Paul Hirt is a historian specializing in the American West, environmental history, environmental policy, and sustainability studies. Hirt's publications include a monograph on the history of electric power in the U.S. Northwest and British Columbia, titled "The Wired Northwest" (Univ Press of Kansas, 2012). He also published a history of national forest management since WWII ("A Conspiracy of Optimism," 1994), and edited two collections of essays on Northwest history ("Terra Pacifica," 1998 and "Northwest Lands, Northwest Peoples," 1999). Hirt has also authored more than two-dozen articles and book chapters on environmental and western history and policy. His current research projects include collaborative interdisciplinary research on energy transitions, water use and conservation, urban growth and sustainability in southern Arizona, and adaptive management in the Colorado River Basin.
Professor Hirt is involved in many public engagement programs focused on the above topics, including the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit Water/Ways, an administrative history of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, renewable energy development for the Navajo Nation, and various water, energy, and sustainability initiatives of the Global Institute of Sustainability and ASU's Global Drylands Center. An example of a completed public history project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities can be viewed here.
Professor Hirt has served as a book and manuscript reviewer for more than a dozen academic presses and journals and has held positions on several editorial boards and professional association program and prize committees. From 2007-2011, he served on the Executive Committee of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) and, from 2011-2015, he served on the editorial board of the journal Environmental History. For several years he chaired ASEH's Sustainability Committee and its Advisory Board for Professional Development and Public Engagement.
In his private life, Hirt holds an elected position on the board of directors of Salt River Project, one of the nation's largest nonprofit water and power utilities centered in greater Phoenix, and he is involved with regional conservation organizations, serving on the board of directors of the Sky Island Alliance based in Tucson, Arizona from 2002-2011.
Public lands, water resources, energy production and consumption, renewable energy transitions, natural resources management, the conservation movement and environmentalism, environmental policy and problem-solving, urban growth, sustainability.
Books
Paul W. Hirt, The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s-1970s. The University Press of Kansas, 2012.
Paul W. Hirt and Dale D. Goble, editors, Northwest Lands, Northwest Peoples: Readings in Environmental History. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Paul W. Hirt, editor, Terra Pacifica: People and Place in the Northwest States and Western Canada. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1998.
Paul W. Hirt, A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests Since World War Two. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, Nov. 1994.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Paul Hirt, Cyrus Hester, Rachel Snyder, and Kelli Larson, “Water Consumption and Conservation in Arizona: A Tale of Two Desert Cities,” Journal of the Southwest, v. 59, nos. 1&2 (2017): 264-301.
Megan Barry, Paul Hirt, and Hrvoje Petrić, "Building the Resilience of Croatian Agriculture to Environmental and Economic Shocks," Economic and Ecohistory / Ekonomska e Ekohistorija, V. XI, no. 11 (December 2015): 105-122.
Paul Hirt and Linda Sargent Wood, “Teaching Nature, Culture, and History in the West: A Grand Canyon Multimedia Partnership,” Journal of the West, vol. 49, no. 3 (2011): 10-33.
Kelli L. Larson, Annie Gustafson and Paul Hirt, “Insatiable Thirst and a Finite Supply: An Assessment of Municipal Water-Conservation Policy in Greater Phoenix, Arizona, 1980–2007,” Journal of Policy History, Vol 21, Issue 02 (April 2009): 107-137.
Paul Hirt, Kelli L. Larson, and Annie Gustafson, “The Mirage in the Valley of the Sun,” Environmental History, v. 13 (July 2008): 482-514.
Paul Hirt, “Institutional Failure in the U.S. Forest Service: A Historical Perspective,” Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, vol. 7 (1999).
Paul Hirt, “The Transformation of a Landscape: Culture and Ecology in 19th Century Southeast Arizona,” Environmental Review, v. 13, n. 3-4 (Fall/Winter 1989).
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
Cody Ferguson and Paul Hirt, "‘Power to the People’: Grassroots Advocacy, Environmental Protection, and Democratic Governance in the Late 20th Century,” in the book The Nature of Hope: Grassroots Organizing, Environmental Justice, and Political Change, edited by Char Miller and Jeffrey Crane. In press, The University Press of Colorado, 2018.
Paul W. Hirt, “Foreword” to the book The Border Wall between Mexico and the United States: Venues, Mechanisms and Stakeholders for a Constructive Dialogue. Mexico: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, forthcoming 2015.
Paul W. Hirt and Adam M. Sowards, “The Past and Future of the Columbia River,” peer-reviewed chapter in a book titled The Columbia River Treaty Revisited: Transboundary River Governance in the Face of Uncertainty, edited by Barbara Cosens. Oregon State University Press, 2012.
Paul Hirt, “Back to the Future: The Rise, Decline, and Possible Return of the U.S. Forest Service as a Leading Voice for Conservation in America, 1900–2000,” in V. Alaric Sample and Steven Anderson, eds., Common Goals for Sustainable Forest Management: Divergence and Reconvergence of American and European Forestry. Durham: Forest History Society, 2008: pp. 124-153.
Paul Hirt, “Developing a Plentiful Resource: Transboundary Rivers in the Pacific Northwest,” in R. Perry, H. Ingram, & J. Whiteley (eds.) Water, Place, and Equity: Tempering Efficiency with Justice. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008: 147-88.
Paul Hirt, “Biopolitics: A Case Study of Political Influence on Forest Management Decisions, Coronado National Forest, Arizona,” a chapter in the book Forests Under Fire: A Century of Ecosystem Mismanagement in the Southwest. Edited by Arthur Gomez and Christopher Huggard. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, April 2001.
Paul Hirt, “Predicting the Future by Understanding the Past: A Historian Considers the Forest Service,” in A Vision for the U.S. Forest Service: Goals for Its Next Century. Edited by Roger A. Sedjo. Washington DC: Resources for the Future, 2000, pp. 149-69.
Paul Hirt, “Getting Out the Cut: A History of National Forest Management in the Northern Rockies,” a chapter in the book Northwest Lands, Northwest Peoples, edited by Dale Goble and Paul Hirt. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Paul Hirt, “Creating Wealth by Consuming Place: Making Sense of National Forest Management in the Pacific Northwest,” a chapter in the book Power and Place in the North American West. Edited by John Findlay and Richard White. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Paul Hirt, “Dupes, Conspirators, Truth-Seekers, and Other Breeds: A Typology of the Human Animal in Environmental History Narratives,” a chapter in the book Human/Nature: biology, culture, and environmental history. Edited by John Herron & Andrew Kirk. Univ of New Mexico Press, 1999.
Non-Peer-Reviewed Published Articles, Chapters, Conference Proceedings, etc.
Paul Hirt, "A Brief History of River Development and River Conservation in North America." Ekonomska I Ekohistorija, vol. VIII (2012): 62-65. (Invited article for peer-reviewed journal in Croatia.)
Paul Hirt, “Teaching US History with Environmentally Themed Cartoons,” OAH Magazine of History, vol. 25, no. 4 (October 2011): 45-48. (Invited contribution to special issue on environmental history.)
Dale D. Goble, Paul Hirt, and Susan Kilgore, “GALLERY: On Political Cartoons,” in Environmental History, vol. 10, no. 4 (October 2005), pp. 776-92. (Invited brief article for “Gallery” section of journal.)
Paul Hirt, "Creating an Adaptable American Studies Curriculum for Kyrgyzstan: The Benefits of Flexibility," in the proceedings for the conference "America's Changing Role: American Studies in Central Asia," Archives of the Second Annual American Studies Symposium Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, published by the American University of Central Asia, April 2005.
Paul Hirt, “Creating an American Studies Curriculum for Ukraine,” in ASAU Issues: The Newsletter of the American Studies Association of Ukraine, v. 2 (2003), pp. 2-3.
Paul Hirt, “Following the Money,” Inner Voice, vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 1997), pp. 1, 6-8. (A feature article for an issue devoted to the influence of federal budgets on national forest management. Journal of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.)
Paul Hirt, “Obstacles to Achieving Federal Land Management Goals: The Disjunction Between Planning and Funding: A Case Study of the Coronado National Forest, Arizona.” Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago: The Sky-Islands of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Ft. Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report RM-GTR-264, Sept 1995, pp. 451-60.
Paul Hirt, “Preserve Design for Maintaining Biodiversity in the Sky-Island Region,” paper co-authored by Dale Turner, Susan Brandes, Mark Fishbein, and Paul Hirt. Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago: The Sky-Islands of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Ft. Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, pp. 524-30.
Paul Hirt, “Changing with the Times: Forestry and Society,” San Juan Almanac (Jan/Feb 1995), pp. 4-5, 18-19.
Paul Hirt, “Two Sides of a Coin: Fragmentation and Diversity in the Forest Service,” Universe (WSU Press, Fall 1994), pp. 26-31.
Paul Hirt, “Technological Optimism in Public Forestry: The Rise and Decline of ‘Intensive Management’ of the National Forests after World War Two,” in Foresters Together: Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges—Proceedings of the 1993 Society of American Foresters National Convention (Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters, 1994), pp. 456-62.
Paul Hirt, “Timber Dreams: Fifty Years of National Forest Planning,” Inner Voice, v. 6, no. 3 (1994): 1, 6-7.
Paul Hirt, “National Forest Long-Term Planning and Short-Term Funding: A Historical Appraisal and Reform Proposal,” Inner Voice, v. 4, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1992).
Paul Hirt, “Response to Changing Values in a Developed River System: Fisheries and Hydropower in the Columbia River Basin,” in Frank Gregg, et al., Institutional Response to a Changing Water Policy Environment, Research Report, Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, Dec. 1991.
Paul Hirt, “Arizona Politicians Short-Circuit Laws for Huge Telescope Project,” Inner Voice , vol. 3, no. 1 (1991).
Paul Hirt, “The Mount Graham Red Squirrel Controversy,” Endangered Species Update, v. 7, n. 6 (April 1990). [A University of Michigan and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publication.]
Spring 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
HST 599 | Thesis |
HST 792 | Research |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 596 | Capstone: Scientific Paper |
Spring 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 493 | Honors Thesis |
HST 599 | Thesis |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
HST 306 | Studies in US History |
SOS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
HST 591 | Seminar |
HST 599 | Thesis |
HST 792 | Research |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 596 | Capstone: Scientific Paper |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 493 | Honors Thesis |
HST 592 | Research |
HST 599 | Thesis |
SOS 599 | Thesis |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2018 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
HST 599 | Thesis |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2018 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
SOS 596 | Capstone: Scientific Paper |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
HST 591 | Seminar |
SOS 594 | Conference and Workshop |
HST 599 | Thesis |
SOS 792 | Research |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2017 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
HST 306 | Studies in US History |
SOS 594 | Conference and Workshop |
HST 598 | Special Topics |
HST 599 | Thesis |
SOS 792 | Research |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2017 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
HST 308 | Hist & Phil of Sustainability |
SOS 309 | Hist & Phil of Sustainability |
PHI 322 | Hist & Phil of Sustainability |
HST 591 | Seminar |
SOS 594 | Conference and Workshop |
HST 599 | Thesis |
SOS 790 | Reading and Conference |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |
HST 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2016 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
HST 110 | United States Since 1865 |
HST 306 | Studies in US History |
HST 590 | Reading and Conference |
SOS 594 | Conference and Workshop |
SOS 792 | Research |
HST 792 | Research |
SOS 799 | Dissertation |