Department of Geography

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:

• Wright, John B. In Press. Saving the Ranch: Conservation Easements in the American West. Book with Island Press, Washington, DC. Co-authored with Anthony Anella.
• ___ 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. "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. 2000. "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 Imperilled 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