Oral Histories

No biographical information provided beyond what the subject offers in the interview.

Bruce Babbitt grew up in northern Arizona and has been an environmental advocate for most of his life. He holds degrees in geology, earth sciences, and law. Babbitt served as Arizona Attorney General from 1975-1978 and as Arizona Governor from 1978-1987. He was instrumental in the formulation and passage of the state's 1980 Groundwater Management Act. Babbitt served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior (SOI) from 1993-2001. During his tenure, he was responsible for implementing the Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP). Babbitt has contributed time, expertise and political capital to numerous ecosystem management programs and environmental protection efforts.

Archaeologist Jan Balsom has devoted her career to preserving Grand Canyon and the resources within it. She started working in Grand Canyon as a graduate student at Arizona State University, becoming a seasonal employee of Grand Canyon National Park in 1982 and serving as the Park Archaeologist from 1984-1995. She has held several leadership positions, including Deputy Chief of Science and Resource Management and, since 2016, Senior Advisor to the Office of the Superintendent. Balsom is a leading researcher on the state of cultural resources in Grand Canyon.

Cliff Barrett was Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) in 1981 and again in 1985. He began his career at Reclamation in 1956 in the Office of Design and Construction in Denver. Barrett holds a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Denver. He has been involved with the GCDAMP since its inception.

Angelita Bulletts represented the Kaibab Paiute Tribe and the Southern Paiute Consortium during the Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Beginning in 1991, she was involved in Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES) and in the early years of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG). After several years as Kaibab Paiute Tribal Administrator, Bulletts held resource management positions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS). In August 2020, she will start a new position as District Manager for the BLM Southern Nevada District. Bulletts holds a BA in Anthropology from Northern Arizona University.

Anne Castle was Assistant Secretary--Water and Science at U.S. Department of the Interior from 2009 to 2014. She was the Secretary's Designee to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program and in this capacity acted as Chair of the Adaptive Management Work Group. Castle practiced water law in Colorado from 1987-2009 and earned J.D. and B.S. degrees from the University of Colorado.

Anne Castle was Assistant Secretary--Water and Science at U.S. Department of the Interior from 2009 to 2014. She was the Secretary's Designee to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program and in this capacity acted as Chair of the Adaptive Management Work Group. Castle practiced water law in Colorado from 1987-2009 and earned J.D. and B.S. degrees from the University of Colorado.

Kurt Dongoske is an archaeologist who has been involved with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive management Program (GCDAMP) since 1991, when he was hired by the Hopi Tribe as a tribal archaeologist. He has acted as the Technical Work Group (TWG) representative on GCDAMP for the Hopi Tribe and the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association (CREDA), and has twice been TWG Chair. Dongoske is currently employed as Director and Principal Investigator for the Zuni Cultural Resource Enterprise, and represents the Zuni Tribe on TWG.

Lawrence David "Dave" Garrett began working with Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt in 1995 to implement adaptive management on the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. He became Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) Chief on the Center's official activation in November 1996 and held that position until 1998. Garrett was Dean of the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University from 1984 to 1995. Prior to this he had worked for the U.S. Forest Service for almost twenty years, directing research facilities throughout the country. He was an early supporter of the adaptive management model in state and federal resource management settings.

Paul Grams has worked directly with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) since 2008, as a program manager and research hydrologist at the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC). His involvement in Grand Canyon studies goes back to 1991, when he took a Colorado River research trip as part of an undergraduate science course. Grams is an expert on the effects of dams on river geomorphology and sediment transport. He holds a BA in Geology from Middlebury College, an MS in Geology from Utah State University, and a PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Chris Harris' involvement with GCDAMP goes back the early 1990s. During Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES), he monitored the Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process on behalf of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). Before his fifteen years with ADWR, he worked with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Harris joined the Colorado River Board of California in 2000 and is currently Executive Director. He has represented ADWR and Colorado River Board of California on AMWG (Adaptive Management Work Group) and has worked closely with TWG (Technical Work Group).

Leslie James began her involvement with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program in 1999. For over twenty years, she has represented hydropower interests in the Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG). James has been Executive Director of the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association (CREDA) since 1998, and worked for Salt River Project (SRP) from 1978 to 1998. She served on the City of Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission for nine years. James holds degrees in Political Science and Paralegal from Northern Arizona University.

Leigh Kuwanwisiwma was Director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office for thirty years. He is a member of the Hopi Tribe. Kuwanwisiwma has been involved with adaptive management in the Grand Canyon since around 1989. He was part of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process that resulted in implementation of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP), and at the time of this interview continued to represent Hopi interests on the Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG).

Robert S. "Bob" Lynch practices environmental law in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been involved with Glen Canyon Dam issues since the early 1980s. Born in Michigan and raised in Tucson, Lynch completed undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona and earned a Master of Laws from George Washington University. He was employed at the U.S. Department of Justice before moving to Phoenix, where he worked on Environmental Impact Statements for the Central Arizona Project. Lynch has consulted on many issues concerning hydropower and water rights, including some related to Glen Canyon Dam. He has served on the Federal Water Rights Task Force and numerous boards, associations and committees.

Mary Orton acted as facilitator and mediator of the multi-stakeholder Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) from 1997 to 2019. Her specialty is environmental conflict resolution. Before her involvement with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP), she worked in non-profit management. Orton is famous among longtime GCDAMP members for her involvement in the memorable genesis of the AMWG's vision and mission statements, and for her significant contributions to the success of the group's collaborative process. 

Aquatic biologist Bill Persons was involved in fisheries research during both phases of Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES), the program that laid the groundwork for adaptive management in Grand Canyon. He has been an active participant in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) since it was implemented. Persons spent most of his professional life with Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), representing that agency on the GCDAMP Technical Work Group (TWG). He retired from AZGFD in 2009, but continued his involvement in fisheries research at Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) for six years. Persons is currently a TWG alternate, representing recreational anglers for Trout Unlimited.

Andre Potochnik was involved with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) as a stakeholder representative from the program's 1996 inception until 2010. He participated on behalf of Grand Canyon River Guides (GCRG), one of the two stakeholding organizations that represented recreational interests. He was instrumental in the formulation of the GCDAMP mission, vision and strategic plan. Potochnik is a geologist specializing in sediment science. He has been a river guide with Grand Canyon Dories since 1973, work that is a major component of his environmental advocacy.

Geomorphologist John C. "Jack" Schmidt has been doing research in Grand Canyon for more than thirty years. He was Chief of the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) from August 2011 to November 2014. Schmidt was Professor of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University, where he was Director of the Center for Colorado River Studies. He earned a PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

D. Randolph "Randy" Seaholm began his work with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in 1977, and started working on Colorado River water issues in 1990. Seaholm started his association with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) in 2000. He was the designated Technical Work Group (TWG) representative for the State of Colorado, and an Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) alternate. He retired as CWCB Chief of Water Supply Protection in 2009. Although he stepped down from official AMWG duties upon his professional retirement, Seaholm still consults for the State of Colorado on issues related to GCDAMP and is a TWG alternate. He holds a BS in Hydrology and Watershed Science from Colorado State University.

Lawrence E. "Larry" Stevens has been researching the Colorado River in Grand Canyon as a biologist and ecologist since 1974. He has been professionally involved with the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC). He is Senior Ecologist for the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, through which he is actively involved in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP). A "commercial river runner and a Grand Canyon devotee," Stevens also directs the Springs Stewardship Institute at the Museum of Northern Arizona.

Aquatic ecologist Richard "Rich" Valdez has been associated with GCDAMP (Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program) since 1989, when he led a study on endangered humpback chub for GCES, the program's predecessor. Valdez began studying Colorado River fish in 1968, and is an expert on humpback chub and other native species. He has been associated with the environmental consulting companies BIO-WEST and SWCA for much of his career. In addition to GCDAMP, Valdez has contributed his expertise to the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and other river basin recovery efforts.

Carl J. Walters is an architect of the modern adaptive management concept. Walters advocates a "management as experimentation" approach that recognizes uncertainty and serendipity as an essential condition in natural resources management. He began teaching at University of British Columbia in 1969 and is currently Professor Emeritus. Walters became associated in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) in 1996, when he began conducting adaptive management ecosystem modeling workshops for the program. He was involved until 2010.

Dave Wegner has a background in biology and geomorphology specializing in river basin management. He worked for the US Bureau of Reclamation during his early career and led the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES) program from 1982- 1996, which was the precursor to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP). Wegner was instrumental in integrating the adaptive management concept into the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 and what became the GCDAMP. While working at USBR, Wegner interacted frequently with federal legislators and their staff. After leaving USBR he became a private consultant. From 2009-2014 he held staff leadership positions on the U.S. House of Representatives Water and Power Subcommittee and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee.

Michael "Mike" Yeatts has been involved with adaptive management in the Grand Canyon since 1991, when he started working in the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. Yeatts represented the Hopi Tribe during Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES). He was part of the Writing Team for the 1995 EIS on Glen Canyon Dam Operations, ensuring that the perspectives of the Hopi Tribe were incorporated into the final document. Yeatts was the Hopi representative in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP), acting as both Technical Work Group (TWG) representative and Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) alternate.