The Great Basin National Park Designation Story
Join us for the inside story behind Great Basin National Park’s designation - where political resolve and decades of hard work by dedicated individuals turned an unlikely vision into a national treasure. Hear from important players who helped make the dream of the Park a reality. This is the fifth program in our Great Basin National Park 40th Anniversary virtual speaker series.
Tuesday, May 12, 5 pm pacific time -
The Story of Great Basin National Park's Designation
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Our panelists:
Kai Anderson
Kai Anderson, is the Chief Executive Officer of Cassidy & Associates. He helps a broad range of corporate and non-profit clients advocate for their interests in Washington, DC, specializing in designing legislative strategies that balance the development of natural resources and critical infrastructure with conservation.
Kai is a former aide on science and the environment and Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Harry Reid. He worked for Reid from 1999 - 2005, during a time of crucial campaigns that won conservation designations for more than 2.5 million acres of public land in Nevada. From positions both on and off Capitol Hill, Kai has contributed to numerous conservation campaigns in the West.
Kai earned a PhD in geology from Stanford University. A native of eastern Oregon, Kai grew up hunting, fishing, and hiking on public lands. He has applied his background and experience in natural resources and earth science to policymaking.
Neil Kornze
Neil Kornze is a Senior Vice President at Cassidy & Associates. For the past two decades, Neil has worked on the nation’s most vital conservation, land, wildlife, and energy issues from Capitol Hill, the Department of the Interior, and the philanthropic world. Most recently, he served as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO). During the Obama Administration, Neil was the senate-confirmed Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the nation’s largest natural resource agency.
Neil holds degrees from Whitman College and the London School of Economics. He was a founding board member and vice chairman of the Foundation for America’s Public Lands. Neil lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two young sons.
Senator Richard Bryan
Senator Richard Bryan served as the Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989 and as a United States Senator from 1989 until 2001. Senator Bryan has long been an advocate for the state of Nevada, including its wild places. He sponsored the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) which became law in 1998 and has had a tremendous impact on funding preservation and education projects on Nevada’s public lands. Great Basin National Park has received over 25 million dollars in SNPLMA funding which over the years has greatly improved facilities, campgrounds, Lehman Caves, and resource management and science at the Park.
Rebecca Mills
Rebecca’s dream came true when she became Superintendent of Great Basin National Park. During her time at the Park, Rebecca helped Bonnie Bryan launch the Great Basin National Park Foundation and after her retirement from the NPS, she joined the Foundation Board of Directors. Earlier in Becky’s career she oversaw youth employment and equal opportunity programs for the National Park Service Western Region. Becky grew up hiking and camping with family and Girl Scouts then worked as a community organizer, social worker, and non-profit director before joining the National Park Service.
Graham Chisholm, Moderator
Graham Chisholm currently is Senior Strategist at The Wildlands Conservancy and has worked in land and water conservation for three decades. He was both the California and Nevada Directors for The Nature Conservancy, as well as Executive Director of Audubon California and Senior Advisor to the Conservation Strategy Group in California. He co-founded Great Basin Bird Observatory, helped lauch the Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas, and co-founded Great Basin Land and Water - which has completed over 110 transactions buying water rights to benefit the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake. While Graham lives in the San Francisco Bay Area he continues to be a passionate advocate for conservation work in the Silver State.