Meet Jessica Wiese, Mountain Journal's New Executive Director

Intermeshing all of the above are private lands. While Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and five national forests, and three national wildlife refuges, a huge swath of federal Bureau of Land Management tracts, state lands and the Wind River Reservation represent the bulk, the ecological intactness of around six million acres of private land play a critical role in the health of the mosaic.

In particular: ranches and farms and other private holdings, most of which are found in river valleys that represent some of the most vital wildlife habitat and they serve as crossroads for species moving between high and low country.

A person who has spent a lot of time pondering the puzzle pieces is Jessie Wiese, who for several years served as the regional manager in southwest Montana for the Montana Land Reliance, which, through conservation easements, has protected about 1.3 million acres of private land in perpetuity since 1978. In late 2022, Ms. Wiese became Mountain Journal’s new executive director and she has a special place in her heart, she says, for the culture and conservation contributions of rural communities. 

At a time when market pressures, soaring land values, purchase offers coming from sometimes unscrupulous developers, generational turnover, and fatigue are besetting owners of ag lands, Wiese joined MoJo in part, she says, because she recognizes this journalism entity understands the importance of working landscapes and their role in maintaining the connectivity of the Greater Yellowstone. Another recent addition to MoJo is new managing editor Joseph T. O'Connor. Read about him by clicking here.

“When I came on the MoJo board, I heard our founder Todd Wilkinson once tell a ranching couple who has property near Yellowstone that one goal of MoJo is ‘to help keep you on the land,’” said MoJo Board President Hank Perry. “I think all of us recognized in Jessie a younger, big picture thinker who has experience with the challenges and opportunities available to make that happen. She is smart, compassionate and has solid connections with farmers and ranchers. She speaks their language. And many of her conservation efforts with Montana Land Reliance focused on not only protecting habitat and open space but the vital importance of the human component. The insight these landowners possess that is invaluable and once it’s gone you can’t bring it back.” 

One of MoJo’s key initiatives is using journalism to make the case for a first-ever ecosystem strategy that champions innovative thinking based on science, the importance of maintaining healthy private lands and economies. Knitting them together is the ecosystem wildlife corridors that facilitate epic migrations of elk, pronghorn and mule deer. The breathtaking concentration of wildlife-rich public lands in Greater Yellowstone are second to none. A major component of our reporting will be highlighting the important contributions made by private landowners in keeping the region intact.

As Wiese says, helping the public understand what’s at stake if private land continues to rapidly be converted to sprawl is one of the special roles journalism can play.  If you looked at Wiese’s CV, it would be easy to conclude she’s spent much of her adult life thinking about how boundaries can be transcended. College-trained and holding a masters in biology, she’s worn many hats during her professional progression. (She also hikes, skis, runs, bikes, fly-fishes, engages in yoga for physical and mental wellness, admits having a wicked weakness for pastries, and knows how to replaced barbed-wire fences with wildlife-friendly strands).

For over a decade, Wiese called Big Sky home and there she had a front row seat to growth issues that today are having visible negative spillover effects on adjacent public lands, quality of human life and, of course, wildlife and water. She now lives in Bozeman. With Montana Land Reliance, she assisted the organization’s impressive work in developing close relationships with landowners across southwest Montana who put their property under easement. As an avid outdoorsperson, she’s explored many corners of the ecosystem and Northern Rockies and she has served on the boards of different non-profits involved with conservation. 

“Jessie has an amazing ability to talk with a wide range of different people and, in particular, energize people who want to do right by the land and are thinking about a legacy that will outlive them,” says Wilkinson. “Great storytelling, of the kind we try in excel in sharing with our readers, begins with being a great listener and meeting people where they are in their life, regardless of age. If bringing Jessie on board sends any message, it’s that we’re listening to the voices of private landowners whose contributions to conservation have been underappreciated by the public or unsung. We're lucky to have her join this talented team of plucky staff and board. And, at the same time, Jessie, being of a younger generation, has her ear tuned to the ideas of those outside the sphere of conservation as we’ve known it to date. Heeding the wisdom and experience of elders of all stripes with fearless spirit of younger voices is a powerful combination. Greater Yellowstone is at a crucial crossroad.” 

Mountain Journal: Your heart is in the West. How did you get here and what's kept you in Greater Yellowstone?

JESSICA WIESE: I am originally from North Dakota and grew up coming to Montana for my vacations with my family. We did not take big luxurious vacations but instead focused on getting in to national parks and enjoying some skiing in the winter. I distinctly remember a moment driving in the Gallatin Canyon at about age 14 before it became the thoroughfare it is today, reveling at the beauty and decided I would do everything I could to protect this place. I see working to protect Greater Yellowstone as an opportunity for everyone to make contributions—an opportunity for each of us to shape what this diverse wildlife ecosystem looks like in the future. I'm still here because I believe it to be one of the most spectacular and unique places left on the planet. 

MoJo: In terms of some of the most formative experiences you've had regarding your desire to have fun in the outdoors and be a conservationist advocating for the protection of nature, please share a few that have shaped you. 

WIESE:  When I moved to the area it felt a lot less crowded. It seemed easy to go out in the woods and not run into another person, and to be able to find silence easily. I spent a lot of time backpacking and Nordic skiing in areas where not many traveled. Now, when I go to these same areas I travel through rural subdivision and development and I find full trailheads. I am realizing how finite the resource of "wild" is in our world and how quickly that can be eroded. It makes me eager to encourage the citizens and elected officials of the Greater Yellowstone to consider smart planning efforts as it relates to development and recreation. 

MoJo: Prior to joining MoJo, you worked for years as a conservation specialist with the Montana Land Reliance, organization that has played a leading role in protecting ranch and farm land vital to wildlife, working lands, open space and the culture of the rural West. How has your tenure there shaped your perspective on what's at stake in Greater Yellowstone and the Rockies?

WIESE:  I gained an acute understanding of the imminent threats Greater Yellowstone is facing and the vital role good stewardship of private land has in keeping the ecosystem functional. Population statistics are staggering. Financial models for farms and ranches are increasingly tightly margined due to market pressures and successional issues. Ultimately, if we lose the ranch and farm land in Greater Yellowstone we will lose the ability of the system to circulate like the vital systems of a human body. 

MoJo: You live in Bozeman but earlier you were based in Big Sky, which is dealing with explosive growth issues and there is an ongoing real estate frenzy to “build it out.” You've spoken of how you have some great friends there.  How would you articulate the challenge of waking people up to the magnitude of change that is registering on the land? People pour into Big Sky every year and become smitten with the majesty of the mountains but they might not realize that in order for this place to survive the inundation, more people need to become conservation advocates?

WIESE: It's always hard to envision beyond our lifetimes, and sometimes even our time now in a place. Most people who live in Big Sky (and in Greater Yellowstone for that matter) have not spent their lives here, and so cannot reflect on even the relatively recent past. Even with 22 years here, this includes me. When a landscape is changed at the level that Big Sky has seen, just in the last 40 years, and it actually is no longer recognizable via satellite imagery, it can be difficult to comprehend. Big Sky lies in one of the most crucial areas of the Greater Yellowstone, linking two wilderness areas and providing a major life line for wildlife that migrate through the private lands. Big Sky also is an important headwaters area for the Gallatin River. I often think in areas like Big Sky, where stakes are the highest and the ecosystem is extremely fragile, it can be easy to turn away from some of what has been happening because, frankly, it's too difficult to look at every day. I believe that every person that visits Big Sky reflects on its beauty and grandeur afterward. I believe the people that live in the community, and those that visit, find a piece of Big Sky in their heart. The question is:  Do they understand the urgency of their call to action? 

MoJo: Greater Yellowstone is a region that encompasses three states—Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.  What informs your expansive view?

Being out in nature invigorates Wiese and she says it inspires her to want to give back by protecting it.

WIESE: Well, MoJo founder Todd Wilkinson lives in Montana but he talks often about how fond he is of Wyoming where he started his reporting career in the West in Jackson Hole. And he reminds me of the attitude among Wyomingites that the real state begins when you leave Jackson. He loves Wyoming and together we’ll be headed out on a circumnavigation of Greater Yellowstone so I can get better acquainted with areas and communities in the Wyoming part of the ecosystem. The same with Idaho—the part of Greater Yellowstone that stretches from Island Park south to almost the state line with Utah. We want people in those corners of Greater Yellowstone to know we’re listening and haven’t forgotten them. The same challenges to rural communities and dramatic land changes we see in Montana are happening there, too. The way I see it is we’re all in this together and their opinions matter. My dream is that we all come together and rally for this region that has a place in our hearts.

MoJo: Please share a couple of anecdotes about conservation efforts you've been involved with that left you inspired.

WIESE: I am blessed to have worked with absolutely incredible families in Greater Yellowstone—long time ranch owners and newer landowners in the region alike. One family was a fifth-generation cattle ranching family in the Sweetwater Valley. We spent years determining how to structure a successful conservation easement, navigating conversations around sometimes competing goals and generations of land use and owners. To complete this large easement, many a cup of coffee was shared, many a breakfast at the local diner. 

Another group I really loved working with was a national advisory committee of younger generation professionals that loved Montana and wanted to give back. Each individual involved is working demanding jobs, raising families and still donated meaningful time to engage the next generation with conservation more effectively. 

Lastly, a collaborative group I worked with in the Ruby Valley showed me what trust based, goals oriented collaborative conservation across a group of diverse stakeholders can look like. 

MoJo: What excites you about your new leadership role with a non-profit, public interest organization like MoJo that believes positive things can happen by engaging people who love the natural world?

WIESE: MoJo can give a voice to the wildlife and wildlands of the region in a way that no other entity can. We have an ability to reach not just the local population but also readers all over the world (in over 220 countries—and counting). After working in one aspect of conservation the last several years I increasingly recognize the need for the bigger picture stories to be told, stories that span issues and regions and invite and compel readers to ponder their place in nature and what it means for the health of the environment, their community, their personal wellbeing and roles each of us plays as stewards.