When Alex Weinman ’24 was applying for internships last spring, he had two simple conditions: he wanted to be in a place with great fly fishing and he wanted to do something to help protect the area’s environmental resources. Little did he know that lessons he learned from CC, like taking a stand for what he believes in, would be the driving force of his massively successful internship.
Weinman began his internship at Cottonwood Environmental Law Center in Bozeman, Montana during the summer of 2023. Cottonwood is a small non-profit that works in environmental protection and clean water litigation. When he arrived, the organization was facing criminal trespassing charges against its executive director, John Meyer. In September 2022, Cottonwood arranged for water samples to be taken from Yellowstone Club, a private residential, ski, and golf resort. The samples showed that the club was discharging pollution into the South Fork of the West Fork of the Gallatin River, at 26 times the concentration of the receiving water. Charges were filed against Meyer, alleging that he illegally entered the club’s property. Meyer pled not guilty, and the criminal charges were dismissed this past summer.
“I knew before I took the job that his trial was approaching, but John was very confident all along that he would not be found guilty because the facts of the case were on his side, and because the charges against our grassroots coordinator for the same event had already been dropped,” Weinman says. “It was sort of a weird place to be in, taking a job knowing that your boss could potentially go to jail shortly after you start, but in the end, justice prevailed so all is well.”
Weinman made videos explaining the case on Instagram and TikTok, with one Instagram video getting over 900 thousand views, giving the organization and the case vast exposure. Cottonwood is now using the water samples to sue the Yellowstone Club, alleging that the club has violated the Clean Water Act, as well as criminal and civil nuisance laws in Montana.
“I think the biggest thing that CC did for me was alleviate the fear of taking a loud stance for what I believe in,” Weinman says. “Cottonwood actually gets a good deal of pushback on our platforms, a lot of it from Montanans that are opposed to our work protecting old growth forests from logging for economic and fire-mitigation reasons. I believe that old growth needs to be protected because diverse and old forests are our best defense against climate change and very important habitats for many endangered species, and also that thinning—cutting some living trees and removing dead trees on the forest floor in an effort to suppress fire fuel—is far from the best way to mitigate fires that damage communities. CC instilled in me the belief that it’s ok to be unabashedly public about the causes I believe in and to have meaningful dialogues with people who disagree with me.”
Weinman was first exposed to environmental literature and the field of environmental conservation at CC.
“I grew up on a lake and loved fishing from a young age, so I think that I’ve derived a lot of fulfillment from nature for a long time; however, it was in high school and especially after coming out west to CC where my interest in environmental activism flourished,” says Weinman. “Without classes such as Contesting Climate Justice with Dr. Marion Hourdequin or Introduction to Literature and Environment: Global Literature and the Environment with Dr. Kaushik Ramu, I’m not sure I would have been looking for jobs in the field at all!”
Weinman also says he is beyond grateful for the fact that the internship was funded by CC’s Summer Internship Funding Awards Program, which made living in the high cost-of-living city possible.
Along with CC teaching him to take a stand for what he believes in, even when he’s standing alone or when it’s hard, Weinman also credits his success at Cottonwood to his liberal arts education and his advisor Dr. Re Evitt, Professor of English.
“I think my liberal arts education prepared me to be a multi-dimensional thinker and both understand the complicated legal jargon of the environmental law field and package it in a catchy and easily digestible way for social media, a place where you have just a few seconds to capture the attention of your potential viewers,” Weinman says. “It was my major advisor, Re Evitt, who helped guide me through my years here at CC and encouraged me to wholeheartedly follow my interests. I couldn’t be more thankful for her continuous support.”
“Alex is committed to the environment, incredibly sharp, and savvy about social media,” Evitt says. “It’s the perfect combination for making an impact. I’m excited to see where he’ll focus his energies next.”
There were only two employees at Cottonwood when Weinman began his internship, which meant he was given free rein to run the social media accounts in any way he saw fit.
“This made the internship a really fun and empowering experience, albeit a bit stressful, because my success was both plainly quantifiable and all of my own doing,” Weinman says. “I wrote a few newsletters and helped draft some newspaper articles, but the vast majority of my time was spent on creating and editing videos that both highlighted the cases that Cottonwood was working on and served as a fundraising campaign. Cottonwood is a member-based organization and files public-interest lawsuits on behalf of those members, so social media became a great tool to find people interested in joining our cause or supporting us financially.”
While running the firm’s social media, Weinman added over three million views and 30k followers to its accounts.
Weinman’s internship officially ended on August 15, but he stayed on as an employee for another six weeks to keep running the social media accounts. In November, Cottonwood added Weinman to its advisory board as a social media expert. While Weinman is no longer running the accounts, he acts as a resource for the current social media intern as they transition into the role.
“I think we got such high engagement because, like myself, a lot of people are fed up with hearing about environmental transgressions by big groups with a lot of money that go largely unopposed,” Weinman says. “I think it’s a bit of a shame that Cottonwood is called a ‘radical’ organization so much, not because that word is inherently bad or offensive, but because the fact that trying to hold large and wealthy groups responsible for endangering ecosystems that they have the resources to protect is so rare that it’s seen as radical. I think that finally seeing a grassroots-type organization take a big stand against that sort of thing is why so many folks were stoked to hear about the work that we were doing.”
Weinman’s inspiration for creating the videos was that one day he wants to take his kids fishing in a healthy and thriving ecosystem and making videos to spread awareness was a small but meaningful step towards achieving that goal.
“I was also inspired by the outstanding work that John and all the amazing people who work and have worked for Cottonwood have been doing for so long; I thought it was about time they got some recognition for that,” Weinman says.
In October, Weinman had the opportunity to meet with Patagonia founder and environmental activist Yvon Chouinard. Chouinard, Weinman, and other Cottonwood employees discussed tactics for preserving wildlife in the greater Yellowstone area.
Weinman is an English Literature major at CC and currently working on his senior thesis on environmentalism and river narratives, with a focus on two books: A River Runs through It by Norman Maclean and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. After graduating in December, Weinman plans to get a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing and Communication at Marist College. “This degree will help me coherently and effectively communicate the work of environmental organizations that I would love to work for in the future,” says Weinman. “After that, I would like to target a dual JD and master’s program in environmental law and either environmental literature or science. One school that sticks out to me is the University of Colorado Boulder because of their very strong water law curriculum and faculty! Very long term, I would love to be a practicing environmental attorney and a publishing environmental writer in a western state. Oh, and catch a lot of beautiful trout on a fly rod. One can dream, I suppose!”