Light kisses the top cliffs in the Grand Canyon

Tim Peterson

Cultural Landscapes Director

Born and raised in Utah, Tim developed a lifelong love of the Colorado Plateau at an early age on hikes and camping trips in southern Utah. This love for the landscape led him to an education in photography, but his desire to do more than just make photographs led him to his calling — working to safeguard the plateau. Tim’s advocacy career began in 1997, and he joined the Trust in 2010. Through his work in support of the Bears Ears National Monument, Tim’s understanding of public lands protection grew to encompass the importance of enduring cultural knowledge; the power of the land to heal; and recognition that humans are part of, not separate from, the natural world. As the cultural landscapes director, Tim focuses not only on preserving and defending landscapes, but also on returning authority to Indigenous people in the management of ancestral lands.

Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.

― Joanna Macy

Plateau favorites

  • The Abajo Mountains and Elk Ridge
  • Labyrinth and Stillwater canyons of the Green River
  • Thousand Lake Mountain, Capitol Reef, and the Burr Trail
  • Comb Ridge Eat and Drink in Bluff, Utah
  • Nizhóní Soaps from Navajo Nation
  • The Zuni Craftsmen Cooperative

Interests & hobbies

  • Singing and playing guitar
  • Growing food and flowers   
  • Vegetarian New Mexican cuisine
  • Sharing a love for photography and travel with his wife, Anna
  • Strong coffee in the backcountry
  • Nonfiction books about cold war espionage

Little-known facts

  • If you see Tim and ask “do you have your camera,” and he says “no,” it’s not Tim.
  • Tim owns and drives his late grandma’s 1964 Ford Falcon Convertible.
  • Tim believes a day without green chile is like a day without sunshine.

Posts by Tim Peterson

Join our community of supporters

Tim Peterson

Want to join our team?

Current job openings