yale environmental NEWS The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies spring 2007 · vol. 12, no. 2 Lonesome George May Not Be Alone Much Longer! Long thought to be the sole survivor of a species of giant Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone abingdoni), this conservation icon may not be alone for much longer, as a multinational team of researchers headed by Dr. Gisella Caccone and Professor Jeffrey Powell of Yale has discovered. see page 3 yale environmental NEWS 1 Donor’s Faith in F&ES and Its Students Results in $4 Million Gift By Stacey Stowe When he was a young man, Gilman Ordway chose the land over law, buying a spread in Wyoming and opening a ranch rather than pursuing the Colorado bar exam after graduating from law school. Yet while he maintains a lawyer’s penchant He is so steeped in environmental causes for thoughtfulness and order, Ordway’s pas- that it is something of a surprise to learn that sion is conservation. A steadfast and gener- Ordway grew up in Manhattan and attended ous supporter of the Yale School of Forestry the Buckley School there and the Avon Old & Environmental Studies (F&ES), he pledged Farms Prep School in Avon, Connecticut, a total of $4 million for the study center and before coming to Yale. “We weren’t particu- library that will bear his name on the fi rst fl oor larly outdoorsy,” he said, although the family of the Kroon Building, the new F&ES home did travel out West. His father was a lawyer scheduled to be completed in late 2008. The for the International Telephone and Telegraph gift is a manifestation of his love of the land Company. Ordway was born in St. Paul, and his belief in the importance of sound envi- Minnesota, where his grandfather was a found- ronmental stewardship. er of 3M, and he still has many relatives there The gift also represents his faith in the mis- whom he visits frequently. sion of the school. “I am especially impressed After graduating from Yale, he taught histo- with the quality of the graduates that the ry and French at a private school in Montclair, school produces,” said Ordway, Yale College New Jersey. In 1952, he enrolled at the Class of 1947. “And what Gus Speth has done University of Colorado Law School in Boulder. as dean for the environment is just very admi- During the summers, Ordway would travel rable.” with friends, prompting what would become a Ordway owns Fish Creek Ranch in Wilson, lifelong affection for the Rocky Mountains and Wyoming, a 382-acre property that includes Jackson Hole, now a chic ski destination that almost one mile of Fish Creek, with spawning he described as “a cow town in the ’50s.” areas for native cutthroat trout. Rustic cabins Ordway was so enamored of the unspoiled for vacationers are riverside. The pine-dotted, landscape that he abandoned his original mountain-framed landscape is home to the intent to take the bar exam. His visits to the Ordway said one of the bald eagle and great blue heron. Winter brings Western forests and mountains with law school pleasures of contributing out the ungulates: moose and deer. A conser- classmates ignited an interest in environmental vation easement held by the Jackson Hole Land issues, and he soon found himself immersed to scholarships at F&ES Trust, on whose board Ordway sat, protects the in books such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring ranch in perpetuity. and articles about global warming, the vanish- is receiving letters from Ordway has also supported the Yale ing rainforests and other conservation-related Institute for Biospheric Studies, whose matters. the students who benefi t focus is research and teaching in the envi- He bought property in Wyoming, eight ronmental sciences, and he is a member of miles outside of Jackson, and created a vaca- from the contribution. F&ES’s Leadership Council. In addition to the tion site that was “part cattle and part dude Jackson Hole Land Trust, he has served on ranch” with close proximity to Grand Teton and almost a dozen boards, including The Nature Yellowstone National Park. Conservancy, the American Farmland Trust, “It was just so beautiful and relatively the World Wildlife Fund and the Wilderness underdeveloped,” he said. “At that time, there Society. were no condos. Skiing was much smaller.” 2 yale environmental NEWS Today, Fish Creek Ranch is no longer a dude ranch. The trails, where horses carried Among Flagship Species for Conservation, would-be cowboys, now lead to private homes. The ranch’s cabins with kitchenettes are still Lonesome George Is Perhaps the Most rented by vacationers or leased by people working in the area. Renowned Ordway lives in Wyoming during the Long thought for the fi rst time by way of genetic data collec- warmer weather with his wife, Margaret Doria, to be the sole tion from six museum specimens, also includ- but since 1985 they have spent winters in survivor of a ing Lonesome George. Population genetic California. Margaret is a watercolorist and the species of giant analyses revealed that one tortoise sampled two also share philanthropic endeavors and a Galápagos tor- on Isabela Island is clearly a fi rst-generation love of reading. Ordway’s two daughters are toise (Geochelone hybrid between the native tortoises from the full-time mothers, one living in Paris, the other abingdoni), this islands of Isabela and Pinta. That is, this in Montana. His son works for Boeing in Long conservation icon tortoise has half his genes in common with Beach, California. Each summer, Fish Creek may not be alone Lonesome George; unfortunately it is a male. Ranch is a meeting ground for his fi ve grand- for much longer, Given that there are well over 2,000 tortoises children. as a multinational of G. becki on Isabela Island and a fi rst-genera- During his Yale years, Ordway considered team of research- tion hybrid was detected in a very small subset F&ES to be an “industry school,” to train ers headed by Dr. of the population, there is hope that a more people for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Gisella Caccone and Professor Jeffrey Powell of thorough sampling could reveal a genetically or the U.S. Forest Service. Yale has discovered. pure Pinta tortoise. In the event additional “It has completely changed its emphasis,” Lonesome George originates from Pinta, individuals of Pinta ancestry are discovered, a he said. “The graduates have contributed so an isolated, northerly island of Galápagos, captive breeding and repatriation program may much to these nongovernmental organizations visited only occasionally by scientists and fi sh- be enacted for species recovery. These fi ndings and nonprofi ts, and there are so many of the ermen. In the late 1960s, it was noted that the offer the potential for transforming the legacy staff of these organizations who come from tortoise population on this island had dwin- of Lonesome George from an enduring symbol the school,” he said. “Because of the effective- dled close to extinction. Indeed, in 1972 only a of rarity to a conservation success story. ness of the programs, I began to contribute. I single male, Lonesome George, was found. He This work has been carried out in col- also got to know the school through others in was immediately brought into captivity at the laboration with the Charles Darwin Research environmental organizations, and they were all Charles Darwin Research Station on the island Station and the Galápagos National Park. enthusiastic about the school.” of Santa Cruz, where he is housed with two The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Ordway said one of the pleasures of con- female tortoises from a species found on the (YIBS)-ECOSAVE Center, The Bay and Paul tributing to scholarships at F&ES is receiving neighboring island of Isabela. After 35 years, Foundation, and the National Geographic letters from the students who benefi t from Lonesome George remains uninterested in Society have supported this research fi nancial- the contribution. “They tell me about their passing on his unique genes and has failed to ly. The results have been published in the May projects,” he said, “and many say that they are produce offspring. His status as the “rarest liv- 15, 2007 issue of Current Biology. only able to be at F&ES with help. It is there ing creature” (Guinness Records) and the con- The Yale team is now in the process of that they become very accomplished in solving tinuing saga surrounding the search for a mate looking for funds to organize a large sampling environmental problems.” has positioned Lonesome George as a potent campaign on the slopes of Volcano Wolf on conservation icon, not just for Galápagos, but Isabela to genotype the majority of the tor- worldwide. toises from that population with the hope of In the new work, the Yale team studied the fi nding additional individuals with Pinta genes. evolutionary history of a species of Galápagos These individuals will eventually be brought tortoise (G. becki) on Isabela Island that was to the Charles Darwin Research Station on the previously known to be genetically mixed. The island of Santa Cruz, where a breeding pro- study analyzed the distribution of genetic varia- gram will be started. tion within two G. becki populations across the nuclear genome relative to a large database To fi nd out how to make a contribution to fi nding including individuals from all extant species a mate for Lonesome George, please go to http://www.yale.edu/yibs/lonesome_george.htm.