Carli Kierstead – Wyoming Forests and the Work of Keeping Water Flowing
Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson
Wyoming as Critical Headwaters for Major River Basins
Ed reflects on Wyoming's upstream role; Carli explains how Wyoming contributes to major basins, especially the Colorado River's upper basin.
Carli Kierstead is the Forest Program Director for The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming, where she leads efforts to understand and restore some of the West's most critical—and often overlooked—ecosystems. From beetle kill and wildfire to drought, Wyoming's forests face a range of challenges that ripple far beyond the state's borders. These high-country forests are the headwaters of several major river basins, providing water to millions of people across the American West.
In this conversation, Carli and I dig into the past, present, and future of Western forests—how management philosophies have evolved over the decades, what's threatening their health today, and what can be done to make them more resilient in a changing climate. We talk about her team's groundbreaking work using snowtography—a deceptively simple but powerful way to study how forest structure affects snowpack and water supply—and how those findings could help guide future restoration across the Colorado River Basin.
Carli also shares her personal journey from growing up in San Diego to finding her calling in Wyoming's wide-open landscapes, her insights on collaboration and trust-building in conservation, and a few book recommendations that shaped her path. It's a hopeful, science-grounded conversation about water, forests, and how collaboration can shape a more resilient future for the West.
Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy!
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- Carli Kierstead
- Wyoming forests + TNC
- Snowtography short film
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/carli-kierstead/
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This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy and TNC chapters throughout the Western United States. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
During the last week of every month throughout 2025, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy's leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West and beyond.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy's impactful work in the West and around the world, visit www.nature.org
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 2:34 – Intro and Wyoming forest health
- 7:16 – Beetle issues
- 8:30 – Why forest health?
- 12:35 – Economic benefit of forests
- 16:28 – Wyoming's claim to water
- 17:10 – Snowtography
- 23:18 – Lessons from the snow
- 27:33 – On the ground impact
- 33:53 – How it scales
- 40:42 – Relationship building
- 46:08 – The tendrils of the Colorado River Basin
- 46:46 – Carli's environment obsession
- 52:01 – How to build a relationship
- 55:10 – Book recs
- 58:38 – Last thoughts
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