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Wendy McDermott

Executive Director

wendy@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

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Natalie Allio

Agriculture Projects Manager

natalie@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

The focus of Natalie’s work is “keeping working lands working” through innovative and collaborative programs with Central Colorado Conservancy and the Upper Arkansas Conservation District. Drawing on her own experience in agriculture and her education in Ecopsychology and Collaborative Solutions in Natural Resources, Natalie leads innovative and collaborative programs that support water quality, water quantity and soil health in the Upper Arkansas Watershed.

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

pretty much any place that can be accessed from the back of a horse

Kyle Clifton

Kyle Clifton

Senior Conservation Manager

kyle@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

Kyle works with landowners and Conservancy partners to protect land, waters and ways of life in the region. She previously worked in private lands conservation research for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Virginia Tech. She has a background in both the biological and social sciences of conservation, with degrees from the University of Kansas, Victoria University of Wellington and Texas A&M. 

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

Browns Canyon National Mounument

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Sarah Hamilton

Agriculture Projects Manager

Sarah implements collaborative programs to help producers and landowners meet the challenges facing agriculture today. She lives in Leadville and works in with the Lake County Conservation District around issues of water, land and soil health. She grew up living and working on a farm in the lower Arkansas Valley and studied Biology at Colorado College. These experiences instilled in her a passion for connecting people with how and where their food is grown and for viewing conservation through the lens of agriculture. 

 

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

Any swimming hole along the Arkansas River on a hot day

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Jes Walton

Communications &

Development Manager

jes@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

Jes’s work is all about connecting with those who make our conservation work possible. She grew up in Salida and returned to be closer to family and get more involved with issues in her hometown. In the past, Jes has led several food and agriculture-focused programs and brings an educational background in natural resource management and environmental science with degrees from Colorado College, American University and the UN University for Peace.

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

top of the Monarch Crest trail and a very secret camping spot on Marshall Pass, both along the Continental Divide Trail

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Buffy Lenth

Watershed Restoration Specialist

buffy@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

Buffy coordinates our collaborative watershed restoration projects. She holds a BS in Conservation Biology from Middlebury College and a Master’s degree in Ecology from Colorado State University. She and her husband served in the Peace Corps in Mexico, conserving the natural resources of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. They are raising three daughters who love to camp, ski and paddle board--and hope to grow deep roots in the Arkansas River Valley.   

Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

the combination of many wonderful places like O'Haver Lake, Fooses Creek, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, any aspen grove...

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Julie Richardson

Membership Coordinator

julie@centralcoloradoconservancy.org

As membership coordinator, Julie is the first person to get to know you at the Conservancy. Her work with the Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas began in the spring of 2013. She is from Kansas City where she grew up, raised her children, was a board member and volunteered with Wildwood Outdoor Education Center, and was an elementary teacher for over 25 years. In 2003, she assumed the role of director at the girl’s camp, High Trails Ranch, Sanborn Western Camps in Florissant, CO for the next 10 years. 

 


Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:

looking out her front window, sunrises, sunsets, stars and exploring around Salida

STAFF

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WHO
WE ARE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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Board Member

Rob Tallmadge

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills

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Board President

Hallie Mahowald

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

the view from the top of Mt. Elbert when the aspens are changing, the swimming beach by Rincon and the view of the Collegiates from Trout Creek Pass

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Treasurer

Marcus Selig

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

the remote upper stretches of Browns Canyon National Monument

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Secretary

Michael Fisher

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

high up in the Sawatch Range, the craggy less-visited peaks of White, Tabeguache, Jones and Antero and the valleys and streams between them

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Vice-President

Aaron Kindle

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has fish and elk

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Board Member

Cammeron Larson

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

the mountains of the Southern Sawatch Range and the Arkansas River as it runs through Southern Chaffee and Northern Fremont Counties

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Treasurer

John McGowan

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

Penitente Canyon grabs my heart—the climbing, hiking, forest, desert, night-sky camping and cultural history

Gina Peters

Board Member

Gina Peters

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

anywhere the birds can be heard unobstructed by the sounds of civilization high up in the Sawatch Range

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Secretary

Rob White

Favorite Place(s)

in Central Colorado:

anywhere along the Continental Divide Trail

Centerville ranch field meadow mountains cows and elk livestock and wildlife (credit Lea F

HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Together we can protect wildlife habitat and working agricultural lands. 

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