Alum’s award is J-School’s gain

By Chelsi Moy
J-School Web Reporter

Great Falls Tribune managing editor Gary Moseman will donate $1,000 to the School of Journalism as part of a cash prize award he won from The Wilderness Society for his environmental editorials.

Moseman was notified in October that he was the recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing. The national award is given to a writer who argues strongly for protecting America’s remaining wild lands, rivers and air.

"These issues strike national interest but pertain to people at a local level," Moseman said.

The majority of Moseman’s editorials concerned three pressing issues in Montana. He supported the creation of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, a 149-mile stretch of the Missouri River and 400,000 adjoining acres. Former President Bill Clinton declared the Missouri Breaks a national monument his last week in office.

Moseman, 52, said people have told him his editorials helped influence Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s decision to recommend the site as a national monument.

He also argued in favor of adding abandoned mines to the Superfund list and opposed drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front. Moseman said he also supports the roadless initiative, which limits vehicle access to wilderness areas.

"These things are a big part of life here," Moseman said. "Environmental resources, water and land management are all high profile issues."

Moseman is the fifth person to ever receive the award. People who have won in past years have been from the San Fancisco Chronicle, the Denver Post and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The Great Falls Tribune is the smallest newspaper to ever receive the award, he said.

The award is given in honor of Aldo Lepold, who co-founded The Wilderness Society and is the author of "A Sand County Almanac."

Moseman said he had heard of the Aldo Leopold Award before he won, but he is still not sure who entered his editorials in the contest.

"I guess someone liked what we had been saying," Moseman said.

Moseman is honored to receive the award, but has decided to give the money away since The Wilderness Society is an environmental conservation organization.

"With a group being identified with one side, I never thought anything but to give it to someone else," he said. "That way I’m not paid off by interest groups."

Moseman has requested that, because of the nature of the award, the J-School use the money to benefit students interested in environmental reporting. J-School Dean Jerry Brown is grateful for the donation, and the faculty will decide specifically where the money will go, he said.

"It’s a wonderful thing Moseman has done," Brown said. "We want to make sure it recognizes the intelligence and initiative of Moseman."

Moseman received his bachelor's degree in journalism in 1983 and his master's in business finance in 1991 - both from UM.

Moseman lived in Missoula for 10 years. Between 1978 and 1982, he taught beginning reporting and advanced editing at the J-School.

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