Bo Wilmer

Landscape Ecologist
Idaho Regional Office

Office: 208-343-8153 x 5 Email

Bo Wilmer, Landscape Ecologist, joined the Center for Landscape Analysis at The Wilderness Society in 2001. He uses GIS and remote sensing technology to assess ecosystem condition, identify threats to those ecosystems, and design conservation solutions for future land management. Most recently, his research has focused on identifying priorities for restoration across landscapes in the Northern Rocky Mountains and crafting options to facilitate ecosystems’ adaptation to climate change in the Sierra Mountains of California.

Prior to his work at The Wilderness Society, Mr. Wilmer received an M.S. in Ecology from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, where he focused on patch dynamics of habitat resulting from the 1988 Yellowstone fires and human disturbance in adjacent National Forests. He received a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont.

He designed and taught the first GIS curriculum for graduate and undergraduate students at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, Alaska. While there, he also performed spatial analyses for USGS-Geologic Division, and Resource Data Inc., a GIS consulting firm. Also while teaching, he started a GIS consulting company, Ripple Technologies, and published a textbook atlas for Alaskan high schools.

A world traveler, Bo has explored or lived in dozens of countries spanning Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, as well as much of Europe.

Recent Publications:

• Aplet, G.H. and B. Wilmer. In press. The Potential for Restoring Fire-adapted Ecosystems: Exploring Opportunities for Expanded Wildland Fire Use. Fire Management Today.
• Stewart, S., B. Wilmer, G. H. Aplet, R. Hammer, T.J. Hawbaker, V. Radeloff. In press. Wildland-Urban Interface Maps Vary with Purpose and Context. Journal of Forestry.
• Wilmer, B. and T.H. DeLuca. 2008. Fire and Fuels Restoration Priority System: Using Mapping and Analysis to Help Prioritize Restoration Project. The Wilderness Society Web Report. July 2008, Washington, DC.
• Crist, M., T. H. DeLuca, G. H. Aplet, and B. Wilmer. 2008. Restoration of low elevation, mixed-fire severity forests of the Rocky Mountain West. Ecological Analysis. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC. 48 pp.
• DeLuca, T.H., G.H. Aplet, and B. Wilmer. 2008. The Unknown Trajectory of Forest Restoration: A Call for Ecosystem Monitoring. Ecological Analysis. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC.
• Aplet, G.H. and B. Wilmer, 2006. Managing the Landscape for Fire: A Three-Zone, Landscape-Scale Fire Management Strategy. Ecological Analysis. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC.
• Aplet, G.H. and B. Wilmer, 2005. The Wildland Fire Challenge: Protecting Communities and Restoring Ecosystems. George Wright Forum Vol. 22 N. 4. pp 32-44
• Crist. M, B. Wilmer and G.H. Aplet. 2005. Assessing the Value of Roadless Areas in a Conservation Reserve Strategy: Biodiversity and Landscape Connectivity in the Northern Rockies. Journal of Applied Ecology: 42, 181-191.
• Wilmer, B. and G. H. Aplet, 2005. Targeting the Community Fire Planning Zone: Mapping Matters. Ecological Analysis. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC.
• Crist. M and B. Wilmer, 2002. Roadless Areas: The Missing Link in Conservation - An Analysis of Biodiversity and Landscape Connectivity in the Northern Rockies. Ecological Analysis. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC.

Recently Published on Wilderness.org: