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Our Accomplishments Take Action
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About Our Staff To contact our staff individually, please see our contact us page. Shaaron Netherton, Executive Director
Shaaron has been the Executive Director for Friends of Nevada Wilderness since 2000. Prior to that, she was a field manager with the Bureau of Land Management, overseeing a staff of 30 and a several million dollar budget multi-resource program. She has 22 years of public land management experience with 10 years working specifically in the BLM's wilderness program in Nevada. She holds a BS degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University. Brian Beffort, Associate Director
With degrees in anthropology and journalism, Brian brings to Friends of Nevada Wilderness a deep love for the land and the ability to discuss wilderness issues with people from a variety of backgrounds. Before joining Friends, Brian was an outdoor reporter. His duties with Friends include rural outreach (he's a 4th-generation Nevadan; his grandmother was born in Panaca), developing and giving wilderness programs, financial development, designing our popular Wild Nevada calendar and writing copy for brochures, newsletters and the website. He is the author of Afoot and Afield Las Vegas, a guidebook for hiking southern Nevada, and The Joy of Backpacking. Brian joined the staff in 2001. Pat Bruce, Stewardship Program Director
Pat heads up our Wilderness Stewardship Program, coordinating with agencies and volunteers to get projects done on the ground. Pat brings a wealth of experience to job, including years of managing volunteers and programs from Boy Scouts to archaeological field schools at University of Nevada, Reno. Pat was born in Scotland and has lived in Nevada for nearly 25 years. He and his dog, Skye, try to spend 100 nights a year out in Nevada's backcountry. Pat loves Nevada's wild open places and likes to see himself as an "early man" seeing the land through the eyes of those who came before. With a BA in anthropology, Pat focused on early man sites in the northern Great Basin. Pat joined the staff in 2006. Rose Demoret, Administrative Director
Originally from Arizona, Rose loves the desert and has become very familiar with many of Nevada's beautiful places. Her passion for wilderness started at a young age, having completed her first whitewater river trip at age 2. She is still a "river rat" and enjoys kayaking in the Truckee River near the office. She has pursued degrees in Interior Design and Landscape Design but over time has found a niche in office administration. Rose keeps the office running smoothly. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to combine her love of the outdoors with her career pursuits. Rose joined the staff in January 2007. Wes Hoskins, Forest Project Coordinator
Born at Washoe Med. Wes is a Nevadan the way a Texan is a Texan. He has hiked and packed the length and breadth of the state from Red Rock in the south to The Santa Rosas up north. His love for nature in its untrammeled state began as a Boy Scout and has flourished into an ethic of wilderness advocacy. Through his position as Forest Project Coordinator he hopes to help others see the need for responsible land use and appreciate the physical effort that comes with being stewards of public land. He has been an active volunteer with Friends for many years. Richard Knox, Membership Coordinator
Richard came to Friends of Nevada Wilderness after a career as a geologist working principally in the desert southwest. He evaluated mineral resources for both government and industry, where he also gained experience working with large data sets and Geographic Information Systems. With degrees in geology, Richard first joined Friends' staff in 2002. Kurt Kuznicki, Southern Nevada Program Director
Kurt's love of the outdoors started at a young age on fishing trips to the High Sierra with his father; by high school Kurt was backpacking the John Muir Trail. Kurt likes to get his hands dirty with restoration efforts in wild places all across the state as well as leading Wilderness Values Outings and Leave No Trace "Train the Trainer" Trips to Nevada's pristine backcountry. Kurt is instrumental in getting folk out on the ground. After serving on Friends' board, Kurt became a member of the staff in July 2009. Seasonal Staff Renee Aldrich, Mount Rose Wilderness Monitor
Renee has a degree in environmental science with an emphasis in ecology/ biology from UNR. Before joining Friends, she worked as an urban forester in Reno, surveyed mollusks in Oregon, and researched western toads across the Great Basin. An avid outdoors enthusiast, Renee likes to backpack, bike, run, play ultimate Frisbee, swim and to just “be” in the warm desert sun. She says, "I'm very happy to join the Friends of Nevada Wilderness team." For her job with Friends, Renee gets to climb some of the highest peaks in the Carson Range and peer into the most remote parts of the Mt Rose Wilderness. All this to find out how many people are on the trails, where invasive weeds are lurking, and the condition of campsites in the Mt Rose area. She also leads volunteers up the Hunter Creek trail to pull invasive bull and musk thistles. By the end of June, they had already dispatched more than 5,000 plants. Over the Fourth of July weekend, she participated in a 30-mile monitoring backpack. The two-day count: 150 people, 34 dogs, and 10,000 mosquitoes on the Mt Rose Summit Trail. John Fiske, Central Nevada Wilderness Monitor
John Fiske is one of three seasonal employees on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Working deep in central Nevada, his focus is Forest Service wilderness areas in both the Austin-Tonopah and Ely ranger districts. John has volunteered with Friends in many capacities over the past several years. He earned our Volunteer of the Year award in 2009, having camped over 80 nights in the field while gathering resource data in wilderness and roadless areas. His passion lies in finding and protecting archaeological sites throughout the state, and he has volunteered extensively for the BLM and USFS to accomplish that goal. It is a good guess that John is camping out somewhere in central Nevada. Katie LaCroix, Spring Mountains Wilderness Monitor
Katie comes to Friends of Nevada Wilderness from New Hampshire after working her way across the country in the field of environmental education. She has a B.S. in environmental science from Lyndon State College in northern Vermont. She finds great joy in exploring wild places, and finds it very rewarding to be working to protect some of these places. Katie is currently working to protect and improve wild areas in the Spring Mountains, just outside Las Vegas. |
Reno Office 1 Booth Street
Las Vegas Office PO Box 33155
"Wilderness is disappearing like a snow bank in the hot August sun." - Robert Marshall |
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After
climbing to the top of a wilderness peak and seeing the Great
Basin unfold around me, I am filled with a sense of belonging
that I never felt anywhere else. I am home!
I
love wilderness because it gives me hope. I believe everything
anyone could ever need or want is right here on Earth - clean
water, fresh air, rich soil, sufficient resources to meet our
material needs, and wild beauty where we can find solace,
challenge and spiritual renewal... Wilderness gives me hope that
we can figure things out before the really important pieces are
lost.
I can’t tell you how good it
feels for me to be working for FNW. Now I can give back to this
great state on a grand scale. As the Field Project Coordinator,
I am able to take regular folks who are concerned about their
public lands out on our projects and introduce them to the
special places in Nevada, the last of the Wild West.
I
enjoy any opportunity that I get to spend in wilderness.
Exploring a diverse and pristine landscape of peaks, rivers,
valleys and streams is a truly renewing experience.
I think that many people only see Nevada as what can
be gleaned from doing 80mph down highway 95. Many don’t realize how packed with
life the drainages of this state are. Some areas take time to get to, but the
destination will always bring great rewards. That is what is great about the
stewardship side of our organization, it acts as a catalyst, a match that may
spark the interest of a volunteer who otherwise may have never set foot in a
wilderness area.
Keeping
some of Nevada's wild places wild and free of recreational
all-terrain vehicles is important to me. People and wildlife
need quiet, peaceful places where they can experience renewal in
solitude.
After
you have gone out, gotten dusty and fallen in love with Wild
Nevada, you then come to the realization that you have a
responsibility to preserve and protect her for future
generations.
