The following writing, titled "The Council of Pronghorn," is one of Williams' many jarring statements on environmental degradation in her book, Erosion: Essays of Undoing.  ITP is proud to have supported this impactful project.  Read the excerpt here.

Former ITP Grant Partner Terry Tempest Williams believes if we can learn to listen to the land, we might learn to listen to each other.  Read the article in GOOD Magazine here.

We are so proud of Terry Tempest Williams, one of our original ITP Grant Partners, with what she has done as "Bidder 19" in acquiring a 10-year oil and gas lease on over 1700 acres of land in Utah as part of the "Keep it in the Ground" movement.  She is representing our democratic rights to participate in a Bureau of Land Management public auction selling oil and gas leases on federal land.  "...for those of us who see them as the public commons, to be thrown into the public auction—that is not public at all, but a secret society for oil and gas companies."

Terry described the auction: "...the auctioneer begins. A parcel is shown. It may be—in our case, it was 800 acres, and the bidding begins at two dollars an acre. And I think the thing that was so heartbreaking for me and shocking is you hear these lands go up, and they’re commodities, they’re a piece of meat. They’re our public lands. And one of the auctioneers—the auctioneer said, you know, "$2? Anybody want $2? $2.25? $2.50? Anybody want $2.50? $3?" And then he says, "Come on, men. This is a lot of scenery going to waste. $3? Anyone going to $3? $3.25?"

Terry was interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now - see the full video interview below.

http://www.democracynow.org

 At the recent Whole Earth Summit, ITP Grant Partner, author and activist Terry Tempest Williams, and ITP Advisory Committee guiding light and co-founder of Bioneers, Nina Simons, were both interviewed.  Hear their narratives about how they each aspire to affect change on this earth.  In an excerpt from that interview, Terry recalls her ITP grant, The Council of Pronghorn, and its life changing impact.

Terry Tempest Williams: "How do we pay attention to what projects we are working on? I feel it in my body and my body doesn’t lie. I also want to know - how does this project mirror the questions that keep me up at night? I think about - does it scare me?  I want to go where I’m afraid – that’s where my growth is and I also want to work with people that I love, trust, admire and respect.  I think more than anything – as Nina said – what are the serendipitous moments? What is the synchronicity that follows this? I do believe that our life work is about paying attention, even to the surprises.  My grandmother called it ‘following the golden thread’." » Read More

The author visits the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster

As we near the one year anniversary of the July 15, 2010 capping of the gushing wellhead of the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, acclaimed author Terry Tempest Williams reflected on her visit to the disaster last year.  She came home with a nearly 15,000 word account of her oil odyssey, “The Gulf Between Us.“

Terry Tempest Williams’ article in the March 2011 Issue

In the March 2011 issue of The Progressive Terry Tempest Williams writes a thought provoking essay about the harsh realities of the impact of the Natural Gas Industry on our country– or more specifically, Wyoming– and the people and the Pronghorn antelope who call it home.

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Terry Tempest Williams of the activist art installation, Council of Pronghorn, gracefully articulates what changed for her at the 2010 Invoking the Pause Convening.
 
“What has surprised me is the infusion of hope. I did not realize what a deficit I was holding.

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