Past Programs

SPRING

A three-week kickstarter course in building stories out of ideas

Monday evenings  |  March 6 – 20, 2023  |  6 – 9 pm Mountain Time | Online

An intensive three-week kickstarter workshop to help you find and hone ideas, turn them into stories, and get them published

hosted by Heather Hansman + Chandra Brown

PAUSE

A winter creative retreat for rest + recalibration

23 – 27 February 2023 | Mission Lake, Washington

hosted by Anna Brones, author, artist, and founder of Creative Fuel Collective

SAN JUAN ISLAND WORKSHOP

Humor Me: Finding Your Voice and Audience, and Having (Some) Fun With It

May 7 – 13, 2022 | San Juan Islands, Washington

A seven-day writing workshop + exploration of the San Juan Islands by sea kayak, focused on the role of humor in storytelling and navigating a crowded, evolving media landscape

hosted by Brendan Leonard, author of Sixty Meters to Anywhere and creator of Semi-Rad

BLACKFOOT RIVER WORKSHOP

June 18 – 21, 2022 | Big Blackfoot River, Montana

A four-day float down the storied Big Blackfoot River with Chris La Tray, and a focused, exploratory, deep dive into place

hosted by Chris La Tray, author of Becoming Little Shell + One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large

SALMON RIVER WORKSHOP

Streams Cascading Empty ©

June 23 – 28, 2022 | Main Salmon River, Idaho

A six-day celebration of magical Pacific Northwest salmon, ecological and cultural connectivity, and a vanishing legacy

hosted by David James Duncan, author of The River Why + The Brothers K

THE LAW OF PEOPLE & PLACE: YELLOWSTONE

July 11 – 17, 2022 | Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Montana

A dynamic field course in Indian and natural resource law, comparing federal, state, and tribal approaches to cultural and natural resource management, offered in partnership with the University of Montana’s Blewett School of Law

hosted by Professors Michelle Bryan and Monte Mills

GREEN RIVER FIELD INSTITUTE

Downriver Through Dinosaur

September 2 – 8, 2022 | Gates of Lodore, Green River, Utah

A seven-day journalistic exploration of the Green River’s Desolation Canyon, focused on inquiry, truth-telling, and resonance in the realm of ecological and social issues

hosted by Heather Hansman, author of Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West and Powder Days

RIO GRANDE WORKSHOP

Terrain, Transition, and Myth in the Borderlands

October 16 – 23, 2021 / Rio Grande + Big Bend National Park, Texas

hosted by Fransisco Cantú, author of The Line Becomes A River, and sound artist Karima Walker

GATES OF LODORE WORKSHOP

Beyond the Great Aridness

September 3 – 8 / Green River, Utah

hosted by William deBuys, award-winning author, conservationist, and Pulitzer Prize finalist

THE LAW OF PEOPLE & PLACE

The Crown of the Continent

July 25 – 31, 2021 / Flathead + Badger-Two Medicine watersheds, Montana

A field course in Advanced American Indian Natural Resources, offered in partnership with the University of Montana’s Blewett School of Law

hosted by Professors Michelle Bryan and Monte Mills

THE ECOLOGY OF WISDOM

Biology, History, and the Feminine in the Idaho Wilderness

July 5 – 10, 2021 / South Fork Salmon River drainage, Idaho

hosted by CMarie Fuhrman, author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems and co-editor of Native Voices

BLACKFOOT RIVER WORKSHOP

Silence: The Daily Practice

June 30 – July 2, 2021 / Blackfoot River, Montana

hosted by Chris La Tray, author of One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large

GREEN RIVER FIELD INSTITUTE

Telling True Stories From the Edge of Desolation

June 12 – 18, 2021 / Desolation Canyon, Green River, Utah

hosted by Heather Hansman, author of Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West

FALL 2020 COMMUNITY SERIES: SHIFT

Hybrid online + solo + small group format

November 9 – December 7, 2020

featuring Pam Houston, Amy Irvine, Sherwin Bitsui, Camille Dungy, and Craig Childs

ROGUE RIVER WORKSHOP

Making Your Own Weather: Finding a Voice and Finding an Audience in an Evolving Media World

September 24 – 28, 2020 / Rogue River, Oregon

hosted by Brendan Leonard

SUMMER 2020 COMMUNITY SERIES: SHIFT

Hybrid online + solo + small group format

July 1 – 29, 2020

featuring Nick Triolo, Amy Irvine, Craig Childs, Camille Dungy, and Pam Houston

THE LAW OF PEOPLE AND PLACE

Upper Missouri River + American Prairie Reserve, Montana

in collaboration with the University of Montana’s Summer Indian Law Program

with Professors Michelle Bryan + Monte Mills

2020 WINTER WORKSHOP SERIES

hosted by innovative Montana leaders, Alexis Bonogofsky, Ben Stookesberry, and Chris La Tray

2019 SALMON RIVER WRITING WORKSHOP

Main Salmon River, Idaho

hosted by Brendan Leonard

2019 STORIES IN THE SANDSTONE

Gates of Lodore, Green River, Utah

hosted by Pam Houston

2019 YELLOWSTONE RIVER FIELD INSTITUTE

Yellowstone River, Montana

hosted by Alexis Bonogofsky + Elliott Woods

2018 WILD JOURNALISM

Missouri River + American Prairie Reserve, Montana

hosted by Hal Herring

2018 SALMON RIVER WRITING RETREAT

Main Salmon River, Idaho

hosted by William deBuys