A Brief Conversation With Andrea Knutson

By: Jeremy Miller

Andrea Knutson, has a certain modest tendency. In our brief phone interview, the Sierra Club Chapter Coordinator preempted every perfect phrase with the qualifier, "I don't really know how to explain this." In thirty minutes that we talked, I concluded that Andrea's various contributions on the environmental front are equaled by her sense of humor, varied interests and unassuming nature.

As Chapter Coordinator, Andrea performs a number of important functions; her duties are a catchall, combining customer support, activism and fund raising. Currently she is extending her skills to the online sphere, coordinating a Web-based auction to raise money for the local office.

Philosophically speaking, Andrea's goal is to "change the environmental views of the population at large." She has worked tirelessly to form alliances with groups whose views have traditionally fallen at the opposite pole of the environmental debate.

Recently, as a member of the Wyoming-based Powder River Basin Resource Council, she worked to educate outfitters, ranchers and farmers about the benefits of environmental protection and activism to their livelihoods. At the ground level, Andrea has participated in several instrumental road assessments, contributing to the protection of thousands of acres of wilderness backcountry.

One story that stood out from the rest was her role in the closing of an unauthorized road on Casper Mountain to motorized vehicles, and other such roads in the Big Horns. According to federal law, an area cannot be granted protected status if it has been significantly impacted by motorized vehicles; and Casper Mountain, a sentinel standing guard above Wyoming's central plains, had been heavily affected by the blazing of new, recreational "roads" along its flanks. This was true of many areas in the Big Horns as well. Although no sanction for construction or continued use of these roads had ever been given --and many were little more than two strips of matted underbrush leading nowhere-- some still appeared on NFS maps.

Andrea and her colleagues worked tirelessly to assess areas, reexamine maps and reevaluate the impacts in an attempt to correct this self-perpetuating governmental loophole. And, although this is certainly still a hotly debated issue, their efforts have led to closure of several roads and increased public pressure during the current revision process to protect roadless, wild places.

Having grown up on a small farm outside of Sheridan, Wyoming, Andrea brings a pragmatic, agricultural perspective to the sometimes overzealous, "green" idealism of conservation. Her family grew their own food, hunted for their own meat and sustained themselves on the bounty of the land. Because of these early experiences, Andrea believes that she is able to effectively understand the middle ground between the views of staunch environmentalists and long-time landholders like ranchers, farmers and homesteaders.

A few of Andrea's favorite pastimes are backpacking, mountain biking, restoring antique furniture and hanging out with her husband, Randy, and her children Ian, Carly and Terra. Her oldest daughter, Cheryl, lives in San Francisco. Her interest in photography has led her to many interesting, sometimes heart-stopping experiences. While taking black-and-white stills on the second floor of the Old Colt Mansion outside Sheridan, Wyoming, she noticed that a female bobcat was intensely watching her every move through an adjacent window. Andrea coolly descended the stairs as the cat descended the tree outside, maintaining eye contact with the cat every step of the way. The cat did not flinch, matching every step, like a shadow sliding down the slope just feet from the window.

Andrea, never moving her eyes off the now-growling cat, ordered her children out the back window. She could see that the female was carrying milk and must be denning in the dark basement. When they had safely reached the car, Andrea quietly left the building, the cat appearing through a shadow cast by the old mansion. It laid down on the porch and continued to watch until the humans had left. All in a day’s work for a freelance photographer.

Andrea's devotion, tireless efforts and unique perspective provide the Rocky Mountain Chapter with an energetic and progressive force. Although her goal is change - subtle change - her feet are firmly planted upon the ground she so devotedly strives to protect.