Tina Dennison & Lori Reed
Field Notes is a compilation of first-person essays composed across many years by IWJV partners, board members, and staff. Our professional work in collaborative conservation is inspired by our personal experiences, relationships, and conversations in the field. That “field” can look very different depending on the work at hand: Sometimes it is one of grass hay at sunrise or deep within the sagebrush sea. Other times it’s in a conference room at an agency’s headquarters, or in a public hearing in the halls of Congress. In this series, we hope to share a few stories from these wildly different fields with you.
In this Field Notes entry, IWJV Initiative Support & Project Coordinator Tina Dennison and Government Affairs & Executive Support Lori Reed travel to Wyoming to celebrate the life and work of conservation hero Pat O’Toole.
Pat O’Toole.
In mid-July, Lori and I traveled to southern Wyoming to attend Pat O’Toole’s celebration of life at Ladder Ranch.
Pat was a treasured IWJV Management Board Member who passed away in early 2024. You can read the wonderful tribute that IWJV’s Coordinator Dave Smith wrote about him here.
To attend Pat’s celebration of life, people traveled from across the nation to his ranch in rural southern Wyoming and it was remarkable to see the multitude of people he inspired and the many deep relationships fostered over his lifetime.
The afternoon service was held outdoors in front of Pat and Sharon’s home, which sits on a hill with a stunning view of the surrounding alfalfa and grass hay fields, cottonwood trees lining the Little Snake River, and high desert sage and forested terrain on the horizon’s fringe. The line of guests as they arrived, with attire ranging from jeans and cowboy hats to dresses and business suits, stretched from the front yard down to the county dirt road below. Several of the ranch dogs helped to greet and “herd” folks.
Pat O’Toole with his daughter and grandson.
The BBQ dinner following the service gave the several hundred attendees the opportunity to reminisce and share stories. A brief wind storm blew through later in the evening, and guests were quick to lend a hand with gathering up items and holding down tent poles. A slideshow of photos set to some of Pat’s favorite music allowed everyone a glimpse at some of the extraordinary moments from his life.
One resonating message echoed by all the speakers at the event is that to Pat it didn’t matter if you were a Republican or Democrat, whether you wore shined shoes or dusty boots, or if you lived in the rural West or the bustle of Washington, D.C. He was uniquely capable of reaching across party lines, experience, and social groups in search of a solution.
An ethos Pat lived by was to look for the good in people, find compromise, and work hard to find solutions to the issue at hand. No matter where we are or what challenges we face, we can all strive to live with courage, integrity, and respect for others. Pat did exactly that.
Seeing so many IWJV friends at Pat’s celebration spoke to the profound legacy and positive influence he left on agricultural lands and communities in the West. He believed if a lasting solution is to be reached, it needs to be built on common ground by bringing people together.
Tina Dennison is the IWJV’s Initiative Support and Project Coordinator. As our lead ‘tracker,’ Tina helps with budget tracking and Sage Capacity Team accomplishment reporting, acts as our NAWCA liaison, supports the implementation of the BLM-IWJV sagebrush partnership, and assists with other projects that support the IWJV mission. Tina graduated from the University of Montana with a B.S. in Finance/Accounting and is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys running, biking, hiking, and spending time with family. She lives with her husband and children in Missoula.
Lori Reed is the IWJV’s Government Affairs & Executive Support. Since joining the IWJV in 2011, Lori has helped keep operations running smoothly through support to staff, partners, and the Management Board. She also puts her extensive event planning experience to work in the production of various IWJV meetings and field tours. Lori’s personal passions include playing outdoors and traveling around the world.
