In February 2006, Gary Noy, history instructor at Sierra College, spoke on the environmental history of the Sierra Nevada to the Sierra College class named Interdisciplinary 6: The Sierra Nevada.

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Biography

Gary Noy teaches history at Sierra College. He is the Founder and Director of the Sierra College Center for Sierra Nevada Studies and Coordinator of the Sierra Nevada Virtual Museum. Gary received his BA in History at the University of California, Berkeley; and has graduate degrees from UC Berkeley and California State University, Sacramento. Gary has published more than a dozen major magazine articles; three books, including the best-selling Distant Horizon: Documents from the 19th Century American West (University of Nebraska Press, 1999); served as an editor on the award-winning Standing Guard: Telling Our Stories, a publication of the Sierra College Press; and writes a monthly newspaper column on Sierra Nevada History for the Grass Valley Union. Additionally, Gary has served as the Executive Director of the Sierra College Foundation. Gary was named Sierra College Part-Time Instructor of the Year for 2004 – 2005. In 2006, Gary was named the “Outstanding Educator of the Year” for the post-secondary level by the Oregon-California Trails Association.

The presentation focuses on the Sierra Nevada as inspiration and as historical touchstone. The lecture examines the role of artists, writers, Native Americans, logging, agriculture, mining, transportation, and other activities on the development and perception of the region. The talk also considers the historical origins of conservation and preservation programs and some current issues facing the Sierra Nevada.