Aubrey L. Haines Lecture
"Since its origin over 130 years ago, the national park idea has steadily evolved, reflecting changes in our society and economy. Traditionally, the national park has been viewed as a wilderness, tourist destination, playground, laboratory, wildlife reserve, and an economic engine for nearby communities. But with advances in scientific knowledge and our maturing sense of social justice, national parks can also be conceived as the vital core of larger ecosystems, as essential biodiversity reserves, and as important civic educational entities. Given this evolution, how might we expand and strengthen the national park system to meet tomorrow’s challenges? " Â
- from The National Park System: Visions for Tomorrow, Natural Resources Journal, Vol. 50, p. 71, 2010
Dr. Robert B. Keiter
Dr. Robert B. Keiter has been selected as this year's Aubrey L. Haines lecture presenter. Aubrey L. Haines (1914–2000) remains the premier historian of Yellowstone. He also participated in shaping the park's history for nearly 60 years, from his first job as a park ranger in the late 1930s through his retirement in 1969 and in the following years, as he continued to produce important historical works from his Arizona home. Educated in forestry and engineering, Aubrey also worked in Mount Rainier National Park and Big Hole National Battlefield, and wrote authoritative histories of both parks. But it is for his work in Yellowstone that he is best known and honored by this lecture series. The Yellowstone Story (1977) may be the single most important book ever published on the park, and his Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment (1974) occupies a unique position as the foremost historical documentation of the park's creation. In the 1960s, he originated the collection now known as the Yellowstone Archives, a branch of the National Archives, and gathered countless rare items, interviews, diaries, and a wealth of other materials into the park's library and museum collection.
Bob Keiter is the Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University Distinguished Professor, and founding Director of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment at the University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law, where he teaches Natural Resources Law and Constitutional Law. He has taught at the University of Wyoming, Boston College, and Southwestern University, and served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Kathmandu, Nepal. His books include To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea (2013); Keeping Faith with Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy, and America’s Public Lands (2003); and The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage (1991). His next book entitled Conserving Nature in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: The Enduring Quest to Preserve an Iconic Landscape is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in late 2024. Bob is currently a member of the National Park System Advisory Board, and a trustee for the National Parks Conservation Association and the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law.