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In March, I had the pleasure of spending a week on the ����ֱ�� Plateau with fellow students and professors from the Advanced Natural Resources Law Seminar. The ����ֱ�� Plateau – a heart-shaped desert region encompassing portions of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Arizona – is home to some of the most unique landscapes and wildlife in the entire nation. In the fall of 2023, I took my first visit to the Plateau for a canyoneering trip and was immediately hooked. From the hoodoos of Goblin Valley State Park to the deep canyon walls of Dead Horse State Park to the iconic arches of Arches National Park, I loved traversing the region’s slickrock trails to explore red-rock features that absolutely blew my east-coast mind.

While the ����ֱ�� Plateau is certainly beautiful, it also faces many of the nation’s greatest natural resources challenges. These issues – specifically, how to manage these landscapes amidst climate change and increases in public popularity – are what encouraged me to study natural resources law in the first place. They’re what drew me to take this seminar and what drew me to apply for the Wyss Scholars Program, since I hope to devote my career to learning about and addressing these issues. Especially at a time where executive orders are opening up public lands for logging, the future of National Monuments remains unclear, and states like Utah are jockeying to claim ownership of “unappropriated” federal lands, these landscapes need scientists, scholars, lawyers and other passionate folks to advocate for their protection.

On the seminar trip, our class met with many of these local advocates of the ����ֱ�� Plateau. One of my favorite conversations of the whole trip happened on day one, when we met with Lena Pace, Superintendent of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments. She spoke of the delicate balance between managing Parks for the twin purposes of public recreation and conservation, as well as preserving the “wilderness feel” while also keeping recreators safe. She pointed to tools like timed-entry permit systems to control visitation to popular areas, and keeping fees at a price that helps fund the parks but doesn’t erect barriers to use. I was also struck by many of our conversations with the Hopi, and the unique challenges of being a nation completely surrounded by another nation (Navajo Nation), affected by severe poverty, and facing serious issues regarding reliable water quality and supply. I really enjoyed getting to meet Vernon Masayesva of the Coyote Clan, a former Tribal Chairman and Founder of the Black Mesa Trust, who played a gigantic role in shutting down power plants and mines that were polluting and drying up Hopi waters.��

I really enjoyed getting to personally experience the landscapes I’ve learned so much about in the classroom. After three nights spent inside Bear’s Ears National Monument, I just can’t fathom a world where these lands cease to be protected by the Antiquities Act or are otherwise opened up to development. One of my favorite ways to explore new landscapes is through trail running, and my sunrise trail runs through the Indian Creek portion of Bears Ears, where I watched rock cliffs and spires light up in fiery red blazes, is something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Hiking to panels of petroglyphs, ancient granaries, and other archaeological sites also really cemented the importance of large-scale protection of these landscapes for cultural reasons. I enjoyed getting to spend an afternoon rock climbing in this beautiful region too – learning how to crack climb from a law school professor is an opportunity I never could have imagined pre-law school, especially in such a special place.

I am so grateful to everyone who made this trip possible – from the Getches-Wilkinson Center, to Professors Chris Winter and Mark Squillace, to the people we met with on the Plateau, to donors, and to my fellow classmates who made this trip so enjoyable. This trip has truly stoked the fire in me to continue fighting for the lands, waters, and Tribes of the ����ֱ�� Plateau.

I’ll conclude with one of my favorite pre-seminar trip anecdotes about the Plateau: in November of 2023, during thanksgiving break, I ran the Dead Horse Ultra 30K in Moab. ����ֱ�� half a mile into the race, as I trudged up a steep section of dirt road, I heard someone say my name – I looked to my right, and there was Mariah Bowman, ����ֱ�� Law’s 2024-25 Wyss Scholar. Unbeknownst to each other, we had signed up for the same distance of the same race, six hours away from Boulder, and before either of us had been named Wyss Scholars. Looking back, I’m reminded of the importance of these random moments of human connection that I’ve gotten to experience as a law student at ����ֱ�� Law. From running into classmates on the trails, to climbing 14ers with them, to skiing before class with them, I’m so lucky to live in a place where I can immerse myself in my law school studies, in meaningful adventures on public lands, and perhaps most importantly – study the intersection of the two. I’m so grateful for the Wyss Foundation for supporting me as I pursue public lands law, and I’m looking forward to more of these moments on the trail that remind me why public lands are so worth fighting for.��