Mission: The RI advances the understanding and resolution of complex environmental and natural resource challenges in the Mountain West. We Support stakeholder-driven solutions to environmental challenges by conducting and communicating relevant research and promoting collaborative decision making.

Picture of Ruckelshaus Institute publications

A group of people discussing on a trail

Logo for the outdoor recreation forum

Picture of four Western Confluence publications

Collaboration Program in Natural Resources (CPNR)

Mission: The CPNR in the Ruckelshaus Institute works with mid- and upper-career natural resource professionals to help them maximize their impact in complex and often contentious collaborative settings.

Picture of a group looking at a poster

Picture of two people walking in sage brush

Picture of the 2020 CPNR cohort

MacMillan Private Lands Stewardship

Mission: The MacMillan Private Lands Stewardship Program in the Ruckelshaus Institute will address the needs of private landowners by drawing on expertise and interdisciplinary collaborations across natural resource management, rangeland ecology, business and finance, law, decision-making, collaborative processes, and other fields.

Picture of two people riding horses with a ranch dog and cattle in the field

Map of private lands stewardship

The top of a producer perspective article by Kate Rasmussen

Picture of the entrance of a ranch

Wyoming Conservation Corps

Mission: Promote individual development, stewardship, and education through localized national service. WCC continues this legacy by carrying out the highest caliber of service for Wyoming's public lands through AmeriCorps.

WCC crew members build an artificial beaver dam

WCC crew members having a conversation

WCC crew member rakes gravel on a slope

Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality (WORTH) Institute

Mission: The mission of the WORTH Initiative is to support, expand, and diversify Wyoming's economy through outdoor recreation, tourism, and hospitality industries.

A group of students sit together while camping

Cover of the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Report

Participants at a tourism summit stand around tables

Statistics about outdoor recreation in Wyoming

Biodiversity Institute

Mission: Foster the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of biological diversity through innovative research, education, and outreach and by engaging a broad audience in the scientific process.

A man helps a boy release a bird at an event

A group participates in a bat walk in Sheridan, Wyoming

In a group of naturalists, a woman looks through binoculars

Three people pose while removing invasive russian olives

Center for Rural Community Resilience & Innovation

Mission: Our goal is to work along side Wyoming communities to better understand, plan for, and respond to diverse drivers of change so that they can thrive and innovate in the future.

People meeting at an Otterspace talk.

Buses and Bison in Wyoming.

A group of people at a conference in Jackson

Conference in Jackson, Wyoming.

Centers and Institutes