Skip navigation.
New Mexico State University

Department of Geography

Dr. John B. Wright, Department Head

Phone: (505) 646-4806

Office: 104, Breland Hall

E-mail: jowright@nmsu.edu

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. Geography. University of California at Berkeley, 1990.
    Dissertation: Conserving Rocky Mountain Places: The Planning, Development, and Protection of Privately-Owned Lands in Colorado and Utah.
  • M. A. Geography. University of Montana, 1983.
    Thesis: A Lake on a Mountain Pass: Land-Use Capability of the Georgetown Lake Area, Montana.
  • B. A. Geography. University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1973.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

  • Environmental Planning
  • Parks and Biological Reserves
  • Landscape Conservation
  • Cultural Geography

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

  • ___ Seeking Good Ground: Cultural Roots of Land Conflicts in the American West. Book under contract for University of Chicago Press (Center for American Places Series), Chicago, Ill.
  • ___ and Carol Campbell, 2008. "Landscape Change in Hispano and Chicano Villages of New Mexico. " Geographical Review Vol. 98(4) pgs. 551-565.
  • ___ and Carol Campbell, 2008. "Moorish Cultural Landscapes of Las Alpujarras, Spain." Focus Vol. 51(1). pgs. 25-30. American Geographical Society.
  • ___ 2008. "Mountains." In the Encyclopedia of Rural America. 2nd Edition pgs.649-652. Edited by Gary Goreham, Grey House Publishing, New York.
  • ___ and Anthony Anella, 2008. Preserving Critical Lands in New Mexico. Book. State of New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, Local Government Division. Santa Fe.
  • ___ 2007. "Sri Pada: Sacred Pilgrimage Mountain of Sri Lanka." Focus Vol. 50(2), pgs. 1-6.
  • ___ and Anthony Anella, 2007. "Saving the Ranch: Fresh Eyes on Taxes, Development, and Conservation Easements." Rangelands. Society for Range Management. June, pgs. 13-20.
  • ___ 2007. "Rivers of Discontent: Wealthy Landowners and Locals Wade into the Ditch." High Country News. April 16th, 2007 issue.
  • ___ and Havstad K., Peters D., Skaggs R., Brown J., Bestlemeyer B., Fredriskson, E., Herrick J., 2007. "Ecological Services to and from Rangelands in the United States." Ecological Economics. Doi: 10.1016/j.ecoecon.2006.12.001
  • ___ and Paul F. Starrs, 2006. "Utopia, Dystopia, and Sublime Apocalypse in Montana Church Universal and Triumphant." Geographical Review Vol. 95(1), pgs. 97-121.
  • ___ 2005. Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region. By Ethan R. Yorgason. Book Review. Journal of Cultural Geography Vol. 22(2), pgs.147-148.
  • ___ 2005. Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America. By Richard Brewer. Book Review. Geographical Review Vol. 95(1) pgs. 97-121.
  • ___ 2005. The Natural West: Environmental History in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. By Dan Flores. Book Review. Historical Geography Vol. 32, pgs. 20-22.
  • ___ 2004. Saving the Ranch: Conservation Easements in the American West. Book with Island Press, Washington, DC. Co-authored with Anthony Anella.
  • ___ 2004. The Hispano Homeland. By Richard Nostrand. Book Review. Geographical Review.
  • ___ In Press. "The Increasing Role of Agricultural Organizations in Land Conservation," In Press. Book Chapter, in Advancing Land Conservation: The Economics, Ethics, and Politics of Protecting Private Land." Edited by Julie Gustanski and Elizabeth Brabec, Island Press, Washington, DC.
  • ___ 2003. Savage Dreams: A Journey into the Landscape Wars of the American West, by Rebecca Solnit. Book Review. Annals of the Association of American Geographers
  • ___ 2003. "Land Tenure: The Spatial Musculature of the American West," Book Chapter, in Western Places,
    American Myths," Edited by Gary Hausladen. University of Nevada Press, Reno. Pgs. 85-110.
  • ____2002. "El Santuario de Chimayo: New Mexico's Lourdes." Focus. Pgs. 9-14. American Geographical
    Society.
  • ____2001. "Conservation's Radical Center in Geography," The Geographical Review. Special Issue:
    "Doing Fieldwork." Vol. 91, Nos. 1&2, Pgs. 9-18.
  • ____ 2000. Montana Places. Book - environmental essays. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
  • ____ 2000. "The Santa Fe Conservation Trust: Protecting Northern New Mexico's Complex Land Tenure
    Pattern," Book Chapter, in: Protecting the Land: Conservation Easements Past, Present and Future.
    Pgs. 443-450. Editors, Julie Gustanski & Rod Squires, Island Press, Washington DC.
  • _____2000, and Robert J. Czerniak. "The Rising Importance of Voluntary Methods of Land Use Control in Planning," Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 19: 419-423.
  • _____1998. Montana Ghost Dance: Essays on Land and Life. Book. University of Texas Press, Austin.
  • _____ 1998. "The Role of Conservation Easement Sites in Biogeographic and Biological Research,"
    Environmental Conservation, Vol. 25, No. 2, pgs 95-98.
  • ____ and Robert Czerniak, 1998 "Open Space in New Mexico: An Analysis of Land Trusts and Land-Use Regulations." Southwestern Geographer, Vol. 2, pgs 1-14.
  • ____ 1997. "Hispano Forestry, Land Grants and the U.S. Forest Service in Northern New Mexico."
    Focus, Vol. 44, No. 1, pgs 10-14.
  • _____1994, "Tax Implications of Conservation Easements." Real Estate Review. Vol 25, No.2, pgs 75-78.
  • _____1994. "Designing and Applying Conservation Easements." Journal of the American Planning Association. Vol. 50, No.3, pgs 380-388.
  • _____1993. Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West, Book on environmental planning,.
    University of Texas Press, Austin.
  • _____1993. "Conservation Easements: An Analysis of Donated Development Rights. Journal of the American Planning Association." Vol. 59, No. 4., pgs. 487-493.
  • _____1993. "Cultural Geography and Land Trusts in Colorado and Utah." Geographical Review. Vol. 83, No.3, Pgs 269-279.
  • _____1993. "The Real River That Runs Through It: Montana's Imperiled Blackfoot." Focus. Vol 43, No.1,
    Pgs 18-21.
  • _____ and Stewart Hilts, 1993. "An Overview of Landscape Conservation Efforts in the United States and Canada." Operational Geographer. Vol. 11, No.3: pgs 10-14
  • _____ 1992. " Land Trusts in the USA," Land Use Policy, Vol. 9 No.2, pgs. 82-86, Survey, England.
  • _____ and Anita Miller, 1991. " Preservation of Agricultural Land and Open Space," Urban Lawyer, Vol. 23, No. 4, pgs 821-844.

GRANTS AND CONTRACTS:

GRANTS

  • Solely responsible for research and proposal writing which resulted in:
  • $400,000 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant; Alberton, Montana; 1980
  • $400,000 HUD Community Development Block Grant; St. Regis, Montana; 1979
  • $322,000 HUD Community Development Block Grant; Superior, Montana, 1979
  • $128,000 Various grants from the Economic Development Administration, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Montana State Forester's Office, Montana Highway Department, the Burlington Northern Railroad, and other sources; 1978-1982
  • $ 27,500 Montana Coal Tax Parks Program Grant, Land Conservation Strategy Preparation; Missoula County, Montana; 1985
  • $ 25,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grants for various recreation planning and park development projects; 1978-1982
  • $ 23,000 Historic Preservation Grant from the State of Montana; DeBorgia, Montana; 1981
  • $ 22,000 HUD Land-Use Planning grants for various projects; 1975-1982
  • $1,347,500 Total Grants

CONSULTING CONTRACTS

  • Over 100 landowner clients related to Conservation Easement Design
  • Dona Ana County, New Mexico
    County Comprehensive Plan Project - $105,000, 1993, with Robert Czerniak
  • Warner Brothers Studios
    Technical Advisor on Environmental Issues for the films,
    The Hour of Blue, The Core - with Mark Medoff
  • The Nature Conservancy
    40 conservation easement projects and 14 other ecological baseline studies in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana
  • The Montana Land Reliance
    16 conservation easement projects
  • The Land Trust Alliance
    Design of national survey of land trust activities - 1984
  • Land Trusts and Private Landowners
    Master plans, land-use assessments, ranch management, open space strategies, conservation easement consulting, Southern Rockies Agricultural Land Trust
  • Corporations
    Land exchange facilitation, Superfund analysis
  • Cities and Counties
    Land conservation strategies, conservation easements, agricultural land preservation programs, training seminars
  • Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
    Training workshops, procedural manual preparation, training workshops on voluntary techniques in land conservation
  • U.S. Forest Service
    Land exchange facilitation
  • Bureau of Land Management
    Land exchange facilitation

TEACHING INTERESTS:

  • Survey of Geography (GEOG 120)
  • Introduction to Planning and Community Development (PLN 201)
  • New Mexico and the American West (GEOG 325G)
  • Cultural Geography ( GEOG 363G)
  • Biogeography (GEOG 557)
  • Environmental Planning (GEOG 351)
  • Field Methods - graduate level (GEOG 583)
  • Research Design - graduate level (GEOG 501)

PERSONAL INFORMATION AND OTHER LINKS:

Awards, Honors, and Fellowships:

  • J. B. Jackson Prize - Association of American Geographers, 1993,
    for: Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West
  • Outstanding Publication of the Year - Geographic Society of Chicago, 1993,
    for: Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West
  • Spur Award - Finalist, Western Writers of America, 1993,
    for: Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West
  • 28th International Geographical Congress - Convener
    The Hague, Netherlands. August, 1996
  • Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance - Award for Excellence in Agricultural
    and Land Use Committee - 1999, 2000, 2001
  • Regents Fellowship, University of California at Berkeley, 1985-1989

Professional Associations:

  • President, New Mexico Geographical Society
  • Board Member - New Mexico Land Conservation Collaborative
  • American Planning Association
  • Association of American Geographers

The NMSU Geography Department would like to hear from you. We welcome your comments