Welcome Address

Heather Moreno is Atascadero’s second-ever elected Mayor, elected to office in November 2018 and reelected in 2020 & 2022. She is also Supervisor Elect for the 5th District of San Luis Obispo County and will take office in January 2025. As a CPA and small businesswoman, Heather is keenly interested in financial stewardship and economic development. She earned her BA degree in Accounting from CSU, Fullerton and was employed by KPMG, one of the “Big Four” international accounting firms, until she decided to strike out on her own. A lifelong learner, in 2013 she earned her Master’s Degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Today, Heather has a boutique health and wellness firm, Weight Breakthrough®, and is a speaker at various seminars and conferences.

Presentation: Indigenous and Federal Agency Co-Management: Carrizo Plain NM and the Native American Advisory Council

Michael Khus-zarate is a traditional Elder of the Northern Chumash Bear Clan.  He is also a board member of the largest and one of the oldest Chumash tribal groups, the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation.  Michael can trace his indigenous ancestry to the early Spanish colonial mission era, ancestors who have inhabited this land for 500 generations.

As a practicing spiritual traditionalist, he has responsibilities that were passed down from his late mother, Pilulaw Khus.

As part of these responsibilities and as a tribal leader, Michael has advocated for the protection of sacred sites since the 1970’s, including Humqaq or Pt. Concepcion, Whales Cave in Avila, Lisamu or Morro Rock and the Painted Rock on the Carrizo Plain.  Most recently, Michael has served as a senior advisor for the campaign to designate the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary that if designated would protect the coastal waters of SLO county and conserve fish and marine life, guard against oil/gas drilling and help mitigate the threat of global climate change.

Michael is Chairman and a founding member of the CPNM Native American Advisory Council.  For the past 30 years or so, Bear Clan has conducted Summer Solstice ceremony at the Painted Rock.  Michael is now retired from a 30-year career as a high school social science teacher.

Presentation: Carrizo Plain Conservancy at Ten Years: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Neil Havlik is the President of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit land trust Carrizo Plain Conservancy.  Neil has worked in natural resource management his entire 45-year professional career.  After graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1968 and UC Santa Barbara Master’s degree program in 1971, Neil worked as a resource management expert for the East Bay Regional Park District in Oakland, CA. He returned to the university and earned a PhD in Wildland Resource Science at UC Berkeley in 1994. He later went on to become the Executive Director of the Solano Land Trust in Fairfield, CA., and in 1996 went on to serve for seventeen years as the Natural Resources Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo, CA.  He has maintained an active interest in the Carrizo Plain area for many years, serving on an advisory panel for Carrizo Plain National Monument for twelve years, and was one of the founders of the Carrizo Plain Conservancy in 2013.  Neil is retired and lives in San Luis Obispo with his wife Ann.

Presentation: Can Water Help Recover Pronghorn at the Carrizo Plain? A Las Piletas Ranch Case Study

Dillon works for The Nature Conservancy as a Project Associate on the Stewardship and Restoration Team. A large portion of his work with TNC has been focused at Las Piletas Ranch, a 14,000 acre Preserve on the north end of California Valley. He led the development, funding, and implementation of a large restoration grant from CA Department of Fish and Wildlife for the Las Piletas property targeting conditions that impact the Pronghorn population. Prior to working for TNC, Dillon built his conservation experience as a Stewardship Manager for the American River Conservancy and spent time working for Patagonia’s environmental grants program. A graduate from UCSB, he currently resides in his hometown of Lotus with his young family. When not working, Dillon enjoys his time river rafting, trail running, skiing, mountain biking and hiking in the great outdoors.

Presentation: A Summary of Some Recent Geological Discoveries on the Carrizo Plain

David Chipping was educated at Cambridge University before coming to the USA to earn a masters and Doctorate in Geology from Stanford University. He joined the faculty of Cal Poly in 1971 teaching geology, finally retiring in 2013. He is currently the president of the Friends of the Carrizo Plain, and Acting President of the SLO Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. He is active on conservation issues and the production of botanic and geological publications on the Carrizo Plain.

Presentation: Educational Potential of Wildflower Tourism Hotspots on the Carrizo Plain

Bryant Baker is the Director of Conservation & Research at Los Padres ForestWatch, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Barbara, California dedicated to protecting the Los Padres National Forest, the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and other public lands in the region. He has co-authored several peer-reviewed papers on fire ecology and management in shrubland and forest ecosystems in California and the western United States. Bryant is a GIS analyst and cartographer, and his maps on land use, wildfire, and other conservation issues have been published by the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Tribune, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Montana Free Press, Mother Jones, and other media outlets. In addition to his conservation work and research, Bryant is a plant and landscape photographer—specializing in post-fire habitats and native plants in California—whose work has appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers across the region. He is also a naturalist and educator who leads numerous guided hikes each year aimed at teaching people how to identify native plants and wildlife.

Presentation: Summary of Recent Scientific Research at the Carrizo Plain National Monument

Russ Namitz has been working as a wildlife biologist in the Pacific Northwest for almost 20 years, the past 7 of which have been with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Currently stationed with a permanent position at the Carrizo Plain National Monument, Russ has been richly engaged in learning and working in this San Joaquin desert ecosystem alongside colleagues, managing partners and researchers.

Presentation: Giant Kangaroo Rat Population Expansion in Northern Carrizo Plain

Camdilla Wirth is a Conservation Biologist with Sequoia Riverlands Trust, a regional non-profit land trust that permanently protects over 42,000 acres across southern and central California. She is responsible for the management and monitoring of mitigation lands under the stewardship of SRT. Camdilla develops, implements, and coordinates long-term biological monitoring programs, restoration projects, and habitat management activities as well as provide ecological expertise, especially regarding special status species of the Carrizo Plain and San Joaquin Valley in central California. Camdilla has over a decade of experience working with the flora and fauna of the Carrizo Plain and San Joaquin Valley, including San Joaquin kit fox, San Joaquin antelope squirrel, giant kangaroo rat, and burrowing owl including mark-recapture and Agency-level protocol surveys. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Western Washington University in 2010 and a Master of Science in Biology from California State University, Northridge in 2014.

SLOPE

Overview of SLOPE, its Members, Mission, and History

For over thirty years, Joe McFadden has painted California landscapes, portraits, and still life in representational style and oil paint. He is a juried member of the California Art Club, established in 1906, and a member of Oil Painters of America. He is also a member of several California plein air associations in San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Laguna Beach, and San Francisco areas. And has participated in several exhibits locally and across California.  He is a local resident in San Luis Obispo.