Proudly Driven by Community

Ryan Huggins

Ryan stepped into the Executive Director role in 2026, after years of serving on the Alliance’s Board of Directors. Her focus is in supporting SJCA’s expert staff and ensuring our work is collaborative, enduring, and highly impactful. She has a degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University and professional experience in environmental consulting and regulatory permitting, hydrology and water rights, renewable energy development, entrepreneurship, and carbon markets. The San Juan region has been home to Ryan for decades, where she connects with her community and finds every opportunity to backpack, fish, bike, ski, and otherwise be outside.

ryan@sanjuancitizens.org

Mike Eisenfeld

Mike joined SJCA in 2006 following ten years as an environmental consultant in the Four Corners region. Mike works on energy issues including coal, oil/gas, air quality and public lands. He specializes in the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy & Management Act, and Endangered Species Act compliance. Mike has a B.A. from Bates College and a M.A. in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver.

mike@sanjuancitizens.org

Gary Skiba

Gary Skiba joined SJCA in April 2020 and was an SJCA board member for several years prior to that. Gary worked for the Colorado Division of Wildlife for 24 years. Throughout his professional career, Gary focused on threatened and endangered species management and spearheaded the agency’s efforts on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. He has also worked for Great Old Broads for Wilderness and as an environmental consultant and monitoring conservation easements for La Plata Open Space Conservancy, and as a dogcatcher.. Gary has a B.S. in wildlife management from the University of New Hampshire and a M.S. in wildlife biology from Colorado State University, his master’s work focused on the bighorn sheep herd in Dinosaur National Monument. He enjoys a wide range of outdoor activities and lives east of Durango, with Raven, a black Labrador retriever that he claims is the best dog in the world.

gary@sanjuancitizens.org

Rane Dickerson

Rane joined SJCA in May of 2021. Rane grew up on the other side of the San Juans in Ridgway and will forever have a vast love and appreciation for this corner of Colorado. She majored in Strategic Communications with an emphasis in design at University of Colorado Boulder. Rane's professional experience lies in custom branding and marketing encompassing everything from design to strategy to copywriting. When she's not working, you can find her skiing, running, boating (really any excuse to get outside and eat a Zia's burrito after), preferably with her dog, Oakley, and her partner, Pete.

rane@sanjuancitizens.org

John Rader

John joined SJCA in August of 2022. Born and raised in North Carolina, he studied sustainable development at Appalachian State University, nestled in the misty Blue Ridge mountains. John worked summers as a National Outdoor Leadership School instructor in Alaska while obtaining a Masters in Political Science from the University of Wyoming, where he researched the impacts of megadam projects in Chilean Patagonia. He later attended law school at the University of Colorado where he helped to research and draft the Bears Ears National Monument proposal. After school, John served as a staff attorney for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, working to protect crucial wildlife habitat like ungulate migration corridors and large intact landscapes with rich Indigenous cultural resources like Wyoming’s Red Desert. You can find John outside exploring the lands he advocates for - climbing and skiing in the hills and basins.

john@sanjuancitizens.org

Brian Rogers

Brian became a part of SJCA in October 2023. He pursued studies in economics, finance, and sustainable resource management at Bentley University. Before joining our team, he gained valuable experience at an investment management firm, where he closely monitored macroeconomic trends to make informed investment decisions.His love for the mountains blossomed during his two-year tenure as a Peace Corps volunteer in a substance farming community in Tanzania. Following this adventure, he made his way to Durango, driven by the desire to become a wilderness therapy guide. Over 300 backcountry days later, he had become a seasoned guide, connecting people with the healing power of nature. The breathtaking natural beauty of the Four Corners region captivated Brian's heart and compelled him to stay. He felt an unwavering commitment to protect this unique place and the remarkable diversity of life it harbors.In his free time, Brian thrives in the great outdoors, engaging in activities such as rock climbing and skiing. However, he also values the simple pleasure of adventuring around, just observing and listening to the world.

brian@sanjuancitizens.org

Ana Siegel

Ana joined SJCA in the spring of 2026. Originally from Minnesota, she moved to the Pacific Northwest to study Anthropology and Environmental Policy & Decision-Making at the University of Puget Sound. Through ethnographic research focused on stakeholders’ shifting relationships to Bears Ears National Monument, Ana developed an interest in how communities connect with, advocate for, and protect the places they love. This ultimately led her to Durango, where she has spent the past seven years working in conservation, including nearly five years with Bears Ears Partnership. Her professional experience ranges from empowering communities to take action through grassroots organizing, to stewarding the Weminuche Wilderness on a backcountry crew, and nonprofit communications and fundraising. Outside of work, you can find Ana biking, boating, skiing, and reading about the natural and cultural landscapes of the Four Corners region, which she feels so lucky to call home.

ana@sanjuancitizens.org

Chris Wilkins

Chris was born outside of Washington DC, an origin he blames for a lifelong interest in politics and policy. After escaping to the University of Oregon, he earned degrees in Geography and Environmental Studies and deepened his love for the landscapes of the West. He has worked to prevent logging in old growth forests and mapped lost historical sites in Mesa Verde NP for the Park Service. After a long stint in the field of cybersecurity, he now works as a consultant and looks forward to helping SJCA with its mission. Chris has lived in Durango since 2006 with his wife Laura, spending as much time as possible exploring the mountains, deserts, and rivers that make this area so special.

Emily Golden

Emily grew up in Maine and moved to Colorado over a decade ago after earning a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Dickinson College. Soon after arriving in Durango, she joined SJCA as the Energy Organizer and spent several years working to protect the Greater Chaco region, advocate for methane regulations, support the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, and help move LPEA toward a clean energy future. After that she worked on 50+ rural electric cooperative elections nationwide supporting candidates committed to clean energy transitions. From there she took a turn into creative work as a fiction writing coach and author, but she’s never quite shaken her fascination with all things clean energy—or her passion for SJCA’s critical work. In her free time, Emily is usually in the mountains or desert with her husband and daughter, camping, hiking, and running.

Lindsey Ratcliff

Lindsey is originally from Flagstaff, Arizona, and grew up exploring the Four Corners region. She is now a water attorney based in Durango, Colorado, providing legal counsel on water rights litigation and transactions for a wide range of clients, including Tribes and both public and private entities. She holds a law degree from the University of Denver, a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado. Outside of work, Lindsey is an active volunteer in academic circles, serving as a mentor for the Colorado Water Fellows Program at DU Law and as an Advisory Board Member for the Denver Water Law Review, a student-run publication. She enjoys exploring Southwest Colorado by foot, ski, paddleboard, and bike—often with a fly rod in hand. After graduating from law school, she “walked home” along the 486-mile Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango.

Leah Gillaspy

Leah has called Durango home for over 20 years. She is a CPA and holds a bachelors degree in economics from the University of New Hampshire, where she received a grant to conduct environmental research in Tanzania. Leah has been involved with several local nonprofits in the environmental and youth financial literacy sectors. She and her husband are very active in Durango’s local music community. In her free time, Leah enjoys gardening with a focus on waterwise, regionally appropriate plants, as well as traveling internationally.

Michael Rendon

A Colorado native, Michael is a professor of Sociology and Political Science at Fort Lewis College, with a focus on waste policy and the informal recycling sector. Prior to teaching, Michael worked 5 ½ years as the Coordinator of the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center focusing on community outreach and campus sustainability. He was the first male Executive Director of Sexual Assault Services Organization providing advocacy and support for victims of sexual assault, and worked as the Environmental Stewards Program Director for Conservation Legacy, partnering with several bureaus under the Department of the Interior. Additionally, Michael served as the Mayor of Durango, and has been past President of La Plata Electric Association. In his free time, Michael can be spotted hiking and camping above timberline, harvesting eggs from his chickens, or playing violin in his world music band, Carute Roma.

Sandy Kobrock

Sandy has lived in Pagosa Springs for over 30 years and been involved professionally and personally in outdoor businesses and communities in the Pagosa area. She has worked as a river guide, was a mountaineering and river course director with Outward Bound in Colorado, California, and the Pacific Northwest, and was ski patrol director at Wolf Creek Ski Area in the 1990s. Sandy is an owner of a backcountry yurt business on Wolf Creek Pass, and teaches avalanche safety courses. She looks forward to helping SJCA bring the values of local people innovating and working together to protect and enhance our region’s quality of life.

Gretchen Fitzgerald

Gretchen Fitzgerald grew up in the San Juan Mountains and earned a degree in wildlife biology at Colorado State University. She spent two years in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer working in reforestation and on the coast with sea turtles and green iguanas. She spent 10 years working for the Forest Service as a wildlife biologist in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Montana. She took a break to get her Masters degree in Forestry before returning to her beloved San Juan Mountains where she spent 23 years working for the San Juan National Forest in reforestation and forest management. When the giant sequoias were burning in California, she moved to the Southern Sierra mountains to provide leadership in ecosystem management before retiring. She now lives with her husband back in the Pine River watershed with her dogs, cats, chickens and horses.