Boise State Philosophy Department to Present Endangered Species Colloquium

The Department of Philosophy at Boise State University will present a colloquium on endangered species and public lands from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Student Union Special Events Center.

Featured speakers include:

• John Freemuth, Boise State professor of political science and public administration. Freemuth is the senior fellow at the Cecil D. Andrus Center for Public Policy. His research and teaching emphasis is in natural resource and public land policy and administration. He is the author of an award-winning book, Islands Under Siege: National Parks and the Politics of External Threats, as well as numerous articles on aspects of natural resource policy. He is the author of six Andrus Center white papers on public land policy, which were based on Andrus Center conferences. Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth cited the 2000 Andrus Conference on fire policy as a source of ideas for national fire plans. Freemuth also has worked extensively with federal and state agencies.

• Jon Marvel, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project. Marvel is famous in the West for his extremely controversial yet effective activism. Marvel was prominently featured in the award-winning documentary “The Cost of Freedom,” which detailed wolf reintroduction in central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. He is often quoted for his expert opinion and knowledge regarding conservation issues in the West.

• Laird Lucas, executive director of Advocates for the West. Lucas is one of the West’s leading environmental lawyers, and has won dozens of court cases for conservation groups. Many of these cases focused on endangered species, ranging from grizzly bear and caribou in Northern Idaho to the silvery minnow in New Mexico. Lucas worked with a leading San Francisco law firm before moving to Boise in 1993 to focus on conservation law. He is the founder of Advocates for the West, a public interest environmental law firm that includes five other attorneys. Lucas has been the lead counsel for the Western Watersheds Project during the last decade.

• Geoff Black, assistant professor, Boise State’s Department of Economics. Black specializes in public finance and environmental and natural resource economics. He also has a master’s in geology from Montana State University and a bachelor’s in geology from the University of the Pacific. Black’s primary research interests relate to natural resource and regional development issues. He has published articles and given presentations on the structure of contracts for natural resource development, the economic valuation of environmental amenities, and the effects of recreational and open-space preservation on economic development.

• Tony Roark, assistant professor, Boise State Department of Philosophy. Roark’s primary teaching responsibilities include ancient philosophy, ethics, introduction to logic and introduction to philosophy. He had published articles in the areas of ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, and philosophy of law. He is currently working on a book addressing Aristotle’s temporal theory.

• Andrew B. Schoedinger, chair of the Boise State Department of Philosophy. Schoedinger’s interests include metaphysics, ethics and medieval philosophy. His books include Where Have All Our Values Gone?: The Decline of Values in America and What We Can Do About It, Our Philosophical Heritage, Readings in Medieval Philosophy and The Problem of Universals. Schoedinger currently is writing a manuscript about normative ethical theory.

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Contact: Erin Anchustegui, Philosophy Department, (208) 426-2704, eanchust@boisestate.edu

Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Relations, (208) 426-5540, juliehahn@boisestate.edu