Who We Are

WCCA is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

WCCA Volunteers
WCCA Volunteers

OUR VISION

A free-flowing clean creek and a healthy, bio-diverse watershed for the benefit of present and future generations.

OUR MISSION

To protect, preserve, and restore the Wolf Creek Watershed by increasing knowledge, appreciation, stewardship, and public access to the creek.

OUR GOALS

  1. Engender community stewardship of Wolf Creek and its watershed.
  2. Preserve and protect the integrity of the watershed.
  3. Restore Wolf Creek to a condition of optimal health and integrity.
  4. Monitor the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of Wolf Creek.
  5. Increase public access to the creek along trails, in parks, and preserves.
  6. Thrive as an organization and thereby have a long-lasting presence and effect in the watershed.
  7. To raise the status of Wolf Creek to that of (or equal to) personhood (rights of nature).

Board of Directors

Jonathan Keehn

Director at large

One of the founders of Wolf Creek Community Alliance (2002); Secretary-Treasurer of the Board 2004-2008, and President until 2022.. He is a licensed General Contractor, and the owner of Keehn Construction, doing residential construction in Nevada County 1970-present. Jonathan spent many childhood summers in a canoe on a lake in Connecticut, and his love of lakes, creeks, and rivers came with him when he moved to California in 1970. He earned a BA degree from Antioch College in Ohio in 1971. He has also been an active water quality monitor since 2004.

Gordon Baker

Gordon Baker

Treasurer

One of the founding members of Wolf Creek Community Alliance. He has been a board member since inception in 2002 and a water quality monitor since 2004. He also owns and lives on property near the Wolf Creek headwaters. In the Alliance Gordon has joined with his friends and fellow conservation enthusiasts to help preserve and protect the Wolf Creek riparian zone, improve the water quality, and increase community awareness. The WCCA is the most politically efficacious and personally satisfying expression of his moral commitment to live lightly on the land and advocate for the best possible world to be left to the generations that will follow us and live with the legacy we leave for them.

BJ Schmidt

Barbara (BJ) Schmitt

Secretary

Lives in Grass Valley with family and friends, and spends time in Wisconsin in the summer. She has worked as an energy engineer and watershed scientist. BJ started the WCCA monitoring program in 2004 and ran it for the first 8 years. In her spare time, she loves to swim, bike, ski (cross-country), hike, cook, listen to music, travel, snorkel, and read. Any time spent at Wolf Creek is treasured.

Gary Griffith

Gary Griffith

Board President

Has lived in the Wolf Creek Watershed for more than 21 years, on a ridge just above the South Fork of Wolf Creek, where he has been a stream monitor for 17 of those years. A retired educator of 31 years, most of that at the Nevada City School of the Arts, Gary is an avid botanist, birder, naturalist, and backpacker. Currently, Gary volunteers with SYRCL on their River Education Committee and with SSI, as a Forest Investigation Advisor for teachers and students. He is honored and excited to join the WCCA board and further its vision.

Jane Pelton

Director at large

Moved to Grass Valley with her husband in 2007, following her retirement from Stanford University where she worked as a research grants administrator. While getting to know Grass Valley, she was drawn to the energetic conservation community and its grassroots efforts to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of our region. She volunteered with several non-profits. In particular, the Wolf Creek Community Alliance (WCCA) attracts volunteers for a wide range of beneficial projects including water monitoring, watershed stewardship, education/outreach, and trails. In 2009 Jane began helping with fundraising and outreach, and in 2012, she joined the Board of Directors. She is currently serving as WCCA Treasurer.

AdvisoryBoard

Alex Lerch

Board Member

GIS expert, botanist, botanical technician at State Parks, creek enthusiast, creek monitor.

Bob Branstrom

Board Member

Past Board president, current Restoration Committee member, software developer; land restorationist.

Bruce Herring

Board Member

Current Trails committee, Wolf Creek Water committee, retired high school principal and teacher.

Chris Alford

Board

Principal of Alford Environmental, she provides technical support and capacity building assistance to landowners, water management entities, watershed groups, land use planning agencies, and conservation organizations. Areas of specialty include natural resources planning, water supply management, water rights modifications for environmental benefit, and conservation easements. Services provided to clients include project management, environmental permitting, water rights change petition preparation for instream flow dedications, conservation easement development and due diligence, GIS mapping, and assistance with securing and managing state and federal funding for species conservation and habitat enhancement.

Dale Peterson

Board Member

Current Property Acquisition Committee member, former Board member, retired environmental engineer, and current creek monitor.

Geri Stout

Board Member

Founding member, current Fundraising Committee member, retired Professor of Biology, Sierra College.

Jason Giuliani

Board Member

Professor of Chemistry, Sierra College.

Josie Crawford

Board Member

Josie Crawford is a botanist/biologist and environmental educator. She has a B.S and M.A. in Biology from Humboldt State University. She and her husband Dale live on Wolf Creek and first became involved with WCCA as monitors in 2006. Josie built environmental education and citizen science programs for parks and non-profit organizations, and has 40 years of experience in forging partnerships, securing grants and contracts, managing budgets and staff. Previously, she worked as the statewide Education Program Director for the California Native Plant Society, as an Interpretive Specialist for CA State Parks, Interpretive Student intern for the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden, and as a contract botanist in various situations. During the 1980s, she owned a neon sign shop in San Francisco. She served as our Executive Director from 1999 to 2022.

Lynn Campbell

Board Member

Healthy Forest/Fire Resiliency Committee, retired Sierra Nevada Conservancy staff, former State Parks Interpretive Ranger, Founding member of the Bear Yuba Watershed Council.

Mallory Keinitz

Board Member

Lab technician at Geo-logic Inc, previously a wildlife technician (birds) and creek monitor.

Mike Pasner

Board Member

Former Board member, Indian Springs Organic Farm Owner Manager; founder of Safe Ditches. Creek monitor.

Rick Sanger

Board Member

Former Board member, National Park Ranger, retired.

Roger Funston

Board Member

Chair of the Stewardship and Restoration Program Committee. Retired Environmental Program Manager. Expertise in conducting NEPA/CEQA studies, permitting and compliance, environmental auditing, environmental due diligence, and site assessment and remediation. Creek monitor.

Committees

  • Wolf Creek Water
  • Healthy Forest/fire Resiliency
  • Peterson Preserve
  • Stewardship and Restoration Committee
  • Trails
  • Grants
  • Fundraising

Staff

Daniel Robertson

Programs Coordinator

Danny joins WCCA with an extensive background in field work, conservation planning, and preserve management. He holds a BS in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from Purdue University and previously worked with the Shirley Heinz Land Trust in northwestern Indiana, the Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources, and the US Forest Service in the Central Sierra Nevada. He is excited to further our mission to preserve, protect, and restore the Wolf Creek Watershed.

Partners, Collaborators, & Affiliates

WCCA has established collaborative working relationships and engages in collective action regarding regional watershed issues with The Sierra Fund, Sierra Streams Institute, American Rivers, South Yuba River Citizens League, the City of Grass Valley, the Yuba Bear Watershed Council, Bear River Stakeholders Group, the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, the Northern Foothills Nisenan, and Community Environmental Advocates.

WCCA is a member of the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the Yuba-Bear Watershed Council, and the Center for Non-Profit Leadership.

Volunteers

Bob Anderson

Creek Monitor

Daisy Greenberg

Creek Monitor

Dave Gordon

Creek Monitor

Denise Bellas

Creek Monitor

Dianne Anderson

Creek Monitor

Elvis Cantu

Creek Monitor

Since 2016

Eric LeMonnier

Creek Monitor and Web Admin

Eric and his family has been a site monitor since 2016. He has been redesigning the website with his partner, Shari.

Since 2019

Gemma LeMonnier

Creek Monitor

Gordon Baker

Creek Monitor

Judy Baker

Creek Monitor

Lisa Alcantra

Creek Monitor

Ray Bryars

Creek Monitor

Roger Funston

Creek Monitor

Since 2022

Shari LeMonnier

Web Admin

Supporting web developer

All monitors and other volunteers. Thank you!