UM grieves for forestry professor

The University of Montana lost an instructor, mentor and friend over the weekend. Don Bedunah, 59, a range resource management professor and researcher, died in his home Saturday morning. He is deeply missed by his family, University faculty, students and many others.

"He effervesced with life,"his friend and colleague Jill Belsky said, "Especially on the ski slopes."

Bedunah was from Texas. He was tall, quiet and handsome and could always be seen carrying his coffee mug around.

In 1975 he received a bachelor's degree in range science from Texas A&M. He then completed his master's at Colorado State, and he received his Ph.D from Texas Tech.

Belsky, a professor of rural and environmental sociology, said Bedunah was far from narrow in his studies of rangeland flora. He understood the full range of human connections with natural resource management, she said.

"He would ask me all sorts of questions. He always wanted more detail," Belsky said. "More than caring about the plants and vegetation, he cared about the people who were also involved on those grasslands. He wanted to understand more deeply the social and human dimensions."

In 1982, Bedunah came to UM as an assistant professor in range resource management.

"His teaching on range sciences and range ecology has been central to our Forestry and Resource Conservation majors ever since Don's arrival," said Jim Burchfield, dean of the College of Forestry and Conservation. "We will miss him deeply."

Bedunah's work took him all over the world.  He recently researched grassland ecology in Afghanistan and western China.

Tenly Snow is a graduate student advised by Bedunah in her studies of international conservation development and management in Senegal.

"Don had significant experience in international development," Snow said. "His insight was invaluable with helping me understand and conduct field work in developing countries."

Snow said her mentor defiantly leaves an academic, professional and personal absence in her life. Yet, she has a supportive faculty to help her through her master's work.

Bedunah's death was unexpected and his fellow faculty members are organizing to continue the classes he was teaching and find mentors for his graduate students. He is survived by his wife, Mo Gary, and two sons.

Update: UM has scheduled a memorial service for Thursday, Feb. 2 at 5 PM in the Music Recital Hall.

hannah.ryan@umontana.edu