Comunications Director Leslie Gaines

When you walk into Leslie Gaines’ office, you feel as if you’ve walked into a whirlwind. There are stacks of books, magazines and videos on the floor and littering the top of a large table. Phones—both his cell phone and an office phone on his desk—ring incessantly. Leslie greets you with exuberance and in minutes you are caught up in his storm of ideas and enthusiasm. That’s why WOC’s new communications director, who joined the staff in February, has already earned the nickname "Hurricane Gaines."

"I’m intrigued by everything around here," says Leslie, who came to Wyoming from Florida. "I made Mac [Blewer] stop four times between Muddy Gap and Lander the other day just to check things out. Everywhere I go, there’s something cool to see."

Leslie’s enthusiasm for Wyoming extends to his new job. A filmmaker by trade, he has been self-employed for the last 15 years making award-winning documentaries and television programs. Now he wants to use these skills to take WOC’s communications into the 21st century. "We reach 1,500 people with our news-letter," Leslie says. "We could reach thousands more through radio and television."

Leslie has already established connections with news station KGWC-CBS in Casper and its many sister stations throughout Wyoming. His first Wyoming video making the news was footage of dying elk near Rawlins.

Leslie hopes to establish a radio program like Radio High Country News to discuss conservation issues facing Wyoming and the West. He wants to climb—and film—the Grand Teton by moonlight this summer, and he’s teaching WOC staffer Mac Blewer the fine art of becoming a soundman. He has thousands of ideas, and enough energy and enthusiasm to convince you he can actually transform those ideas into reality.

"We need to show people that conservationists are more than just greenie, east-coast liberals," he concludes. "It’s a big challenge, but I’m excited about it."