Jackson Hole News and Guide from Jackson, Wyoming • 41

JACKSON HOLE Wednesday, February 22, 2006 5B Lens leads others to wildlife -9 AiflV" ts Photo safari operator enjoys introducing kids, city residents to parks. By Johanna Love Wildlife photographer Jim Laybourn always attracted a lot of attention from tourists when he set up his tripod near the road in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. People pulled their cars over, wondering what Laybourn was shooting, and whether they were missing out on a large mammal sighting. This inspired Laybourn to start a new business: Wyoming Photo Experience. "I figured if people were going to follow me around, I might as well get paid for it," said Laybourn, 39.

"Most people don't have any idea where to start looking. I help people spend the time they have doing quality things in the parks." In addition to providing photos for the Casper Star Tribune, Laybourn's photo safari business is steady. He takes small groups or families into the park or forest lands, and each group has a different agenda. Some people will have point-and-shoot digital cameras, others a film 35mm SLR with a half-dozen lenses, and occasionally, the enthusiasts who buy brand-new cameras for their trip out West. A pro will want Laybourn to take him to a good location and carry a heavy tripod.

A birder gets fascinated by a magpie and will spend half the day trying to get the perfect magpie shot. Others "just" want to photograph a bear. They want to see a bear," Laybourn said. "If you can do that, you can't do any wrong after that." Although Laybourn has "a bit of a bear fetish," he draws a line between Timothy Treadwell-like bear carousing and a healthy respect for a bruin. And with clients, he is much more cautious than he would be alone.

"I try to give them an idea of what they can expect of an animal's behavior," he said. Growing up in Cheyenne, Laybourn and his siblings enjoyed a healthy outdoor education. He remembers a trip to Yellowstone at age 4, seeing a bear peer in the windows of his family's car. "I was hooked," Laybourn said. When he was about 10 years old, Laybourn's older brother watched Wind River Trails author Finis 4 NtWSAGUIDEPHOTOBRADtrj BONES Jim Laybourn leads "photo safaris" so tourists can capture their own critter images.

He also is passionate about conserving the valley's wild character. 45 years ago Eighteen teams from the All America Cutter Racing association were set to compete that weekend in the Cutter Race Championships. "Prizes will be given for the best Forty-Niner outfits no beatniks allowed, we hear," the newspaper wrote about the upcoming annual tradition. The 75th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer was observed at St. John's Episcopal Church.

The University of Wyoming was trying to recruit journalists to its program with an advertisement that read, There are twice as many openings today in the field of journalism as there are college graduates to fill the openings 1961 High School Graduates write the Department of Journalism, University of Wyoming, for further information." 30 years ago The 49'ers Ball was set for Saturday. "It was the big event of the year," Vi McCain said about the costume ball in the old days, "probably because there were so few things going on. Everybody rented or made costumes and broke their necks for months before getting ready." Proceeds from the annual event went to the Jackson Hole Ski Club Nordic and Alpine racing programs. I am real and living in a storybook village," said Grant Hagen about the Olympic Village during his stay at the Winter Games in Austria. His son, Martin, was representing the United States on the biathlon team.

Martin was hampered by flu, and his father said he couldn't recall how the valley skier finished. Four-year varsity wrestler Ken Kerr received the Betty Crocker Family Leader of Tomorrow award, the first time a boy had received the prize locally. Kerr was one of the 10 percent of high school boys who took the "bachelor survival course, which included cooking, sewing and etiquette. 15 years ago A volunteer sheriffs search team located and rescued novice skier Michael Kulik after he was ravaged with frostbite and hypothermia in a two-night struggle in Phillips Canyon. "I just found him sitting in the snow," one of the rescuers said.

"He had just crawled out there and rolled over. He couldn't have gone another foot. That's where he was going to die." Kulik was wearing cross-country skis designed for groomed track, not backcountry travel. Complicating matters was the deteriorating snowpack, which was collapsing due to warm conditions. He made a bed of pine boughs under a downed log, and waited.

Jimmy Stewart was announced as the host of the first Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Organizers hoped to attract at least 400 delegates from all over the world to attend seminars, workshops and watch some of the best wildlife films. "It is high time that we have something of prestige in this country regarding filmmaking festivals," said valley movie producer and organizer Wolfgang Bayer. "Jackson is really the only place for such a festival. Jackson is the center of wildlife in the Rockies." ferent from his current approach.

"Now I like long lenses, reaching out and getting close to the animals," he said. In the mid-'80s, Laybourn began spending the summers in Jackson, working construction and playing around in the parks. "That's been my goal: spend as much time as I can outdoors, hang out with the animals," he said. Especially in the summer, Laybourn avoids the bustling town in favor of the backcountry. What he loves about Jackson Hole has little to do with the art galleries or the cultural scene.

"I love it in spite of its can do whatever they want. But those days are gone when they could do everything in the dark." Laybourn's activism comes honestly; his mother would take him and siblings to anti-war protests during the Vietnam era. He remembers walking around wearing a sandwich board while Nixon was bombing Cambodia. "We were always taught to speak out, to try to make a difference," Laybourn said. "I had an opinion.

I think that's an important thing." His sister, Tatiana Maxwell, is perhaps the best-known activist in the valley, protesting the Bush administration regularly, from Lynne Cheney's book signings to intercepting the Vice President's motorcade. "We can't keep our mouth shut, Tat and Laybourn said. He enjoys his family status as a favorite uncle "all the fun without the responsibility" taking Maxwell's daughters out for memorable experiences with wildlife, from a cluster of moose to clashing bighorns. It's a thrill he gets regularly during each photo safari that contains children. "That's one of the most satisfying things, to see kids get excited about seeing their first moose," he said.

"It reminds me of my early experiences." IMF growth, not because of it." Preserving the pristine qualities of the valley is a cause Laybourn is passionate about. In the fall of 1999, he was a key part Mitchell present a slide show about the mountain range, and invited the venerated explorer home for dinner. It wasn't long before the Laybourn boys were exploring the Winds with the 70-year-old Mitchell, Jim Laybourn of the Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free campaign that prevented a nuclear incinerator from being built at the National Engineering Laboratory just 90 miles upwind of Jackson. He designed the "Plutonium-free powder" stickers that graced bumpers around town. "We need as many people as we can keeping an eye on that place," Laybourn said.

"They think they've found a place remote enough, they climbing remote peaks. Td be begging him to slow down," Laybourn said. "He was really an inspiration." After high school, Laybourn studied photography at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Oregon. He learned valuable things about the history of photography in the West, but most of the shooting was "landscape stuff, large-format, wide-angle," much dir I WINDSHIELD SALE A phone tip about a crime can make our safe valley even safer. Call CrimeStoppers 1990-2003 GM and Ford Pickups $13995 installed O.E.M.

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