We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Denise Peterson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Denise , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
My background is both in film and video production, as well as wildlife biology, natural resources management, and Geographic Information Systems, or GIS. I saw an opportunity to marry the two fields in order to further education efforts of mountain lions in Utah. Mountain lions piqued my interested years ago and inspired me through their resilience and ability to coexist with humans. To date, I have tracked and captured them on trail cameras on two continents. I feel compelled to share their stories with anyone who is interested in learning more about them in the hopes of addressing many of the myths and misinformation surrounding them.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
The mission of Utah Mountain Lion Conservation is to improve social tolerance of mountain lions through education, collaboration, research, and community. Mountain lions are often misunderstood. We rely on tracking and camera traps to help share their wild stories with Utahans with the hopes of inspiring them to take an interest in lions, confront some of the mischaracterizations that surround them, and further coexistence efforts in the state. We love having a conversation with folks about lions, addressing and working through any concerns they have, and working with communities that are hoping to prevent conflicts with the wild cats in the future. It’s truly inspirational to see people interested in putting in the work to live peacefully alongside mountain lions and other wildlife.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The qualities that were most impactful in my journey were persistence, purpose, and compassion. To me, my purpose was clear: I wanted to help people better understand mountain lions, which would lead to an improvement in social tolerance, management, and conservation. This has not been an easy journey by any means. Mountain lions are incredibly misunderstood and are faced with mounting management challenges every day. Through years of tracking and camera trapping them, I’ve come to understand them as intelligent individuals that are often heavily persecuted because of the intolerance of humans that is fueled by persistent myths about their species. This year, legislation was signed into law that opens mountain lions to year around hunting and now trapping. This is not science-based management and creates a lot of issues and suffering. This is where persistence comes into play. In the realm of conservation, we’re faced with many challenges, some physical, some mental. Conservation can even take a significant emotional toll, which is rarely talked about. Despite this, having that sense of purpose and persistence can help get you through the hard times. I highly recommend being honest with yourself and your interests because that will help you define your purpose. There are no wrong answers. And when you find your purpose, commit to it fully and pursue it no matter how challenging it may seem. You won’t regret it.
The other quality I mentioned is compassion. Much of our work is focused on building bridges between the different wildlife stakeholder groups. That comes with differing opinions on lions and their management. It’s crucial to be compassionate to other people’s concerns and opinions if we’re to make progress for wildlife and mountain lions. We can accomplish so much when we set aside our differences and focus on the bigger picture; working together on the things that we agree on. This has been invaluable on this journey.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are always looking for individuals or organizations to collaborate with in our work here in Utah. As we’re such a small organization, we rely on residents and the community to help spread the word about mountain lions and how we can coexist with them. We are looking for conservation-minded people who believe in the power of collaboration to help improve the management of mountain lions in Utah. Donations also help support our work through helping fund the equipment that we rely on, travel expenses, and for print content to share with communities and at events. You can reach us at [email protected] or by donating at www.utahmountainlion.org. Utah Mountain Lion Conservation is a Project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your donation is tax deductible. Please make checks payable to “SEE” with the “Utah Mountain Lion Conservation” written in the memo section. Please contact us at [email protected] for mailing instructions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.utahmountainlion.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utahmtnlionconservation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UtahMountainLionConservation
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/utahmtnlion
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy5tx_cknnCqUGOPKUTvhhw
Image Credits
Denise M. Peterson
