Intelligent Courage 

A new book for natural resource professionals wishing to create careers

of meaning, purpose, and conservation accomplishment.

  Foreword by:

 Jeff DeBonis

"This is a must-read book for those aspiring to a career in public sector, natural resource management. It is the distillation of hundreds of years of experience in management mastery, a mastery that comes only from ‘time on the ground,’ searching yourself and your world for answers, experiencing the pain of failure and the satisfaction of success. This book has captured the essence of what it takes to create and maintain an ethical and socially responsible public service career in natural resource management.

The bad news in these pages is that such a career will not be easy. The pace of change in our society, the level of damage to our natural world, the growth of population and resource demand world wide will require even more strength, creativity, and skill from the next generation of resource managers than what was required by those chronicled here. And, as you read the stories told by these professionals, what you will see is one of the great paradoxes of our human existence. Through struggle and sometimes pain, by constantly questioning our viewpoint, challenging our current world view, and then acting on our highest good, our highest values to both the biotic and human communities, you will find the deepest of satisfaction—even though this will be the hardest and, at times, most painful road to travel. It is in knowing in your heart that you are doing the right thing, the most environmentally responsible and ethical thing that you know how to do, that you will be most happy at the end of your career.

The road will not always be clear, but the steps outlined by those interviewed here will help guide you in times of turmoil. You will need to consciously seek your internal compass and ask for whom you are making decisions. Is it yourself, your family, the agency you work for, or the public good and the seventh generation of humans who will inherit this earth?

Obviously, not every decision will be of this magnitude. But I can assure you that there will be critical nodes along your path—moments of opportunity that by your choice will impact everything you do thereafter—for better or worse. The people in this book all experienced these moments, as I did. How we chose determined our next steps, the irreversible turn on our path, and ultimately, the successful building of an ethical career.

This book provides a roadmap, the ultimate checklist of what you will need, what you will encounter, the values and skills to survive and thrive. Go into your career with courage and humility, conviction and question, with a passion for learning and listening, energy and patience. Use your heart as much as your head and you will succeed. It is not an overstatement to say we need you to succeed as did the professionals in this book. Our planet is depending on you."