Who We Are
Our Current Board
Andrea Orabona
Retired WY Game and Fish Department nongame bird biologist, active with Red Desert Audubon Society, The Wildlife Society, and Wind River Backcountry Horsemen
Joe Quiroz
Formerly with the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service,, The Nature Conservancy, and with various nonprofit boards
John Mionczynski
Ethnobotanist, wildlife biologist, musician, active with the Native Memory Project and Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Foods
Craig Bromley
Retired Bureau of Land Management archeologist
Rev. Warren Murphy
Episcopal priest, conservationist, active with the Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming, the Wyoming Interfaith Network
Steff Kessler
Policy consultant, lobbyist, conservationist, active with the outdoor recreation community
Advisory Group
Friends of the Red Desert welcomes a diversity of input to help advise on our work and directions. We need to hear from the many users and stakeholders of the Red Desert. Please consider joining our group of Advisors, or let us know if interested in joining our Board of Directors.
This section is still under construction and names will soon be added - stay tuned!
Our Activities
Field Trips and Education
The Red Desert can be difficult to navigate! We offer field tours in the Red Desert for local officals and other stakeholders so that they can experience the wonders of the place and appreciate its value to all of Wyoming. We also provide other educational opportunities to build awareness and make connections.
Indigenous youth field trip
Building Partnerships
Management of our public lands can be complicated and even controversial. We believe there is more that unites us, as Wyomingites, than divides us – about the special places of the Red Desert. We seek to understand the interests of others in this landscape and find workable solutions that can ensure its sustainable future.
Stewardship
The Red Desert’s harsh climate can be unforgiving, and impacts from overuse in some areas are evident. We have started outreach to the Rock Springs BLM office to offer our help for restoring and mitigating impacts from camping, so that the special places people use can be available for future generations.
Todd Guenther, professor and historian provides his expertise