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The Ruckelshaus Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, advances the understanding and resolution of complex environmental and natural resources challenges and supports stakeholder-driven solutions to environmental challenges by conducting and communicating relevant research and promoting collaborative decision making.
Our collaborative solutions work supports natural resource stakeholders, policy makers, and managers in making decisions about the future through trainings, forums, and decision-making support services. Learn more
This program addresses the needs of 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. Learn more
This collaborative initiative makes relevant data and information available to planners, policy makers, leaders, and the public to support effective maintenance of Wyoming's open spaces and working landscapes. Learn more
Ruckelshaus Institute publications are a valuable regional resource supporting decisions and management for complex natural resource issues. Learn more
October 15-16, 2022
The Collective, 100 S 2nd St
Laramie, Wyoming
Two years after the Mullen Fire burned 170,000 acres in and around Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, we're coming together to ask: what does the transformative power of fire mean to Laramie's human and natural communities?
Saturday will feature education booths, hands-on fire crafts, a panel on the Mullen Fire's impacts, and a storytelling event on the theme of "Living with Fire" presented by Tales at the Taphouse. Sunday will feature a community hike through the burn zone with opportunity for reflection and learning. This event is interactive, interdisciplinary, community-centered, free and open to the public. Learn more >
The Ruckelshaus Institute convened a collaborative process to generate policy recommendations for renewable energy siting and permitting in Wyoming. The group met nine times between December 2020 and July 2021. In fall 2021, the group released ten recommendations directed at state leadership. View the project website >
May 19-20, 2022
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Cody, Wyoming
Hosted by the University of Wyoming College of Law and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources
This two-day event celebrated the world's first national park and explored the past, present, and future of Yellowstone and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Recordings of all panels and keynotes now available on Vimeo. Learn more >
This report summarizes findings from a recent study by the School of Energy Resources and the Ruckelshaus Institute that explores Wyoming residents’ perspectives of energy development, including “social license,” or the level to which Wyoming residents support or oppose different forms and amounts of energy development. View the report >
William D. Ruckelshaus came to UW in 1993 at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson to serve as a founding chairman on the board of a new institute dedicated to collaborative problem solving for natural resource challenges. He was a proponent of bringing together diverse stakeholders—different kinds of people who would be affected by any management or policy decision—to engage in civil discourse about desired outcomes for natural resource challenges. The goal was to build inclusive, lasting decisions that could avoid future litigation.
More on William D. Ruckelshaus and the history of the Institute.
Donate to support the Ruckelshaus Institute mission.
University of Wyoming
Bim Kendall House
804 E Fremont St
Laramie, WY 82072
Phone: (307) 766-5080
Fax: (307) 766-5099
Email: haub.school@uwyo.edu
1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071
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