Board of Directors

Board President ~ Allison Jones

Allison received her B.A in Environmental Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz and her M.S in Conservation Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1996. Her Masters study analyzed the effects of cattle grazing on small mammal communities in the Great Basin. Since completing her studies, Allison has worked as an endangered species specialist for ecological consulting firms and then as the staff conservation biologist and later the executive director for the Wild Utah Project. While at Wild Utah Project Allison was appointed by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Directors to sit on the state’s Black Bear Working Group which re-wrote the 2000 Utah Black Bear Management Plan and the Wolf Working Group which wrote Utah’s first Wolf Conservation and Management Plan in 2005. Allison was also appointed in 2013 to sit on the state’s Sage-grouse Plan Implementation Council. Allison currently serves as principal of Allison L Jones, LLC, where she specializes in large landscape scale conservation analyses, and analyses of state and federal wildlife and habitat management plans and revisions. She brings expertise on both the ecology/biology and
policy side of these analyses.

Vice – President ~ Kelley Weston

Kelley is the co-owner of Native Landscapes a company founded to design and build beautiful, sustainable outdoor environments. Native Landscapes is an award-winning leader in understanding, creating and establishing environmentally appropriate landscapes.

Treasurer ~ Rose Chilcoat

Rose brings a lifetime of conservation work and advocacy. Originally from the eastern U.S., a career with the National Park Service took her from the Rocky Mountains to Utah’s canyons, the Pacific NW and Alaska. Returning to Durango, CO, she helped lead Great Old Broads for Wilderness for 15 years. Rose knows firsthand that effective conservation advocacy creates targets. Witnessing damage across the West on public lands, she is determined to address the travesties of mismanaged livestock grazing.

Director ~ Dr. John Carter

John is an engineer and ecologist who has worked on public lands issues since the 1970s and was a prior board member and Utah State Director for WWP. He left WWP in 2010 to work on Kiesha’s Preserve, a wildlife preserve that he began acquiring land for in SE Idaho in 1993. In 2011, he began the non-profit Yellowstone to Uintas Connection (Y2U) to take on the phosphate mining industry in SE Idaho that was permitting a phosphate mine adjacent to the Preserve. A major Y2U goal is to bring focus to the wildlife corridor connecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Uinta Wilderness, which he has named the Yellowstone to Uintas Connection.

Director ~ Dr. Bruce Hayse

Bruce maintains a family practice in Jackson, Wyoming and has worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho. Dr. Hayse earned his Master’s degree in plant ecology from the University of Wisconsin before graduating from the University of Oregon medical school. He co-founded Earth First! a group that advocated extreme measures in fighting for conservation.

Director ~ James Holt, Sr. (Nez Perce Tribe)

James Holt, Sr. (Nez Perce Tribe), has over 26 years of expertise in environmental sciences and tribal community engagement. Specializing in environmental law and environmental justice; public policy, including natural resources and water policy development; climate change planning; wilderness management; and utilities administration, James brings a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues at the intersection of environmental conservation and Indigenous rights. His adeptness in federal lands management and intergovernmental relationship building further enhances his capacity to foster collaborative partnerships that prioritize tribal interests while promoting sustainable environmental practices. Through his dedication and breadth of experience, James plays a crucial role in advancing tribal relations and environmental stewardship initiatives.

Director ~ Artemis Eyster

Artemis is an environmental educator and scientist. Artemis’ childhood experiences in the outdoors instilled in her a devotion to helping others understand and value the natural world. After receiving her B.A. in Geosciences from Princeton University, Artemis worked for Mountain Studies Institute in Durango, Colorado where she developed a research-based understanding of the issues caused by public lands grazing through helping to coordinate the Colorado Bighorn Sheep Monitoring Program. Artemis’ experiences living and working in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains motivates her to support the protection of our public lands.