During October 14–16, 2025, a coalition of North Dakota’s leading conservation organizations hosted a three-city film screening and discussion series featuring Walt Dabney, a nationally recognized public lands leader whose 43-year career spanned the National Park Service (NPS) and Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The series was presented by the Badlands Conservation Alliance, North Dakota Wildlife Federation, North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, North Dakota Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, North Dakota Chapter of The Wildlife Society, North Dakota Sierra Club, and the Dakota Resource Council.

The History and Future of America's Public Land with Walt Dabney was produced by Finley Holiday Productions for Canyonlands Natural History Association and Walt Dabney.

Walt Dabney

Walt Dabney, a retired park professional, began his career as a ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone and rose through leadership positions in Yosemite, Grand Teton, Everglades, Mount Rainier, and as Chief Ranger of the NPS in Washington, D.C. He later directed the Southeast Utah Group of parks and served as Director of Texas State Parks. Known for his expertise in law enforcement, search and rescue, fire management, and public land policy, Dabney continues to share his insights through teaching, leadership training, and public speaking.

Learn more about America’s Public Land, a group of concerned citizens raising awareness about the critical threats facing our shared public lands. Walt Dabney and Carey Dabney have created a public land presentation that exposes land transfer efforts.

“I am very much looking forward to coming to North Dakota and experiencing more of the state firsthand,” Dabney said. “In my program on the history and future of America’s public lands, I speak often about President Theodore Roosevelt’s extraordinary legacy in conservation and the protection of special places in perpetuity. Much of the land we enjoy today—and that many depend on for their livelihoods—would not exist without Roosevelt’s actions before he left office in 1909.

“Although he was from New York, it was his time in North Dakota that ignited his passion for the outdoors, hunting, and conservation. Without that experience here, I doubt he would have had the same commitment to public lands that we all now own, enjoy, and are able to access. On this trip, I am especially excited to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the first time. It is absolutely fitting that a national park bears his name in the very place that shaped his vision. I also look forward to revisiting the Badlands, another incredible and beautiful treasure that North Dakotans are rightly proud of. See you soon.”

“I’m on the road a lot,” said Dabney in an interview with Brad Dokken for the Grand Forks Herald. “This isn’t a business, this is — I don’t know what — a calling, maybe, but I really believe in it, and I’m scared to death of the next generations not having the same opportunities we had. […] If we lose [America’s public lands], we really are going to lose part of the soul of this country.”

Walt Dabney in Dickinson

Walt Dabney’s film, The History and Future of America’s Public Land, was screened on Tuesday, October 14th at 6:30 p.m. MDT at Beck Auditorium in Klinefelter Hall at Dickinson State University.

After the film screening, a question-and-answer discussion was held at 7:30 p.m. MDT. The Q&A was moderated by Clay Jenkinson, Theodore Roosevelt Humanities Scholar.

Clay S. Jenkinson

Clay Jenkinson is a public humanities scholar, a writer, a master interviewer and moderator, documentary filmmaker, and a historical impersonator (a Chautauquan). He is the author of 13 books spanning topics from Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Theodore Roosevelt, the literature of pandemics, and his beloved North Dakota. He is frequently featured as an expert commentator on historical documentaries, collaborating with the likes of Ken Burns and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Walt Dabney in Bismarck

Walt Dabney’s film, The History and Future of America’s Public Land, was screened on Wednesday, October 15th at 6:30 p.m. CDT at Russell Reid Auditorium in North Dakota Heritage Center.

After the film screening, a question-and-answer discussion was held at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The Q&A was moderated by Keith Trego, Executive Director of North Dakota Natural Resources Trust.

Keith Trego

Keith Trego grew up on a diversified grain and livestock farm in northwest Cass County, North Dakota. He received an undergraduate teaching degree in science and math from Mayville State University, took graduate courses at the University of Minnesota’s Itaska biological field station and completed his Masters degree in fish and wildlife management at North Dakota State University in 1973. His career includes eight years with Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a multi year involvement in private business with interests in real estate, insurance, and computer software development and over 40 years of professional conservation work. Keith served in several capacities with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, acting as the agencies’ deputy director from 1989 until 1998. In 1998 he assumed his current position as executive director of the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust.

Keith has been recognized by his professional peers for exemplary leadership in fish and wildlife management, including special recognition by the Association of Midwest Fish and Wildlife Agencies and an honorary lifetime membership from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. In 2003 Keith was recognized by the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce with their Natural Resources Award. Keith is a life member of the North Dakota Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and in 2006 was presented the Chapter’s highest professional honor, the North Dakota Award, for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession of Wildlife Management. In 2008 Keith was recognized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife with their 20th anniversary Partners for Conservation Award.

Walt Dabney in Grand Forks

Walt Dabney’s film, The History and Future of America’s Public Land, was screened on Thursday, October 16th at 6:30 p.m. CDT at the Gransberg Room in the Gorecki Alumni Center at Dickinson State University.

After the film screening, a question-and-answer discussion was held at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The Q&A was moderated by Valerie Naylor, former Superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The event was hosted by the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.

Valerie Naylor

Valerie Naylor received an MS in Biology from UND in 1987. She worked for the National Park Service throughout the western U.S. for 30 years and served as the Superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National park from 2003-2014.

Maah Daah Hey Trail Hike with Walt Dabney

On Sunday, October 12th, we hiked a section of the Maah Daah Hey Trail with Walt Dabney and visited the Bear Creek Bridge, which Badlands Conservation Corps helped build in June.

Thanks to everyone who joined us! Special thanks to Jennifer Morlock, Dakota Cyclery, who graciously shuttled participants.

This was Walt Dabney’s first time hiking in North Dakota. In “Federal lands need the public’s help, retired National Park ranger says,” Dabney told North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer that federal employees should do their best to hang on to their jobs: “Do your job, take care of each other, take care of the visitor […] You can only fall on your sword once.”