"Who publishes the sheet-music of the winds or the music of water written in river-lines?"

John Muir     

John Friedrich - 2011-

- John Friedrich of South Lake Tahoe, has a rich career leading environmental non-profit programs and projects, including as the Membership and Development Director for the Yosemite Association, Program Director for Yosemite Conservancy, Campaign Consultant for the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and Program Director for the League to Save Lake Tahoe. While living in Washington, DC, John founded Community Harvest, an organization that worked to connect local, family farmers with low-income communities and operated an urban organic farm. John has managed numerous political and issue campaigns, and has experience campaigning to stop bad development, promoting smart land use, and educating residents on good stewardship practices. He has a true passion for community and sustainability. A recent returnee to South Lake Tahoe, John is settling back into high Sierra life with his wife Kim Carr, spunky 5-year old daughter Rosie, and lovable Tahoe native dog, Riley.

Ian Herdell (Secretary) - 2009-

- Ian Herdell lives in the Southern Sierra Nevada and runs a custom woodshop in Springville, California. He came to the Range of Light and began working with the Alliance through the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP), serving for two years at WildPlaces in Springville. He works with local organizations to engage underserved youth, conserve critical landscapes and clean his local watershed. Ian graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Anthropology and taught preschool and middle school before coming to the Sierra. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and studied abroad in Costa Rica for two years.

Addie Jacobson - 2006 -

- Addie Jacobson lives outside Murphys in Calaveras County. Addie is a project development consultant and environmental advocate. In addition to her involvement with the Sierra Nevada Alliance, she is active locally in Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch, CHIPS, and the Amador Calaveras Consensus Group.

Bob Johnston (President) - 2006 -

- Professor Johnston has been a member of state and regional advisory committees for transportation and air quality planning agencies and a local transportation commission. He reviews articles and grant proposals for several organizations and has published over 70 refereed articles and book chapters. He has given invited talks at many conferences and universities and has been a faculty member?in?residence at the University of Iowa. He is a member of the TRB Transportation and Land Development Committee, the NAS Committee on the Determination of the State of Practice of Metropolitan Travel Modeling, and is a Town Planning Commissioner in Truckee, CA. He is an expert in several lawsuits all over the U.S. on freeway widenings, over last 30 years; a member of three citizens groups in Davis in the 70s and 80s that stopped the widening of the underpass entrance to the City; a member of citizens group in Davis that got Central Park doubled in size; a member of Davis transportation advisory commission in late 80s; and a member of Truckee Planning Commission, currently. His current research includes: 1) Implementing a simple urban growth model in 15 California counties, including some Sierra ones and 2) Developing a statewide urban growth model over the next 3 years.

Terry Manning (President) - 2002 - 2008 & 2011-

- Terry is a board member of the Sequoia Riverlands Trust and lives outside of Porterville in the Southern Sierra. Terry is a retired Porterville Highschool English teacher and he and his wife currently own a small apple orchard and produce apple products. Terry is a strong addition to the board representing the Southern Sierra, understanding local land trust issues, and bringing a passion and commitment to the Sierra.

Sam Mudie - 2011-

- Sam Mudie, BSME, is the President and a founding member of the Sierra Cycling Foundation (SCF), an bicycling advocacy group whose mission is to promote safe bicycling opportunities for fitness, recreation, rehabilitation and transportation within the Eastern Sierra. SCF emphasizes bicycle-safety training for children and mandatory helmet laws and works to improve non motorized transportation on the streets and highways. Sam grew up in rural eastern Pennsylvania on the Delaware river just north of the Philadelphia city line. He received his undergraduate detree from Rutgers University and MBA from University of Pittsburgh. He started his career with IBM in Endicott, NY, IBM's birthplace. He finally got his first taste of the Sierra Nevada in 1965 working with IBM in San Jose and skiing at Squaw Valley. Following his career with IBM he owned and operated three Swensen's Ice Cream franchises in Los Angeles. Since 1971 Sam has been splitting his time between Los Angeles and Hilton Creek, near Crowley Lake in the Eastern Sierra and loves spending time with his wife, Patty Glaser, two children and two grandsons. He is a long time supporter of Mono Lake and worked with Andrea Lawrence and the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers. He will bring a passion for the Sierra and outdoor recreation with his extensive experience in business to help lead the Alliance.

Betsy Reifsnider (Vice President) - 2006 -

- Betsy Reifsnider (Sacramento, CA) was introduced to the Range of Light in 1978 when she climbed Lone Pine Peak in the Eastern Sierra. She went on to work for the Sierra Club in Los Angeles and then as a legislative deputy for environmentalist and City Councilmember Ruth Galanter. Betsy was also the Associate Director of the Mono Lake Committee, the Water Conservation Manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region, and the Executive Director of Friends of the River. She is the environmental justice director for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton.

Christine Rozance - 2006 -

- Christine Rozance was born and raised in Berkeley. After receiving her BA. degree from U.C.Berkeley, she attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, New York. The early part of her medical career was with the University of California School of Medicine. Since 1998 she has served as primary care physician and medical director for Sutter SeniorCare which is a multidisciplinary agency serving a population of frail elder individuals. She has longstanding interest in environmental issues. A long term camper and hiker, she has enjoyed summers at Lake Tahoe and other areas of the Sierra Nevada. She served as a member of the Board of Directors for the League to Save Lake Tahoe for over 10 years. In addition to hiking and camping, special interests include vocal and instrumental music. She has three sons and a daughter and is proud that her daughter has chosen environmental resource management as a career.

Lynn Sadler (Treasurer) - 1998-2004; 2008 -

- An award-winning veteran of numerous campaigns, Lynn has served on the Board of the Sierra Nevada Alliance for over 9 years non-consecutively, and her most recent term is ending this August 2011. Currently she is an Assistant Public Advisor at California Energy Commission and prior to this position she was the CEO of SC Wildlands Science and Collaboration for Connected Wildlands and President and CEO of the Mountain Lion Foundation. She also has managed diverse campaign efforts ranging from President of the United States to city council candidates, and the Olympics to local charities. She serves as an officer on the Board of Directors of the Planning and Conservation League, Conservation Restoration and Renewal Team. Lynn co-founded and performs around the world with the Sacramento Choral Society. Lynn graduated Pennsylvania State University and University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and political science. She shares her home with her amazing husband Steve Braford and numerous furlings. She continues her family's ranching business in the Midwest.

Richard Taylor - 2011-

- Richard S. Taylor spent his teens hiking up and down the Sierra and is now a partner with Shute Mihaly & Weinberger LLP. He has years of experience advising community groups and agencies on complex planning and land use matters. He was part of the negotiating team that brokered the landmark settlement agreements protecting the Martis Valley between Tahoe and Truckee and he recently advised a coalition of conservation groups in negotiating an agreement for preservation of 240,000 acres of the historic Tejon Ranch in the southern Sierra. Richard also works with local community groups on planning issues and drafting initiatives that address local land use concerns such as establishing urban growth boundaries and linking growth to the availability of water supply. In 2009 he was recognized as a "California Lawyer Attorney of the Year" in the area of Environmental Law. Before practicing law he worked as a planner with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and Santa Barbara County. In law school at U.C. Berkeley he was Managing Editor of the Ecology Law Quarterly. Richard resides in San Francisco with his wife Tracy Grubbs and continues to enjoy hiking in the Sierra Nevada.

Gary Adest

- Gary Adest lives in Springville, CA in the southern Sierra and is trained in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology. Since 1990, Gary has worked with his wife Barbara on a variety of field research projects in Wildlife Biology. In 2000, Gary and Barbara bought River Ridge ranch on the Tule River when it looked as if the land would end up as a major housing development. By working with the Sequoia Riverlands Trust, and a number of partners and donors, they were able to place a conservation easement on the ranch and market the development rights. River Ridge is now fully protected in perpetuity and will remain a haven for the public seeking personal restoration and recreation and for the flora and fauna which abound on the property. In order to afford the costs of the Ranch, Barbara and Gary decided to do what they knew best: to teach people about the outdoors and how to gently coexist with it. Nowadays, River Ridge ranch is host to many community events such as free Wednesday night music, a camp for children with cancer and youth outdoor education programs. Most surprisingly, the ranch now earns its primary income from hosting weddings! Gary also ended up learning to do what he knew nothing about: managing the day-to-day affairs of a working cattle ranch, a grazing regime and the myriad details involved in planning and providing for people to have a rewarding and memorable experience when visiting their ranch.

Tanya Africa - Board Member from 2004-2006

- Tanya got her start in advocacy as a student volunteer in the CALPIRG chapter at UC Berkeley, where Joan Clayburgh was the campus organizer. After 6 years working at the PIRG national headquarters in Santa Barbara, Tanya, a Reno native, was thrilled to come home to the Sierra. She served as Associate Director for two regional non-profits based in Truckee -- the Sierra Business Council and then the Truckee Donner Land Trust. In 2005, Tanya discovered the joys of the virtual office when she began working from her historic home in downtown Truckee as the Director of Electoral Initiatives at MoveOn.org. Currently, Tanya is the Project Manager for an online advocacy and fundraising platform called ActionKit (www.actionkit.com). If you receive email from progressive organizations like 350.org, Alaska Wilderness League, Oceana, MercyCorps, or Bold Progressives, you've seen ActionKit at work. Tanya has served on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Nevada Alliance and on the Board of Trustees of Green Century Funds, a family of environmentally responsible mutual funds.

Laurel Ames - 1993; 2003 -

- Laurel has been involved in Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada and statewide environmental and watershed issues for many years. A former Executive Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe and as one of the founders and the first Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Alliance, she has helped shaped policies that have endured the tests of time. Laurel is currently a board member of the California Watershed Network and is retired from daily meetings - - thereby having more time for volunteering.

Jim Baetge - 1998-2001; 2004 -

- Jim Baetge is the former Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and former Executive Director of the California State Water Resources Control Board, past Supervising Planner for the California Department of Transportation, past Executive Officer of the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and past Civil Engineer/Planner with the California Department of Transportation. Jim holds a degree in Public Administration from California State University Sacramento.

Randy Barrow (Vice President) - 1999-2005

- Randy Barrow is a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice. He has experience in land use litigation (Families Unafraid to Uphold Rural Etc. County v. Board of Supervisors (1998) 62 Cal.App.4th 1332), and is the chair of the Maidu Group of the Sierra Club. Randy is a former whitewater guide and a resident of rural El Dorado County.

- Joan Boothe was a corporate officer of Chevron, and now teaches graduate courses in organizational behavior at St. Mary's College in Moraga and does private consulting. She is a phi beta kappa graduate of Wellesley College and has an MBA in Finance from the University of California Berkeley. Joan owns a second home in Blue Canyon and is an active hiker, backpacker and skier in the range, and is a founding member of the Sierra Nevada Alliance.

Cristi Bozora Creegan

- Cristi Creegan has worked for nonprofit conservation organizations since 1995, when she interned for the Environmental Defense Fund (now environmental defense) as a second-year law student at the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After obtaining her J.D. in 1996 with a certificate in Environmental Law, Cristi worked for Friends of the Columbia Gorge before moving to South Lake Tahoe to become the first Program Coordinator for the Sierra Nevada Alliance. After 1 ˝ years, Cristi became the Alliance’s Associate Executive Director, a position she held for another year before leaving the Alliance to pursue other opportunities. From March 2001 to May 2004, Cristi was the Managing Director of the California Rangeland Trust, a statewide agricultural land trust based in Sacramento. Cristi has been a member of the Board of Directors of Sonoma Photonics, Inc., and of Tahoe Tomorrow and is a member of the Bar in both California and Oregon. Cristi holds a B.A. in English from the University of California at Berkeley.

Patty Brissenden

Patty Brissenden - 1993-2001

- Patty Brissenden, co-owner of Sorensen's Resort, is a core member of Friends of Hope Valley, which garnered widespread support from all segments of the population of Alpine County as well as local officials for the successful effort to preserve Hope Valley. From 1980-1984 Patty was Field Representative to then-Assemblymember Sam Farr as well as a Santa Cruz County Port Commissioner. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of both the Planning and Conservation League and The Conservation Alliance, and is a founding member of the Sierra Nevada Alliance. Patty served as first Chair of the Futures Fund Committee.

Bill Center

Bill Center - 1998-2006

- Bill Center, owner of Camp Lotus on the South Fork of the American River, has been involved in commercial rafting for 25 years, and is a past El Dorado County Supervisor. Bill is on the Board of the Great Valley Center and the Planning and Conservation League. Along with Patty Brissenden and Martha Davis, he served on the planning committee for the 1992 Sierra Now Conference, which launched the Alliance.

Jan Chatten-Brown - 2005-2011

- Jan Chatten Brown has practiced almost exclusively in the area of environmental law, natural resources, land use, and municipal law since she graduated from UCLA Law School in 1971. For the first twenty-one years of her practice, Jan worked in various public law offices. She served in the California Attorney General's Environmental Unit in the early 70's; organized the first environmental prosecution program in the country in a local prosecutor's office in 1984; and served as Special Assistant for Occupational Safety and Health and Environmental Protection to the Los Angeles District Attorney from 1984-1992. While employed by the City of Los Angeles for over ten years, Jan advised the City on compliance with various environmental laws, and managed a pro-active environmental protection program. While Special Assistant to the Los Angeles District Attorney and Senior Assistant Los Angeles City Attorney, she had substantial litigation experience and experience before administrative agencies and in drafting and commenting upon significant federal and state legislation and regulations. Additionally, Jan served as the Southern California Gubernatorial appointee to the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency during the time when their Regional Plan was being developed, which was widely considered one of the most innovative of its time. In 1995, she opened her own practice, which is now Chatten-Brown & Carstens. The firm utilizes state and federal laws (including CEQA, NEPA, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, the public trust doctrine, and other laws) to protect the environmental. The firm has achieved many beneficial reported cases, advancing the development of environmental laws in California, and stopped or modified many projects that would adversely impact the environment. Jan has also served as a member and chair of the California State Bar Committee on the Environment; as a member and three year President of the Coalition for Clean Air; and currently as a Vice President of the Planning and Conservation League, and President of the Sierra Nevada Alliance. She has taught environmental and land use law at UCLA and USC.

Jennifer Cooper - 2006 -2011

- Jennifer Cooper is founder of Emerald Bay Physical Therapy, a private practice sports medicine clinic in the outdoor athletic paradise of Lake Tahoe California. Since graduating from Northwestern School of Medicine, with a Bachelors of Science in Physical Therapy, Ms. Cooper has spent the better part of two decades working with athletes and personalities including the USSA Olympic snowboarders. She actively cultivates a commitment to hard work, and competitive endeavors while fostering a desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Therapist, author, public-speaker, TV personality, and athlete herself, Jenny seeks opportunity and adventure, and is excited about her new role with the Alliance.

Martha Davis (Advisory Committee Chair) - 1994-2000

- Martha Davis is currently serving as Manager of Strategic Policy Development of the Inland Empire Utility Agency. She has extensive background in state and federal water policy. She is the former Executive Director for Californians and the Land, a non-profit organization focused on water and land issues, and the Mono Lake Committee, where she received numerous awards and acknowledgments for her creative problem-solving skills in resolving the Mono Lake dispute.

Tom DeVries

- Tom DeVries is a recovering journalist living in the Sierra near Yosemite. He has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Examiner, California magazine, Harper's, The Nation and elsewhere. He has worked as a writer, producer and reporter for broadcast networks including CBS, Fox, NBC, Discovery, and PBS, and for several major market broadcast stations.

Ray Griffiths (Secretary) - 2000-2006

- Ray was born in Willows, Glenn County, in the middle of the Sacramento Valley on a small cattle ranch. He holds a B.A. Biology from CSU Chico and a M.S. Ecology from UCDavis. He moved to El Dorado County (Georgetown) in 1978, where he lives with his wife Irene Sakaishi, and has two children, Pippin, 18 and Ashlee, 15. Ray helped start the farmers market in Garden Valley in 1985, and began a consulting business in 1989, working with soil scientists, doing wetland delineations, rare plant surveys, etc. He served on the El Dorado County Planning Commission from 1990-94, during part of the preparation of the El Dorado County General Plan. He has subsequently worked with activist groups to sue El Dorado County, culminating in the setting aside of the 1996 General Plan approval in 1999. Ray currently serves on the Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation District (since 1996), and County affiliated groups such as the Plant and Wildlife Technical Advisory Committee and the El Dorado County Noxious Weed Group. He currently teaches at the Cosumnes River College, El Dorado Center. Ray is also a member of the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation.

Tracy Grubbs - 2005-2011

- Tracy Grubbs is currently an Associate for the Center for Collaborative Policy and has fifteen years of experience working on strategic communications, marketing and project management for conservation organizations throughout California. She is currently working as the Public Outreach Coordinator for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project—the largest tidal wetlands restoration project on the West Coast. Tracy was graduated with honors from St. Lawrence University with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Political Science. In addition to her communications work, Tracy brings a wealth of experience managing complicated conservation projects and is a trained facilitator. From 1994 to 2000 Tracy worked as Director of Special Projects for the Sierra Business Council (SBC), a regional business association working to protect the economic and environmental health of the Sierra Nevada region of California. At SBC Tracy managed several major conservation initiatives and research projects, including the Placer Legacy Open Space project which set a new standard for countywide collaborative open space planning in California, and the award winning Planning for Prosperity guidebook for sustainable planning in rural communities.

Bob Kelso

Bob Kelso (Treasurer) - 1999-2005

- Bob Kelso worked with others in the Arnold-Avery area of Calaveras County to start the Mountain Alliance to deal with rapid and poorly planned growth along Highway 4. Bob worked to protect the North Fork of the Stanislaus for many years, is a former Central Sierra Watershed Coalition board member, and a previous Sierra Nevada Alliance Futures Fund Committee member. Bob lives in the Bay Area and has a vacation home in Calaveras County.

Scott Kruse

Scott Kruse - 1998-2004

- Scott Kruse is a Biophysical geographer, and has been an Alliance supporter since the beginning. He is currently working on the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) project, a hands-on, school-based international environmental science and education program in 5,000 kindergarten through 12th grade schools in more than 70 countries, with 30 schools in the Sierra. Scott served on the Futures Fund Committee prior to becoming a Board member.

- Nancy Light is a native Californian with more than 20 years of fundraising experience, mostly in service to the mission of The Nature Conservancy. During her tenure with the Conservancy, she has served as a development practitioner, trainer and resource to the organization's international fundraising corps. She choose philanthrophy as her career because she believes deeply in conservation and seeks to live out that belief in both her personal and professional lives. She currently serves as the Director of Philanthrophy for The Nature Conservancy in Nevada and spends as much time as she can out of doors.

Tim Little - 2005 - 2008

- Tim Little is the chief executive and principal grants officer of the Rose Foundation. Starting 17 years ago from an endowment of zero, Tim has built a family of grantmaking funds at the Foundation - most supervised by expert advisory boards - that collectively award $2-3 million each year. Tim is also a nationally-recognized voice in the field of sustainable investing and has co-authored The Environmental Fiduciary series of publications related to fiduciary responsibility and corporate environmental performance. Before co-founding the Rose Foundation, he held leadership positions with a number of non-profits including the Coalition for Clean Air, Heal the Bay, and Communities for a Better Environment. He also serves on several advisory boards, including the Sierra Nevada Alliance and the Confluence Project, dedicated to helping foundations fully realize the power of their portfolios through mission-related investing.

Zeke Lunder

- Zeke Lunder grew up in Westwood, in Lassen County, at the very Northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He started working in the woods on a Forest Service Conservation Crew when he was sixteen. Since then he has worked on timber-marking and wildfire crews, quantified sediment production from forest roads, written wildfire management plans, managed a wildfire mapping business, designed bike messenger bags, and worked as a professional illustrator. He loves bikes, dumpster-diving, auctions, growing food, travel and textile art. Zeke and his wife Erika own and manage a GIS consultancy - Deer Creek Resources, and textile art business - Zeeko Salvage, in Chico, California.

Tom Martens

Tom Martens

- Tom Martens works as a consultant, who specializes in business development, fundraising, nonprofit research, marketing and media relations work. He recently co-founded and serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Wildlife Habitat Restoration, which restores wildlife habitat in the Sierra Nevada and other areas of California. Martens writes feature stories and columns as the Editor-at-Large of the Truckee-based California Fly Fisher Magazine, is an award-winning member of the Outdoor Writers Association of California and serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of California Center for Water and Wildlands Policies. He has worked as a reporter, columnist or editor for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, Green Bay Press Gazette, Pacific News Service in San Francisco, Green Bay Daily News, Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, CA., Herald and News in Klamath Falls, OR. and the Reno Gazette Journal, and worked as the editor of the Tahoe World in Tahoe City, CA. and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza at Incline Village, NV. He has worked as Executive Director of the California Wildlife Foundation, Friends of the River and the League to Save Lake Tahoe, and has held fundraising executive positions at the Mountain Lion Foundation, Planning and Conservation League Foundation and the Trust for Public Land. With a $30,000 grant from Aspen Institute in 1998, Martens completed a one-year study and produced a 250-page research report and working paper on how California newspapers cover nonprofit groups. He is co-author of "Five Easy Turns," a how-to book on cross-country skiing. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Nonprofit Administration Degree from the University of San Francisco and a Planning Giving Officer Certificate from Institute for Philanthropic Studies at California State University at Long Beach. He served on the planning committee for the SIERRA NOW conference on the future of the Sierra Nevada and worked to create the Sierra Nevada Alliance.

Geoff McQuilkin - 2002 - 2008

- Geoff is Co-Director of the Mono Lake Committee and lives in Lee Vining with his wife and nine month old daughter. Geoff has worked at the Mono Lake Committee in a variety of positions – from leading their local education outreach projects to being the Communication Director before becoming the co-director. Geoff has played a key role in helping the Mono Lake Committee donor list grow from two hundred members to over fifteen thousand.

Pete Pumphrey

- Peter Pumphrey is a retired attorney who served as an environmental prosecutor with the San Joaquin County Office of the District Attorney. He is the vice-chair of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, chair of the Chalfant Community Fire District, President of the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, an advisor to the executive committee of the State Bar of California Environmental Law Section, a member of the Lands Committee of the Eastern Sierra Land Trust and serves on the Hearing Board of the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District. He is a licensed fishing guide and contributes to California Fly Fisher magazine. He lives near Bishop, California where he helps out at Mule Days, works in the garden and hikes, backpacks, fishes and skis in the backcountry.

Steve Robinson - 2004-

- Steve Robinson is the President and Founder of the Mountain Meadows Conservancy and has lived in Westwood in Lassen County for 31 years and is originally from San Diego. He graduated from Mission Bay High School and received an A.A. degree from Lassen College. He served as a Sergeant in the United States Air Force from 1966-1970. He then worked as a carpenter until he retired in 1991. Steve is the driving force behind Mountain Meadows Conservancy and serves in the capacity of Executive Director. He is a member of the Planetary Society, National Geographic Society, B.A.S.S., Butte Environmental Council, Westwood Museum Association, Board of Directors Sierra Cascade Land Trust Council, and the Sierra Environmental Water Caucus. His special interests are fishing, photography, and camping, all of which he shares with his family. He treasures and enjoys his connection to Mountain Meadows and Mountain Meadows Reservoir.