Bonnie Gestring

Bonnie began work with Earthworks in May 2001. As the Northwest Program Director, she leads Earthworks’ efforts to support communities and protect the environment from the adverse effects of hardrock mining in Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Washington states.

She is the author of numerous reports on hardrock mining, and she is active in campaigns to protect important ecosystems throughout the northwest, including Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Montana’s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, Oregon’s Siskiyou Region and Idaho’s Salmon River watershed.

Prior to working at Earthworks, Bonnie worked as a Community Organizer at the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) in Helena, Montana. She was a leader in campaigns to stop irresponsible gold mining on the Blackfoot River and to pass the citizen’s initiative banning open pit cyanide process mining in Montana. She provided support to residents in Libby, dealing with illness and death caused by the W.R. Grace operations, and lobbied at the Montana State Legislature to strengthen the state’s reclamation bonding and bad actor provisions.

Before working with MEIC, Bonnie served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Belize and a park ranger in several national parks across the West. Bonnie received a B.S. in biology from Montana State University and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.

Contact:

Email: bgestring [at] earthworks [dot] org
Phone: 406-546-8386
Location: Missoula, MT