Russel L. Tanner has more than 35 years of experience in Wyoming history and archaeology. He is retired from the Bureau of Land Management where he worked for 24 years. From 2000 to 2003 he served as the BLM's statewide historian for Wyoming where most of his work involved historic trails identification and management. He holds an MA degree in American Studies and a BA in anthropology both from the University of Wyoming. Tanner has written chapters in several books including Red Desert: History of a Place, edited by Annie Proulx.