APF - June 2008

In This Issue:

From The President
What We're Reading
APF National Council Update
June On The Prairie
APF & You
In Memorium

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A Message From The President

Dear Friends of the American Prairie Reserve,

I am thrilled to write this update from Namibia, Africa with APF board members Elizabeth Ruml and Clyde Aspevig, as well as a representative from Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Ivy Merriot. We are enrolled in an educational program organized by WWF Namibia and will visit five well-established and successful wildlife reserves. The program is designed to help us learn from the manager of each reserve about their approaches to wildlife management, their reserve’s economic impacts on local people, tourism issues and other topics. We anticipate this experience will inform our continuing efforts to shape the evolving American Prairie Reserve as intelligently as possible. I look forward to reporting on the results of our adventure in our July newsletter. Please enjoy the following news of just some of the activities in which APF has been involved during what has so far been a wonderfully wet and cool spring on Montana’s glaciated plains.

Sincerely,

Sean Gerrity
APF President

What We're Reading Now
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

A Sand County Almanac We are guessing that many of you have read this gem previously, but we’re betting it has been awhile. Compact enough to read in an evening, yet full of timeless and very important ideas on land conservation, we think it is well worth it to recommend it anew and hope you will consider its message in the context of this project. From reviewer Sherri Vance: A Sand County Almanac is built around three main ideas: One, land is a community of living things. This idea argues for the study of ecology. Two, land is to be loved and respected. This idea argues for conservation ethics. Three, land yields a harvest of culture. Leopold calls this “a fact long known, but forgotten recently.” This is a beautiful, surprisingly short classic that for nearly fifty years has helped people better understand the land as a living community.

Correction: In the “What We’re Reading Now” section of our May newsletter, we should have stated that the grant for Dr. Kyran Kunkel’s mountain lion research was a tribal grant to Rocky Boy’s Reservation from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. We apologize for the error.

APF National Council Update - Introducing Jay Abbe and Edward Schmults
We are pleased to welcome two accomplished business executives to our National Council.

Guiding the world’s premier toy brand requires an imaginative leader and Edward Schmults has successfully fulfilled this role at FAO Schwarz since his appointment as CEO of FAO Schwarz Inc. in September, 2005. Most recently the Chief Operating Officer at RedEnvelope, Inc., a catalog and internet retailer of affordable luxury gifts, Mr. Schmults brings more than 20 years experience in retail and finance, and an expertise in multi-channel retailing. Mr. Schmults holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale University. He lives with his family in New York City.

Jay Abbe and his wife, Karen, reside on their ranch outside of Healdsburg, California, where they grow grapes and produce a modest amount of wine. Jay is a retired technology business executive, having served as Chief Executive Officer of Optical Coating Laboratory in the late 1990s and President and Chief Operating Officer of JDS Uniphase until his retirement in 2001. Currently, he remains active chairing a small independent secondary school in Pennsylvania and serving as president of the regional symphony in their county. Having grown up outside of Philadelphia in a very east-coast family, where “the West” meant Ohio, Jay connected strongly to Montana during a summer job in 1961 working on the Minuteman missile complex in the central part of the State.

JUNE ON THE PRAIRIE
Like the song, “June is bustin’ out all over” on the prairie!

* 9 bison calves to date—with a few more likely (now our herd is over 70 animals!)

* It’s no longer just owl and hawk babies, but a slew of other bird chicks in the grass, trees and gravel banks

* Pronghorn and deer fawns, often in twins, are trailing their moms around the greening grass

* Coyote pups are howling and yelping near the Reserve HQ

* Bull elk are back up around the Reserve Headquarters for the summer (up from the Missouri River breaks country where they headed for the fall rut)

* Prairie dog pups are out cavorting around the mounds and an occasional standing Burrowing Owl. Just back from their wintering grounds in the southern US, burrowing owls nest down in prairie dog burrows. Talk about a wonderfully odd sight watching an owl duck its head and pop down into a prairie dog hole!

* And water, water everywhere….we’ve almost received our whole annual average rainfall this month, which for us means gumbo in everything—from tires to ears—and days when no one drives nowhere, nohow.

APF & YOU - Recent APF Events Update
Malta Students Host Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS)

During the last of April and first of May, more than 120 Malta students in grades 5, 7 and 10 participated in hands-on science learning. Montana Outdoors Science School (MOSS) led students in activities such as aquatic invertebrates, medicinal plants, water cycle and prairie animal classification and adaptation. Students worked in small groups to solve problems and make predictions.

Because of the rain and gumbo, the learning activities were moved from the yurts to Malta Schools. This did not dampen the students’ enthusiasm for the scientific experiences. In addition to the educational activities, participants and staff were surprised to learn about the many scientific and other activities occurring on the Reserve. The American Prairie Foundation is also becoming known for its support of education and the community. Students and staff are excited for future Reserve visits!

In Memorium, John Wescott Larson of Atherton, CA, February 23, 1938 - May 2, 2008

John Larson was instrumental in supporting American Prairie Foundation (APF) for the last four years. His wisdom and penchant for developing a visionary strategy was a valued asset to APF. His professional experience as a former chief operating officer of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bay Area business consultant, and venture capital executive all contributed to his volunteer work at APF. He often challenged APF to think outside the box. In meetings he would ask the tough questions, always probing us to dig deeper into a concept or direction for the organization. John loved Montana and was particularly fond of bison. In memory of John, his wife Linda, son Rod and daughter Suki decided to pay tribute to John by encouraging friends and family to support APF by helping to adopt a bison aptly named “John”. The family wants “John the bison” to roam the prairie reserve along with the two other bison the family recently adopted for grandchildren, Sophie and Erin. Friends and family gathered together at a private memorial to celebrate John’s life. John was deeply involved in philanthropy and APF is grateful and honored to be one of the organizations the Larson Family chooses to support.