New Geographies of the American West Book Release

Professor William Travis's New Release

The changing patterns of land use in the American West and problems of land use planning and growth management are the subject of a talk by University of Colorado at Boulder geographer William Travis on April 26.

Travis, author of the newly released New Geographies of the American West: Land Use and Changing Patterns of Place, will speak at 6:00 p.m. in Eaton Humanities Building room 150 on the Boulder campus. A book signing and reception will follow the free public lecture.

Travis is an Associate Professor of Geography and directs the Western Lands Program at the CU-Boulder Center of the American West, which is sponsoring the event. His research explores the interaction of nature and society, including land use, the impacts of climate change, and habitat conservation.

His book asks if it is possible to improve our development patterns given the West’s traditional anti-planning, pro-growth attitudes. He examines whether the region can develop sustainability, protecting and managing its defining wildness, while also managing explosive growth.

Travis recently explored the potential impacts of global warming on snowpack, skiing, and water resources in Aspen, and was chief editor of the influential Atlas of the New West along with CU-Boulder Professors Patricia Limerick and Charles Wilkinson.

“Bill Travis’s lively and original mind is a pillar of the well-being of the Center of the American West,” Limerick said. “He is one of the most influential thinkers in the region today.”

The CU-Boulder Center of the American West originated in a conversation between Limerick and Wilkinson in 1986, and focuses on identifying and addressing critical issues in the West.