Name: Ken Dunn

Age: 45

Home: Boulder

Job: Volunteer legal consultant to the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and private consulting attorney

Distinction: The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, a regional conservation group, dubbed Dunn "Best New Westerner" last month. Dunn, an attorney, has been volunteering with the Land and Water Fund since his move to Boulder last year.

What issues are you working on with the Land and Water Fund? Dunn is primarily involved in off-road vehicle issues. "There obviously are trail systems that are appropriate for motorized use, but the concept that all land should be available for motorized use ... is not appropriate," he said.

The lawyer has been preparing appeals and other documents about off-road vehicle use on various public lands in the state, and said he also hopes to get involved in collaborative work, sitting down at the table with off-roader groups to try to settle problems without lawsuits.

Have you ever done environmental work full-time? No, Dunn said. He was a corporate law attorney for 15 years and worked for five years in the telecommunications industry. Although he's always tried to do a bit of pro bono environmental work, Dunn said it wasn't until his move to Boulder last year that he was able to dedicate so much of his time to his passion. He estimated he spends 20-30 hours per week with the Land and Water Fund.

Have environmental law issues changed with new administrations? "Yes. I think there's a sense of urgency right now," Dunn said. "Certainly there were controversies during the Clinton administration, but there's a universal feeling of urgency that there are decisions being made right now ... on a larger scale." Dunn said he's seen increased volunteerism in the environmental community, and a "re-energizing" of organizations since President Bush's inauguration.

What do you see as the most important environmental issue in Colorado right now? "The reality that, with the closing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to additional drilling, there now seems to be a renewed interest in the Rocky Mountain area, among others, for oil and gas exploration."

How did you become interested in environmental issues? "Growing up in a rural environment, I was early on exposed to the pleasures of outdoor recreation ... I've always been a backpacker, and a climber and a biker. And those activities are made more enjoyable when they're in a pristine environment."

Who has inspired your environmental work? "Aldo Leopold, who wrote very beautifully, primarily about Midwestern environmental ethics," Dunn said. He also mentioned a close personal friend who runs an environmental law firm in California, and his "inspirational" colleagues at the Land and Water Fund.

— Katy Human

May 5, 2002

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