Rocky Mountain National Park Lyceum Series Continues on February 27

Date: February 22, 2010
Contact: Kyle Patterson, 970-586-1363

“Wilderness: Of What Avail Are Forty Freedoms Without A Blank Spot On The Map?”

Saturday, February 27, 7:00 p.m.  –   Ute Life in the Forest, Then and Now

Orvid Roland McCook, Sr., Uncompahgre Ute, will present “Ute Life in the Forest.”  Mr. McCook will provide a look into the Utes’ lifestyle in the Rocky Mountains during the 1800s and the Utes’ lifestyle on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation today.  He will also include their close relationship with wilderness. Born and raised on the Ute Reservation, he is a member of the Northern Ute Tribe, specifically the Uncompahgre Band.

Roland is retired from the Federal Government in Vernal, Utah, and the Indian Service located on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Fort Duchesne, Utah. He was elected to the Ute Tribe leadership and served as the Vice-Chair and Chairman during his term of 9 ½ years.  Presently, he sits as the President of the Friends of the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose, Colorado, and as the Vice-Chair of the Smithsonian Institution’s Repatriation Review Committee in Washington, DC.

In March, 2009, President Obama signed legislation providing additional protection to Rocky Mountain National Park by designating most of the park’s backcountry as wilderness, which encompasses roughly 95 percent of the park. Park staff joined the gateway communities of Grand Lake and Estes Park in welcoming the passage by the Congress of the wilderness designation for the park’s backcountry. This was the culmination of an effort that began in 1974 by President Richard Nixon and was jump started in recent years through the efforts of many. 

The theme of the 2010 Lyceum Series is “Wilderness: Of What Avail Are Forty Freedoms Without A Blank Spot On The Map?” the famous quote from Aldo Leopold.  This year’s series will focus on how wilderness influences what we do as stewards of this incredible national park. Speakers will highlight what wilderness means spiritually, physically, as part of naturally functioning systems, as part of our psyche as a nation, and how it guides our decisions on management decisions at Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Lyceum schedule runs through May. Financial support for the lyceum series is provided by the park’s nonprofit partner, the Rocky Mountain Nature Association.  Programs are free and open to the public.  They are held at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center auditorium in Rocky Mountain National Park.

For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park please call [phone].