William Petzoldt Yellowtail, Jr. (born January 8, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

and as a regional administrator of the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

Early life and education

Born in Wyola, Montana, Yellowtail grew up on his family's cattle ranch on the

Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana in the United States. The Crow Tribe has an enrolled membe ...

in Montana. He is a 1971 graduate of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

Environmental Studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

after a brief period of absence from the college.

Career

Yellowtail served on the

from 1985 to 1993, representing Big Horn,

Rosebud Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995 * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device * "Roseb ...

and Powder River counties. He also served as a Regional Administrator of the

from 1994 to 1996, managing Region VIII. Later in 1996, he ran an unsuccessful campaign against Republican

Rick Hill Richard Allan Hill (born December 30, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Montana in 2012. Early life ...

for Montana's lone seat in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. He was defeated in a controversial campaign notorious for

mudslinging Negative campaigning is the process of deliberately spreading negative information about someone or something to damage their public image. A colloquial and more derogatory term for the practice is mudslinging. Deliberate spreading of such in ...

efforts by himself and Hill. He returned to the EPA shortly thereafter to his former post, but suffered further scandal for allegedly unknowingly violating the

Hatch Act The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law that prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice president, from eng ...

in 2000. Yellowtail is an employee with Off the Beaten Path in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, and has served on the boards of directors for the Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy in Montana, the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

, and the Humanities Montana organization. He serves on the advisory committee for the One Montana nonprofit organization. As a prominent Crow Indian, he recently served as the MSU Emeritus Katz Chair in

Native American Studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

and advocated for tribal relations with the EPA during his tenure as its Region VIII Administrator.

References

External links

Property and Environment Research Center article on Indian Sovereignty, by Yellowtail

Interview with Yellowtail on capitalism

Interview with Yellowtail on Native Americans

Early life and education

Career

References

External links

Further reading