Episode 29: Kim Crumbo on Wolves, War, and Optimism
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Kim Crumbo, Senior Carnivore Advocate, Wildlands Network
Kim Crumbo leads Wildlands Network’s efforts to restore native carnivores to their rightful place on landscapes across the West. He works closely with diverse conservation partners and regional coalitions to engage scientists, communities, and elected leaders in the effort to secure species recovery and public support for wolves, bears, lynx, cougars, and other native carnivores.
Kim served 20 years with the National Park Service in Grand Canyon, first as a river ranger and later as Wilderness Coordinator. He also worked as a river guide for a decade, and as Utah Wilderness Coordinator for the Sierra Club for 2 years. Beginning in 2000, Kim assumed various roles with the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, including a stint as the northern representative for the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. Before working on rivers and in wilderness activism, he spent 4 years with the Navy’s SEAL Team One, completing two combat deployments in Vietnam.
Topics:
- Current status in the ongoing saga of the battle to protect wolves in the United States
- What 70 combat operations in Vietnam taught Kim about organizing in the conservation movement back home
- Massive outcry against wolf delisting attempts by current administration
- Conditional optimism and why it’s ok to have hope for the future (as long as you put your back into the work ahead!)
Extra Credit:
- The Saga of the Mexican Gray Wolf (el Lobo)
- Michigan Attorney General Opposes Delisting of Gray Wolves
- Science vs Policy: Future of the Mexican Wolf with David Parsons
- The Psychology of Wolf Fear and Loathing
Director of Digital Outreach (D.O.D.O.) for The Rewilding Institute
Host and Producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast
Jack started Rewilding work as Executive Director of Sky Island Alliance in the mid-1990’s, organizing the Sky Island Wildlands Network design, ripping up illegal roads on forest service lands, installing wolf acclimatization pens on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch & conducting howling surveys to help make way for the final stage of the Lobo reintroduction program in the Southwest.
Through the years, Jack has worked with Dave Foreman and the Rewilding Gang to further Rewilding initiatives and education.