top of page
William J. Moore

Born and raised in Montana, I spent my childhood roaming the Hills and Creeks of the Lower Sweet Grass close to Big Timber. My parents fostered a great love of the outdoors in me, taking me on float trips on the Yellowstone, ski trips to Bridger, and hiking in the surrounding areas. They also taught me to respect the land through practices of sustainable agriculture/land management, and hunting in ways that do not diminish the herds but help them flourish, never taking more than needed.

 

It was in high school where I first became involved in nonprofits—C.O.R.A. being one of them, in which we raised money to fund a local park. After high school, I left Big Timber for college at MSU Bozeman where I came to know many amazing people of the community, including Wren Kilian, our VP. The summer after my first year of college, I embarked on a trip I had long been looking forward to—South America. I backpacked solo across Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia for the next six months. The profound experiences of this journey shaped my worldview in ways that would last a lifetime. I returned home to find that C.O.R.A. was being disassembled. I knew the potential of the organization and immediately took over the presidency to ensure its survival. Not quite ready to settle into any projects, I embarked on more journeys of my rambunctious youth: snowboard trips across the Canadian Rockies, hitchhiking around the West, and eventually training a few mustangs with my childhood friend to ride across the country to prove how hard land access has become. Several months into the horse journey, after many hardships, I met the love of my life. She was leaving for Southeast Asia, and I was onboard. We arrived on the shores of Bali expecting the beaches of paradise, only to find the beaches completely devastated by single-use plastic. No longer could I hide in the mountains from these problems. The water always flows downhill.

 

After returning home from these travels, I was reinvigorated to become involved in the sustainability of our planet. I so deeply love the sacred outdoor aspects of our world and wish to cradle and protect those aspects rather than the take-and-take mentality of the capitalist regime, which so often disregards the greater cost of ignoring environmental impacts. All the while, Wren had been putting in all the hard groundwork with Valley of the Flowers—a branch of C.O.R.A.—and its BYOB program, and I was ready to get involved.

 

I strongly believe that outdoor recreation fosters a care in the natural environment, especially for our youth. I also believe that we need to take measures to protect and preserve our environment through sustainable practices. Nobody wants to hike a trail full of litter or visit a beach full of bags. It takes the appreciation and recreation out of nature. This amazing world is here for us to revel in its majestic beauty. C.O.R.A. is here to help keep it that way.

"Building Community through Sustainability" 

Valley of the Flowers Project is sponsored by the Community Outdoor Recreation Association, a 501c3 non-profit.

Join Our Mailing List

Thank you for submitting!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube

© 2024 Valley of the Flowers Project
Designed by TB Design

Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page