2023 Panelists

Sheri Bozic has worked as a Planning and Transportation Director for several New Mexico Pueblos since 2014, overseeing the creation of outdoor opportunities and infrastructure. She currently oversees the planning, design, and construction of a wide variety of community infrastructure projects for the Pueblo of Jemez. Sheri has overseen the design and construction of Tribal roadways, bridges, pedestrian trails, water & wastewater infrastructure, irrigation systems, retaining walls, schools, and administrative buildings. She has researched and written numerous successful funding proposals resulting in over $25M in grants for Tribal infrastructure projects. Sheri is also a part-time faculty member at the Central New Mexico Community College, School of Skilled Trades & Arts.

Sarah Candelaria is an outdoor enthusiast whose extensive experience in education, management, program development, and community engagement led to her development of the “Nature Niños” program in 2019. Nature Niños focuses on providing outdoor outreach programs that connect underserved youth and their families to the natural world through experiential educational opportunities. With a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, Sarah was a PreK consultant, an early childhood center director, and a public school teacher.

Burnt Well Guest Ranch is a family-owned and operated working ranch, and successful agri-tourism destination, in sunny southeastern New Mexico. Kim Chesser is a lifelong cowboy from a family rich in ranching traditions, both cattle and sheep. Patricia, also a native New Mexican, loves to cook good old-fashioned, family-style meals for Ranch guests, and provide sweet fiddle music around evening campfires. At Burnt Well you can enjoy unlimited horseback riding, riding instruction, cattle drives & cattle working, roping instruction, campfires, horse shoes, hiking, bird watching, and star gazing. Burnt Well takes visitors on 6 pre-scheduled weeks in the spring and 4 pre-scheduled weeks in the fall. Started as a means to supplement their ranching income, their agri-tourism business has drawn visitors from 26 countries.

In 1995, Carl co-founded the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Taos, and was the Executive Director for 20 years. He has served on numerous boards, including the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, Taos County Juvenile Justice Reform Board, Taos Mountain Film Festival, and New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community. In 2011, he was honored by President Obama’s White House as a Champion of Change for his work to align marginalized youth with sustainable employment, and In 2014, was recognized as an Unsung Hero of Taos by the Taos News. He served as the Director of the Enchanted Circle Trails Association, until joining the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division, where he manages the Trails + grant program, the NM Uplift Project and the Rio Grande Trail planning initiative.

Juan DelaRoca founded the Gravel Adventure Field Guide, an independent travel media company that produces pocket size, art and adventure cycling destination guidebooks. Storytelling format utilizes illustrations, photography/film and digital route mapping technology to curate placemaking themes centered on history, culture and landscape. They inspire adventure cyclists to seek out, discover, and explore great places to ride mixed surface roads and trails around the United States. Since spring 2021, Gravel Adventure Field Guide has produced a dozen cycling destination guidebooks, including in the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest and Mid Atlantic regions. Each guidebook curates local history, culture and perspective and encourages travel visitation, while promoting a healthy, vibrant and circular hospitality and tourism business ecosystem.

Syd and Macky are professional mountain bike racers who share their racing adventures on their YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/sydandmacky). Their goal is to find the most challenging (and fun!) ways to race a mountain bike around the world. While living in a van for seven years, they traveled the US looking for the best mountain biking spots and eventually ended up in Los Alamos, NM where they have been living for the past two years.

Stephanie Garcia Richard is the first woman and educator to be elected to the position of New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands to oversee the State Land Office responsible for raising revenue off state trust lands to pay for New Mexico’s schools and hospitals. During her tenure as a New Mexico State Representative and Chair of the House Education Committee, Stephanie championed laws to increase access to a quality education, transparency, and investments in renewable energy, job training, and economic development. As Land Commissioner, Stephanie established an outdoor recreation permit system, and developed a GIS system to better understand important environmental and cultural resources on state lands.

James Glover is the founder and co-director of endeavOR New Mexico, the state’s outdoor recreation business alliance. Glover is also a partner with Once a Day Marketing. His primary focus of is to guide strategic efforts to build thriving outdoor recreation economies. Glover is an advisor to the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division and a member of the State Outdoor Business Alliance Network (SOBAN). Glover lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is an avid mountain biker. His license plate reads: LUV2MTB

Meet the dynamic mother/daughter duo who run Enchantment Equitreks, an all inclusive horseback riding vacation business that rehabilitates and utilizes rescue horses. Their business brings in adventurous equestrians from all over the world to experience New Mexico's diverse landscapes, rich culture, and unique cuisine. They continue to push the development of the equestrian tourism industry by committing to sustainable tourism and offering holistic EquiYoga retreats while still maintaining the untamed feel of the Southwest.

Victoria Gregg has served as Research Director for the New Mexico Tourism Department since 2016. With a multidisciplinary background spanning experimental psychology to education research, she uses these diverse perspectives to inform marketing strategy and industry insights for the Tourism Department and its partners. She believes that data can be used to guide every aspect of decision-making at the organizational level.

Anna Hansen is the Chair of the Santa Fe County Commission. She is the President of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, and Chair of the Coalition of Sustainable Communities. She serves on the federal level as the Vice Chair of the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Arts and Culture Commission and Vice Chair of the Environment, Energy, and Land Use Steering Committee and was elected as the President of the Women of NACO in 2023.

As a paramedic and nurse, Teal Harbin specializes in wilderness medicine and has instructed remote medicine and coordinated medical evacuations worldwide from austere locations. While living in Germany, she founded Base Medical in 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia with the mission to elevate the quality and access to wilderness medicine and rescue education. In addition to being the CEO of Base Medical, she currently serves as the NM Search and Rescue Medical Coordinator with the goal of improving patient care to those injured in the outdoors of New Mexico.

Ms. Madalena became the Director for the Pueblo of Jemez Natural Resources Department (NRD) in November, 2021. She started out as a Program Manager in 2013 and now oversees all of the NRD grant programs and budgets. Her educational background includes an Associates of Applied Science degree in Geospatial Information Technology from the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of New Mexico, and a Master’s in Business Administration from New Mexico Highlands University.

As a descendant of the indigenous Pueblo Culture, Norman is from Katishtya (San Felipe), Kawaika (Laguna), & Hopi Pueblos. He grew up on the Pecos River, which set the stage for Norman’s fly fishing accomplishments as a competitive angler who has won medals including the individual gold in the 1998 World Youth Fly Fishing Championship in Wales, UK and an individual gold at the 2018 National Fly Fishing Championships in Bend, Oregon. As a member of Fly Fishing Team USA, they won a team Silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in Bosnia and a Bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships in Vail Colorado. Maktima Fly Fishing recently expanded their business to include selling indigenous inspired designs of fly fishing products at their online store https://nmaktimaflyfishing.com/.

Liv is Kickapoo, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Spanish and Portuguese. She is a Native American Community Academy (NACA) alumni who graduated in 2019. During high school, Liv was a Rocky Mountain Youth Corps member, providing services and training for New Mexico public lands. She participated in a U.S. Forest Service Internship where she developed and taught life science curriculum for elementary school students. She also worked as a Pre-K teacher at East Gate Kids Learning Center, working with young children ages 3-5 years old. Liv has been working with Nature Niños for a year, leading various forms of outdoor exploration for ages 4 to 17. She loves teaching, archery and nature!

For much of her 35 year professional career, Teresa has worked throughout our entire National Trails System. She serves on the Trail Leadership Council of the Partnership for the National Trails System and has served as the Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee to aid the USFS in the development of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. As a member of the Monumental Shift Coalition and Outdoor FUTURE Initiative, Teresa is actively involved in the creation of equitable spaces for all people in the outdoors and currently serves as the President and a founding member of the Board for the Next100 Coalition.

Becca and Luke McGraw, are experienced educators who share a passion for conservation and a desire to promote sustainability and inclusion in outdoor recreation. They met while Becca was teaching elementary school in an Alaskan village just north of the Arctic circle, and since then, they have continued to travel and hone their skills as educators while working with underserved communities. Combining these experiences with their love of the natural world has enabled them to promote good stewardship practices in the outdoors and empower people of diverse backgrounds to responsibly enjoy outdoor recreation.

Mark first served on the Tribal Council of Tesuque Pueblo in 1993, and in 2005 was appointed as the youngest Governor of the Pueblo. He has served as governor five times since that time (2009, 2011, 2013, and 2017). He is a lifetime member of the Pueblo of Tesuque Tribal Council, and in 2009 was elected as the Chairman of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblo Council, for which he has held multiple positions. In 2013, Mark was appointed by the All Pueblo Council of Governors to serve on the Natural Resource Committee. As the former Cultural Preservation Director and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Pueblo, Chairman Mitchell has been a leading preservation voice in New Mexico.

Howie Morales was elected Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico in November, 2018, along with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Prior to becoming the state’s 30th Lieutenant Governor, he served in the New Mexico Senate for 11 years on the influential State Legislative Finance Committee. As a Senator and now as Lt. Governor, Howie has been an outspoken fighter for conservation and New Mexico’s environment, and led successful initiatives to strengthen education and rural healthcare in the state.

Outside Interactive Inc., the world’s leading creator of active lifestyle content and experiences, is home for more than 30 leading brands in the active lifestyle industry, including Outside, Backpacker, SKI, Yoga Journal, Climbing, Trail Runner, Cairn, Gaia GPS, Warren Miller. Outside reaches more than 70 million active lifestyle enthusiasts a month. Based in Santa Fe, Sam oversees all aspects of the marketing efforts behind all of Outside's platforms and mediums, including print, digital, social, podcast, and events. He also oversees the creation of all custom content for the brand and has produced award-winning branded content videos and multimedia custom programs.

Sam Parks is a balloon operator and industry leader extraordinaire. As an award winning pilot, business owner, and organization leader, he was well seasoned to become the Executive Director of the America’s foremost balloon festival. He has accumulated 1,650 total hours of flight time in all balloons. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest outdoor event in New Mexico, generating $203.19 million of total economic impact for businesses in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The nine-day event attracted an estimated 828,800 guest visits with an estimated 76 percent of its visitors traveling from outside of New Mexico.

Laura Paskus has reported on environmental issues in New Mexico and the U.S. Southwest since 2002, when she began her journalism career at High Country News. She has worked for print, online, radio, and television outlets, covering climate change, forest fires, water, wildlife, and more. She’s the author of the 2020 book, “At the Precipice: New Mexico’s Changing Climate” and is a Senior Producer at NMPBS of the series, “Our Land: New Mexico’s Environmental Past, Present and Future.”

Theresa Pasqual is the Project Manager for the Chaco Heritage Tribal Association (CHTA) and former Acoma Historic Preservation Director. She led a multi-Tribal nomination of 400,000 square acres of Mt. Taylor as a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) to the NM Register of Historic Places. Its listing, upheld by the NM Supreme Court, remains an example of community empowerment, strategic coalition building, and elevating voice that has become a template for other such designations. Theresa continues to work in the areas of preservation policy and law while assisting Tribes with protecting their cultural heritage and traditional resources. Ms. Pasqual is the Board President of Conservation Voters New Mexico, an advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a 2014 W. K. Kellogg Foundation Leadership Fellow.

Harold Pope was elected to the New Mexico State Senate in 2020, becoming the first African American elected to the New Mexico Senate. Having served more than twenty years in the United States Air Force, Senator Pope has championed legislation to support veterans, and strengthen equity and cultural awareness and inclusivity in New Mexico. He serves as the Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee, a member of the Senate Conservation Committee, and as Co-Chair of the Interim Military & Veterans Affairs Committee. His signature legislation includes support of our veterans & military families, police reform, and a ban on hair discrimination (Crown Act). In 2022, Senator Pope was elected by his colleagues into Senate leadership, becoming the Majority Caucus Chair.

Trying new activities and figuring out your favorite outdoor pursuits can be intimidating, not to mention cost-prohibitive. Kristin started Atalaya Outfitters so that everyone in Santa Fe and the surrounding communities could access high-quality gear for reasonable prices. Atalaya Outfitters is the only consignment store in Santa Fe that is dedicated exclusively to outdoor gear and apparel. Previously, Kristin worked as a lawyer and a public health professional. An avid skier, cyclist, trail runner, and aspiring bikepacker, Kristin also serves on the Economic Development Advisory Committee for the City of Santa Fe.

WolfHorse Joe Saenz is of Huichol and Tci-He-Nde (Red Paint People) ancestry. He is the owner and operator of Wolfhorse Outfitters and Guides of The Gila National Forest, which is located in Silver City, NM. The short term above, “Nde,” means Apache in their native tongue. Besides his role as Co-Director of the Apache Foundation, Wolfhorse is also a member of the Apache National Council. WolfHorse Outfitters is renowned for very personalized Apache-guided day rides and multi-day pack trips limited to a maximum of four people. Escorted hiking or backpacking tours are limited to 10 people. This is the best way to immerse in the living history of traditional Apache land. We attune to the natural environment learning plant and animal identification methods, seasonal foraging, and Apache scouting skills, all levels of experience are welcome.

Arturo Sandoval is the founding director of the Center of Southwest Culture, Inc., where his recent work includes the innovative creation of the Gallinas Tours. Arturo has dedicated his life to civil rights, economic justice, human rights, educational parity and conservation work. He was on the national organizing team for the first-ever Earth Day in 1970 in Washington, DC. There, he was charged with organizing events in the Western US. He was active in the Chicano Student Movement and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement beginning in 1967. He has been active for five decades in community-based economic development, cultural, environmental, educational and civil rights efforts in New Mexico and across the US. He is a native of Española, a village in northern New Mexico, and has lived most of his adult life in Albuquerque.

Tammy has worked in the bicycle travel industry for the last twenty years. First, for Adventure Cycling, based in Missoula, Montana, as a tour leader and event director. During her tenure with Adventure Cycling she developed 15 tours, instructed leadership training courses, and mentored new leaders. Over the course of her career, Tammy led tours for small and large groups, on fully-supported events and self-contained trips, and for durations ranging from one week to three months Her touring experience covers 16 states and Canada, most of the major US rail trails, as well as Adventure Cycling’s Southern Tier from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL, and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Tammy remains based in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Jorge Silva-Bañuelos has served as the Superintendent of Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico since 2015. Jorge spent ten years in Washington, D.C. where he worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman on public land policy and management, natural and cultural resource protection, and tribal engagement and advocacy. He played a key role in developing legislation that led to the protection of important New Mexico natural areas including Fort Stanton – Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area, Prehistoric Trackways National Monument, Sabinoso Wilderness, Columbine-Hondo Wilderness, Río Grande del Norte National Monument, and Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument.

Nathan Small is a third-generation New Mexican from a family of teachers and ranchers. He served two terms on the Las Cruces City Council, leading efforts to create the Sustainability Officer. Since 2016, Nathan has represented Las Cruces and Doña Ana County in the State Legislature, where he now helps lead New Mexico’s budgeting process as the Chair of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and Vice-Chair of the Legislative Finance Committee. He has passed important conservation legislation including the Energy Transition Act, the Land of Enchantment fund, and the Healthy Soils Act. Small also led efforts to fully fund environmental and natural resources departments and invest in forest and watershed restoration. Nathan’s work in conservation helped create New Mexico’s largest National Monument, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, that includes10 wilderness areas.

As the Executive Director of Outdoor New Mexico and the New Mexico Outdoor Economics Conference, Jeff is one of New Mexico’s leading conservation voices. Outdoor New Mexico has worked with 136 communities, pueblos and tribes statewide to provide policy training, entrepreneurial support, and education to promote conservation and sustainable outdoor recreation within New Mexico’s diverse public lands. As a conservationist he helped lead the successful campaign to establish the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, and as a State Legislator, authored legislation creating the Rio Grande Trail and the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division and Outdoor Equity Fund.

Phoebe Suina is the founder and owner of High Water Mark, LLC (HWM). High Water Mark is a 100% Native American, Woman-owned environmental consulting company which works with New Mexico communities, Tribes, and Pueblos on a variety of issues and initiatives including environmental policy, land acquisition, planning, infrastructure, and how governmental (Federal, State, and Local) policies, laws and priorities affect Tribal communities. Suina has over 20 years of experience providing technical, regulatory, and project management expertise to construct and implement utility projects, hazard mitigation projects, environmental remediation initiatives, and emergency and disaster recovery projects.

Cornell “Corey” Torivio is Native American from the Pueblo of Acoma, where he has devoted his life to giving Native youth an opportunity to be successful in the ever-changing world. The founder of Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps, he has built a strong foundation that, to this day, continues to change the lives of Native youth. Corey has been in the preservation and conservation field for more than 20 years, having worked with Acoma’s Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service, Southwest Conservation Corps, and Continental Divide Trail Coalition. Corey’s work was instrumental in the creation and passage of the federal Native American Conservation Act.

Greg Trapp has been the Executive Director of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind since 1999. Prior to joining the Commission, he was a Senior Staff Attorney for Disability Rights New Mexico, where his duties included serving as Coordinator of the Protection & Advocacy for Assistive Technology program. He is currently a member of the State Workforce Development Board and secretary of the New Mexico Council for Purchasing from Persons with Disabilities. Mr. Trapp is also the Historian for the New Mexico Council of the Navy League of the United States and co-author of a book about the state’s namesake battleship, ``USS New Mexico BB-40.”

Alice has taught indigenous ways of knowing and restoration ecology, designing and building science learning environments from indigenous philosophies. Her work specializes in community outreach, program development, outdoor environmental education, curriculum design, and learning sciences research. She comes from the Kiowa and Cherokee people of Oklahoma and is descended from English/ Irish settlers. She has five years professional experience working in public schools, nine years in outdoor education, community outreach, and working within urban indigenous communities, and four years of management experience in higher education.

Warren Unsicker has worked in the economic development field since 2005 and is one of a handful of Certified Economic Developers (CEcD’s) in New Mexico. He has worked in various areas of the country, including rural Indiana, the Tulsa Metro in Oklahoma, and the bedroom community of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. In his role as the Director of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Initiative, Warren has helped lead efforts to build out the outdoor amenities of Farmington, making a leader in the state’s outdoor economy. He views these assets as critical to attracting outdoor business as well as workforce for the area. He and his wife and two children spend much of their free time living up to the tag line for the area, “where outdoor lovers and active families thrive.”

Alan Webber serves as Santa Fe’s 43rd Mayor and the City’s first full-time executive. He was elected in March of 2018 to his first term and re-elected in November of 2021. Mayor Webber’s policy agenda has focused on meeting the city’s critical need for additional housing and enacting comprehensive sustainability initiatives. Before running for office, Mayor Webber built a career in business and journalism, where he served as the Editorial Director of the Harvard Business Review and Co-Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company magazine. He worked in the Carter Administration as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation. He is the author of four books including “Rules of Thumb: How to Stay Productive and Inspired Even in the Most Turbulent Times.”

Brandi Wells-Stone works as the Director at UNM African American Student Services and Special Advisor to the President on African American Affairs. Her department integrates the outdoors into their work by hosting the Sankofa New Student Retreat at Glorietta Adventure Camp. Brandi’s passion is to assist Black students in their collegiate navigation. She is currently working on her PhD at New Mexico State in Educational Leadership with a focus on Black Culture Center politics. Additionally, Brandi serves as a national board member for the Association of Black Culture Centers. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys working on local film projects and spending time outdoors.