Pioneering Graduate Program Leaves Lasting Impact on Resource Management

In 2025, the legacy of Robert Redford's Institute for Resource Management continues to be felt, even though the program itself closed over 40 years ago. The institute, which was jointly housed by the University of Idaho and Washington State University in the early 1980s, was a pioneering effort to promote a balance between conservation and development, environmentalism and the continued use of natural resources.

The institute's most lasting impact was its approach to graduate education. Rather than the typical narrow focus, the program exposed its 20 fellows to a wide range of disciplines, from biology to political science. This interdisciplinary model, which was considered revolutionary at the time, is now a common practice in many academic settings.

Two of the institute's alumni, Kathryn Toffenetti and Witt Anderson, have gone on to successful careers in natural resource management. Toffenetti, who had previously earned a law degree, credits the institute for equipping her with the "vocabulary and broad understanding" that led to her role as a senior attorney for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Anderson, who worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, says the program's classes in the University of Idaho's law school were "very beneficial" in understanding the legal process during his career focused on salmon recovery.

While Redford himself only visited the program a few times, the institute's lasting impact is clear. As emeritus professor Jo Ellen Force notes, the interdisciplinary approach lived on in the University of Idaho's Environmental Science Program and other initiatives, demonstrating the program's trailblazing influence on graduate education in natural resource management.