For the final episode of my 2019 Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem miniseries, I interview Joe Scalia with the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance. Joe and his new organization have formed to provide an alternative voice for the Gallatin Range and surrounding wildlands in Montana.
They are advocating for the full 250,000 acres of roadless area in the Gallatin Mountain Range to be designated as federally protected wilderness (most closely aligned with alternative D in the recently revised Forest Service Management Plan) and are opposed to the Gallatin Forest Partnership and their compromise-based approach where they are working in conjunction with timber, mountain biking and snowmobiling interests. The Gallatin Forest Partnership is advocating for about 100,000 acres as recommended wilderness. In case you missed the last episode with Scott Brennan from The Wilderness Society (a member of the Gallatin Forest Partnership), I encourage you to have a listen to get a more complete picture.
Joe and I talk about mental health, his experience as a psychoanalyst, his love for wilderness, neo-capitalism and its grip on the modern wilderness and environmental movement, The Big Greens, wilderness protection philosophy for the modern age, the importance of the Gallatin Mountain Range and his organization, the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance where they are laying out a new bold vision for wilderness in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. To learn more about his organization, please visit www.gallatinyellowstonewilderness.org I had an interesting conversation with Joe deep in the Abosoroka-Beartooth Wilderness. I hope you enjoy the episode!