JHStyle Magazine Winter/Spring 2023-24
The premier resource for Jackson Hole WY residents and visitors, featuring restaurants, profiles on business leaders and local store owners, conservation efforts and skiing the backcountry.
The premier resource for Jackson Hole WY residents and visitors, featuring restaurants, profiles on business leaders and local store owners, conservation efforts and skiing the backcountry.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
PUSHING BOUNDARIES<br />
“There is a strong connection<br />
to place and stewardship<br />
ethic in the community,<br />
so there is an opportunity<br />
for a renewed and<br />
broader movement. With all<br />
the community support and<br />
resources we have here, why<br />
shouldn’t we set the example?”<br />
— SHEILA WALSH REDDY<br />
are also important for wildlife, for instance as areas<br />
for migration. Even here (in the Greater Yellowstone<br />
Ecosystem) we have opportunities for improvement,<br />
like improving the maintenance of septic systems<br />
as part of improving water quality and making<br />
residential living and transportation areas more<br />
compatible with wildlife. The exciting thing is that<br />
many of these improvements are happening already<br />
thanks to community efforts.<br />
From a position of leadership, how can we create<br />
and motivate more conservation-minded people?<br />
There is a sense of pride in protecting nature. Being<br />
a steward of the natural world is part of having a<br />
special connection to place. There is a strong connection<br />
to place and stewardship ethic in the community,<br />
so there is an opportunity for a renewed and<br />
broader movement. With all the community support<br />
and resources we have here, why shouldn’t we set<br />
the example? We can begin by seeing our problems<br />
as opportunities. The issues are hard and complex,<br />
but conservation work doesn’t have to be a tradeoff.<br />
We can seek solutions that recognize the interconnection<br />
between conservation and other issues,<br />
and set an example of what it means to be a modern<br />
steward.<br />
Although new to the local climbing community, can<br />
you describe how you jumped in and made a difference<br />
so far?<br />
I joined the Teton Climber’s Coalition, and was asked<br />
to be on the board in 2022. With the coalition, I organized<br />
a celebration of the centennial of 1923’s first<br />
(known) all-female ascent of the Grand Teton. Mentorship<br />
is so important for women, and the centennial<br />
was a great opportunity to promote women, and<br />
to provide a feeling of belonging in the mountains<br />
and in climbing, and inspire others to get out there.<br />
How can climbing fit into helping other women<br />
achieve positions of leadership and strength?<br />
Climbing and pushing oneself in the mountains gives<br />
such a sense of accomplishment. It’s something you<br />
bring back to professional life, and especially for<br />
women. When you know you can make good decisions<br />
under pressure in the mountains, you transfer<br />
that confidence into making hard decisions and<br />
being a leader in the professional world, too.<br />
As a mother, what are your hopes for the example<br />
you’re setting for your daughter?<br />
We didn’t want to wait any longer on getting here,<br />
because we wanted our daughter to have experiences<br />
we wished we had as kids. We have noticed<br />
an impact: she talks about moose and elk on a regular<br />
basis. Being here is giving her more first-hand<br />
exposure to the issues I work on — climate and forest<br />
fire management, for example — and prompting<br />
her to ask hard questions about these issues. And<br />
now she loves to ski — she recently told us that she<br />
had a dream about skiing. n<br />
36<br />
<strong>JHStyle</strong><strong>Magazine</strong>.com | WINTER • SPRING <strong>2023</strong>-20<strong>24</strong>
Change language