Wallace Stegner, a U alumnus who influenced environmental studies and writings throughout his life, continues to have an impact through a class dedicated to his memory.
The class, Wallace Stegner and Western Land, focuses on introducing students to the idea of land management policies.
Robert Keiter, director of the Wallace Stegner Law Center and an expert in environmental law, created and co-teaches the class. Keiter said it has been intensive for the nine students involved. As a trade-off, the students will receive six credit hours and have an influence in public land policy.
The class has taken the first half of Spring Semester to develop a plan for land management to present at an upcoming celebration hosted by the S.J. Quinney College of Law in Stegner’s honor. The student presentation will introduce attendees to the different perspectives of land management and possible legal actions regarding contested land. For instance, environmental groups filed lawsuits last month against Utah’s leases on public land used for coal and gas production.
“The tension around public land in Utah is high,” said Stephen Trimble, a Stegner fellow and author.
To prepare for the presentation, students read Stegner’s books and other conservation work from authors such as Edward Abbey. During Fall Break, the class took a trip to Southern Utah’s Grand National Park, Moab and Monticello to interview residents, commercial developers and environmentalists in the area.
“The opportunity for students to be exposed to land policy experience and real-world plans is rare,” Keiter said.
Tyler Telford, a student in honors English, is one of the nine students participating in the think-tank class.
Telford said he heard about the class from other students. He was a fan of Trimble’s work, so he decided to apply.
“A lot of it was reading at first,” Telford said. “But we got to meet and (talk) with influential people who were inspired by Stegner.”
Telford said think-tank classes are difficult because of the amount of time you have to commit and the level of group work students have to do, but overall it’s worth it.
“(Some) of my friends are (planning on) going into law, which appeals to me a bit, but I never seriously thought about it,” Telford said. “I’ll be applying to law school because of this class.”
The students plan to present their findings at the Wallace Stegner symposium March 6 at 2 p.m. in the Marriott University Park Hotel.