Tim Peterson

Born and raised in Utah, Tim developed a lifelong love of the Colorado Plateau at an early age on hikes and camping trips in southern Utah. This love for the landscape led him to an education in photography, but his desire to do more than just make photographs led him to his calling — working to safeguard the plateau. Tim’s advocacy career began in 1997, and he joined the Trust in 2010. Through his work in support of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Tim’s understanding of public lands protection grew to encompass the importance of enduring cultural knowledge; the power of the land to heal; and recognition that humans are part of, not separate from, the natural world. As the Cultural Landscapes Program Director, Tim focuses not only on preserving and defending landscapes, but also on returning authority to Indigenous people in the management of ancestral lands. 

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Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”

― Robin Wall Kimmerer