Steven Rinella, Ben Masters, and Adam Keith. Connect with Clay and MeatEater Clay on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube Shop Bear Grease MerchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Bear Grease, Clay continues to explore the history of American ideals on wilderness with Dr. Dan Flores, Dr. Sara Dant, Steven Rinella, Hal Herring and Ben Masters. Connect with Clay and MeatEater Clay on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube Shop Bear Grease MerchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Bear Grease, Clay explores the history of American ideals on wilderness with Dr. Dan Flores, Dr. Sara Dant, Steven Rinella, and Hal Herring. Connect with Clay and MeatEater Clay on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube Shop Bear Grease MerchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week environmental historian Sara Dant drops in to talk about a new history of the West, wolf reintroduction in Colorado, public land management, and Seth MacFarlane's homage to classic western films. This is a fun conversation about a silly movie that actually has a lot to say. I hope you like it.About our guest:Sara Dant is Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor and Chair of History at Weber State University whose work focuses on environmental politics in the United States with a particular emphasis on the creation and development of consensus and bipartisanism. Dr. Dant's latest book is a new, completely revised and updated edition of Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (2023, University of Nebraska Press) with a foreword by Tom S. Udall. Dr. Dant is also an advisor and interviewee for Ken Burns' The American Buffalo documentary film (October 2023), the author of several prize-winning articles on western environmental politics, a precedent-setting Expert Witness Report and Testimony on Stream Navigability upheld by the Utah Supreme Court (2017), co-author of the two-volume Encyclopedia of American National Parks (2004) with Hal Rothman, and she has written chapters for three books on Utah: “Selling and Saving Utah, 1945-Present” in Utah History (forthcoming), “The ‘Lion of the Lord' and the Land: Brigham Young's Environmental Ethic,” in The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden: Essays in Mormon Environmental History, ed. by Jedidiah Rogers and Matthew C. Godfrey (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019), 29-46, and “Going with the Flow: Navigating to Stream Access Consensus,” in Desert Water: The Future of Utah's Water Resources (2014). Dr. Dant was the 2019-2020 John S. Hinckley Fellow at Weber State for excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service and was recognized as a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor in 2020. She serves on PhD dissertation committees, regularly presents at scholarly conferences, works on cutting-edge conservation programs, and gives numerous public presentations. Dr. Dant teaches lower-division courses in American history and upper-division courses on the American West and US environmental history, as well as historical methods and the senior seminar.

Dr. Sara Dant is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of history at Weber State University, and she's the author of one of my most-often recommended books, "Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West." She is also one of the featured historians in Ken Burns' newest documentary, The American Buffalo, which you can watch for free on the PBS website. Sara's work focuses on environmental politics in the United States with a particular emphasis on the creation and development of consensus and bipartisanism, and she is especially skilled at presenting complex, sometimes controversial topics in an engaging and fun-to-learn manner. - In June of 2023, Sara updated and republished her book "Losing Eden"– she added some chapters, revised some of the content, and added lots of maps, photos, and additional resources. She somehow managed to make one of my favorite books even better. For anyone who is looking for a thorough yet fun-to-read overview of this complex region known as the American West, I can't recommend it enough. From the migration of humans across the Bering Strait to modern-day controversies around energy development, the book provides a solid foundation and acts as a launching point to dig into whatever specific time period you may find interesting. - Longtime listeners will remember my first conversation with Sara back in 2018, in which we discussed the early phases of North American environmental history, the tragedy of the commons, conservation vs preservation, and more. In this conversation, we focus on mostly recent environmental history, including the historic environmental legislation of the 1960s and 70s, legendary senator Frank Church, and the backlash to environmental regulation that led to movements such as the Sagebrush Rebellion. We also discuss Sara's perspective-shifting Alaska adventure, the value of wild places, her experience working with Ken Burns, book recommendations, and much, much more. - I always enjoy my visits with Sara, and I can't thank her enough for how generous she is with sharing her time, wisdom, and expertise. I'd encourage you to pick up a copy of the new "Losing Eden," but in the meantime, enjoy this conversation with Dr. Sara Dant. --- Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant Sara's first M&P episode Ed's Bimonthly Book Recommendations --- TOPICS DISCUSSED: 3:30 - Why Sara decided to republish Losing Eden 7:00 - The guiding idea of "at what cost?" 10:00 - The myth of "right or wrong," "good or bad" 16:15 - Using history to understand our current political situation 19:30 - Optimistic examples of positive political environmental bipartisanship 23:30 - The legendary Idaho senator, Frank Church 28:00 - James Watt and the backlash to environmental regulation 34:00 - Divisiveness as a power-grabbing tool 43:00 - Sara's 2019 life-changing trip to Alaska 46:30 - What is the value of wild places? 54:15 - Participating in the new Ken Burns documentary 56:30 - Something new that Sara has recently learned 1:02:30 - Book recommendations and further reading 1:10:30 - Parting words of wisdom --- ABOUT MOUNTAIN & PRAIRIE: Mountain & Prairie - All Episodes Mountain & Prairie Shop Mountain & Prairie on Instagram Upcoming Events About Ed Roberson Support Mountain & Prairie Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts

Bryce Andrews is a Montana-based rancher and writer, and he's the author of the brand new book “Holding Fire: A Reckoning with the American West.” Longtime Mountain & Prairie listeners will remember my first conversation with Bryce back in 2019 when we discussed his writing, conservation work, ranching experience, and his first two books. I thoroughly enjoyed that first conversation and was so impressed with Bryce's thoughtfulness, curiosity, and humility, so I was thrilled to have him back on the podcast to discuss "Holding Fire." - "Holding Fire" is a thought-provoking memoir that explores Bryce's complicated and evolving relationship with the landscape, culture, and history of the American West. Much of the story focuses on his grandfather's Smith and Wesson revolver– a gun that he inherited and owned for many years while living and working in Montana. But despite being a committed big game hunter and owner of many guns, Bryce's feelings toward the revolver began to change. As you'll hear him explain, he eventually befriends a master blacksmith, learns to forge steel, and transforms the revolver from a gun into a tool that he now uses to plant trees on his property. - I loved the book, and it forced me to reexamine many of my baked-in notions about everything from the history of the West to my ideas about hunting for food, mental health, and the culture of the modern-day American West. We talked about why Bryce chose this particular topic for the subject of a book, his long-standing love of hunting, and why he decided to reporpose the revolver into a ranch tool. We discuss what he learned about craftsmanship from the blacksmith, the importance of converting guilt into action, and how fatherhood has changed his approach to life and work. We also talk about this summer's Old Salt Festival, he and his wife's stewardship of their ranch, and he offers up lots of excellent book recommendations. - And if you want to read and discuss a chapter of Bryce's book for free, then download the new social reading app called Threadable. I have recently partnered with Threadable to highlight and discuss a number of readings about the history of the American West, including chapters from Sara Dant's "Losing Eden," and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States." Threadable allows users to read portions of great books, then discuss them in a fun and interactive way. As of this recording, Threadable is only for iOS, but if you want to read a sample of Holding Fire and discuss it with the Mountain & Prairie community, follow the link in the episode notes to download the app. I've really been enjoying it. - Thanks to Bryce for another wonderful conversation, and thank you for listening. Hope you enjoy. --- "Holding Fire" by Bryce Andrews Bryce's first M&P episode Read & discuss Holding Fire, Chapter 6 on THREADABLE --- TOPICS DISCUSSED: 3:00 - Bryce's process for choosing the topic of Holding Fire 6:15 - Bryce's father's choices of nonviolence during the Vietnam War  11:30 - How guns became a part of Bryce's life 13:45 - Bryce's background in hunting  18:45 - Bryce's scariest interaction with people and guns 21:45 - The problem with “tough guys with guns” 24:00 - A winter's impact on Bryce's thoughts regarding guns  29:45 - Exploring the concept of guilt 30:30 - Exploring the cultural significance of fire and firearms with women of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes 34:30 - What Bryce has done on his property since purchase 38:00 - How writing fits into Bryce's busy life 44:45 - How having a daughter has changed Bryce's work, writing, and life 48:30 - How Bryce became involved in the Old Salt Festival 51:30 - What Bryce learned about creativity from a metalsmith 54:30 - Discussing action as the antidote to despair 55:45 - Bryce's book recommendations --- ABOUT MOUNTAIN & PRAIRIE: Mountain & Prairie - All Episodes Mountain & Prairie Shop Mountain & Prairie on Instagram Upcoming Events About Ed Roberson Support Mountain & Prairie Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts

As "Porcupine Caribou" flowed around her tent, Dr. Sara Dant suddenly knew how to write about climate change in the West.

As "Porcupine Caribou" flowed around her tent, Dr. Sara Dant suddenly knew how to write about climate change in the West.She will be speaking about her trip and her book, "Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West," at the city of Boise's Fettuccine Forum on Thursday night.

Dr. Sara Dant, history professor at Weber State in Utah, joins the Wild Idaho! podcast to provide a historic perspective on Western states and the evolving relationship between their inhabitants and the environment.

Sara Dant is a historian, professor, and chair of the history department at Weber State University. She’s also the author of one of my new favorite books: Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West. Sara’s work touches many of the topics we discuss regularly on this podcast, including conservation, water, public lands, building consensus around divisive issues, historical figures of the West, and much more. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Sara has a unique ability to explain complex and potentially dry topics regarding the American West in an engaging and easy-to-understand manner. • Whether you’re like me and have read dozens of books on the history of the West or simply have a general interest the subject, I think Losing Eden should be mandatory reading. It lays out the history of the region, starting with human migration into North America 15-30,000 years ago and ends in the present-day West with our scramble to find solutions to natural resource shortages and climate change. For me, the book connected many different time periods and concepts into one cohesive narrative, while simultaneously introducing me to new ideas and people, all in just under 200 pages. • Sara and I had a great conversation covering key concepts from her book, as well as her life as a historian, teacher, and life-long Westerner. We chat about the concept of the "tragedy of the commons,” conservation versus preservation, and the myth that the West was a sort of Garden of Eden prior to European settlement. We also dig into some of the key historical figures of the West, including Brigham Young, John Wesley Powell, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Muir. Most of you know that I’m weirdly obsessed with Teddy Roosevelt—I’ve got a life-sized cardboard cut-out of him in my office, for Pete’s sake—so Sara gently offers a more “balanced" examination of his conservation legacy. We also discuss Sara’s upbringing in Arizona, love of trail running, favorite books, and much more. Be sure to visit the episode notes for links to everything we discuss, because there’s a lot. • And since many of you are members of the Mountain & Prairie Book Club, I wanted to let you know that Losing Eden will be the November/December selection. Sara has graciously offered to answer questions about the book or even participate in some sort of online discussion, so I’ll be sorting out those details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, start reading the book and visit the book club webpage for more information as it becomes available. But for now, please enjoy this fun and educational conversation with Sara Dant. ••• Episode Notes: http://mountainandprairie.com/sara-dant/ Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West: http://a.co/d/8rCRHS8 Book Club: http://mountainandprairie.com/book-club/ ••• TOPICS DISCUSSED: 3:55 - How Sara describes her work 4:45 - Where Sara grew up 6:15 - Background on the book 7:30 - The myth of the West as “Eden” 9:40 - The tragedy of the commons explained 13:10 - The Morman’s settlement of the West 17:00 - John Wesley Powell explained 22:00 - Ambition and the settlement of the West 23:00 - The significance of the 1890s 27:55 - Conservation versus preservation 34:00 - A more balanced view of Theodore Roosevelt 40:00 - Growing up in Arizona 41:25 - Early influences 44:15 - The book that most influenced Sara’s career 46:20 - Pursuing her Phd and the choice to teach 49:00 - Sara’s optimism about current college students 52:45 - Trail running 54:25 - Working at Grand Teton and Denali National Parks 56:30 - Public lands 1:01:30 - Favorite books 1:03:00 - Favorite films 1:05:00 - Hobbies 1:05:50 - Most powerful outdoor experience 1:07:25 - Favorite location in the West 1:08:00 - Best thing Sara ever learned 1:09:00 - Sara’s words of wisdom 1:10:15 - Connect with Sara online

Sara Dant grew up in the American West and deeply loves its culture, history, and landscape. In Losing Eden, she traces the environmental history and development of this region in order to help readers understand how the land has shaped and been shaped by the people who here, while also offering some positive models for shaping the future well-being of the West.

Sara Dant grew up in the American West and deeply loves its culture, history, and landscape. In Losing Eden , she traces the environmental history and development of this region in order to help readers understand how the land has shaped and been shaped by the people who here, while also offering some positive models for shaping the future well-being of the West.

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Frederick Jackson Turner to Walter Prescott Webb, the high cliffs of Yosemite to the flat deserts and blasted rock of the Nevada Test Range, the American West has long been defined by its environments. The human history of western ecologies extends back thousands of years, writes the historian Sara Dant in her new synthesis, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West (Wiley Blackwell, 2017). Dant, a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, traces the history of how people changed, and in turn were changed by, the American West’s myriad environments. In Losing Eden, Dant describes how pre-contact societies made water flow in the desert, how Spanish colonizers introduced fauna to the region now taken for granted as decidedly “western,” and how American commodification of the non-human world fundamentally altered human perceptions of western landscapes. By the late nineteenth century, the concept of commodification had led to both great material wealth for the United States, and almost irreparable damage to western environments. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that, according to Dant, some Americans began to look upon their “lost Eden” and ask, “at what cost?” Losing Eden is a book which, at heart, seeks to disprove the notion that the American West was ever an Eden at all by showing that the history of environmental change in the region is as old as human footsteps on western soil, while also arguing for a new ethic of collective action to reverse some of the most far reaching changes wrought by humans in the American West. Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices