Who We Are

Our Mission

Our mission is to protect and steward Northwest Wyoming landscapes for current and future generations.

Our Vision

We envision a legacy of resilient open spaces, wildlife habitat, working lands, and community places, forever protected across Northwest Wyoming.

Our Team

Get to know the Jackson Hole Land Trust staff.

Max Ludington
President

Max Ludington

Max has had a career leading conservation in the Western US. Max first moved to the Tetons in 2001 to work seasonally for Grand Teton National Park. Inspired by the open views and wild character of Northwest Wyoming, he has dedicated his professional career to preserving the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Prior to the Jackson Hole Land Trust, Max launched and led Teton LegacyWorks where he directed large-scale, collaborative conservation projects targeting critical regional concerns such as water availability and migration corridors. Max holds a Masters’s in Environmental Science and Management from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School and a BA from the University of Virginia, with distinction. He is a Switzer Fellow, recipient of the Bren School’s Academic Achievement Award, and a recipient of the Gary Hunt Prize in Environmental Policy. Max enjoys hiking, biking, backcountry skiing, fishing, hunting, and any other excuse he can find to get outside and enjoy the Tetons.

Email: max [at] jhlandtrust.org
Liz Long
Vice President

Liz Long

Liz Long joined the Land Trust in July 2012 as Protection Manager. Liz was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and holds a BA from the University of Georgia in Philosophy. She moved to Wyoming upon graduation and fell in love with the Tetons and the community of Jackson. She then returned to the University of Georgia to earn her law degree where she focused in environmental and land use law and gained experience with governmental agencies and numerous non-profits, hoping to return to Jackson. Outside of work, Liz enjoys skiing, biking, hiking, yoga, music, and time with her family.

Email: lizlong [at] jhlandtrust.org
Derek Schaefer
Chief Operating and Financial Officer

Derek Schaefer

Derek joined the Land Trust in September 2013 after many years in the ski industry. Born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he was raised in Phoenix, AZ. Derek attended Santa Clara University, earning a BS in Finance, and holds an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management. When not out walking with his golden retriever, Derek enjoys travel, skiing, and more travel.

Email: derek [at] jhlandtrust.org
Zach Andres
Director of Community Conservation

Zach Andres

Born in Texas and raised in Sheridan, Wyoming, Zach moved to Jackson in 2017. He split his childhood between watching grouse leks on the open landscapes of northern Wyoming and navigating the dense urban areas of Dallas, Texas. Zach graduated from the University of Denver in 2015 with a degree in geography. After working in the fly-fishing industry for several years, he pursued a career in wildlife biology and has been fortunate to work on numerous projects including fieldwork for mule deer migration in western Wyoming, wolf-prey dynamics, moose habitat, and also researching microplastics. Zach also has a fondness for photography, fly-fishing, grouse, hummingbirds, and thick-cut bacon.

Email: zach [at] jhlandtrust.org
Jill Callahan
Director of Advancement

Jill Callahan

Jill joined the JHLT in December 2020. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, she discovered her love of the outdoors as a student at St. Lawrence University, exploring the Adirondack Park. Jill graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2006 with a B.S. in psychology.

Jill has worked in advancement for nearly 15 years. She brings experience in major gift solicitation, donor stewardship, grant writing, event management, and board relations to the role. In her 10 years in Jackson, she has worked for organizations including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Jackson Hole Community School, and the Art Association of Jackson Hole.

Jill serves as a board member for Women in the Tetons. She also serves on the Old Bill’s Fun Run committee and is a member of the Thursday Roundtable Group. In free time, she enjoys skiing, biking, hiking, and getting outdoors as much as possible with her husband, dogs, and two young children.

Email: jill [at] jhlandtrust.org
Ella Driscoll
Advancement Manager

Ella Driscoll

Ella grew up as an international nomad, moving with her family between Peru, Australia, Hong Kong, England, and the U.S. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and government and legal studies from Bowdoin College. Prior to joining the Land Trust, Ella worked as a nonprofit program manager at Iconic Adventures, designing and facilitating donor trips for The Nature Conservancy and the National Parks Conservation Association. She has also worked at The Darwin Ranch, nestled in the heart of the Gros Ventres, and at Backroads Travel—guiding, researching, and building trips in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, St. Kitt’s and Nevis, Hawaii, Montana, Wyoming, and California. Ella enjoys days full of gravel and mountain biking, trail running, and floating the nearest creek followed by long evenings of cooking and sharing food with friends.

ella [at] jhlandtrust.org
Alex Few
Park County Open Lands Director

Alex Few

Alex joins the JHLT as the Director of Park County Open Lands with a dedication to tackling the complex challenges at the intersection of wildlife management and working lands conservation. She looks forward to applying her diverse professional experiences working with ranchers to conserve local heritage, open spaces, and the economic viability of working lands in this community.

Growing up in Texas, Alex spent weekends in her early childhood fishing and combing beaches along Matagorda Bay with her father. She earned her bachelor’s in biology at the University of Texas, followed by a Ph.D. in neurophysiology from the University of Washington. During long days in the laboratory, views of Mt. Rainer called her to rekindle her childhood connection to the outdoors through a career closer to the mountain wilds. After graduating, she traded her microscope for the mountains, exploring the alpine of the American West and overseas before settling in Bishop, CA. She worked for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, monitoring a population of federally endangered bighorn sheep before relocating in 2016 to her husband’s family farm in Powell, Wyoming.

Alex spent a decade working for state and federal wildlife management agencies before entering the nonprofit world in 2019 when she joined the Western Landowners Alliance. There she established the Working Wild Challenge, a program that successfully collaborates among diverse stakeholders to find shared solutions to reduce livestock-wildlife conflicts while maintaining the economic viability of working lands.

In her spare time, Alex and her husband enjoy taking their two children into the mountains, hoping they will come to share a passion for open spaces and exploration.

Email: alex [at] jhlandtrust.org
Steffan Freeman
Senior Land Steward

Steffan Freeman

Steffan was born and raised on Colorado’s Front Range. He holds a B.A. in Biology and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, and a Master’s of Natural Resources Stewardship from Colorado State University. Steffan has previously worked at the Aldo Leopold Foundation and in Minnesota for The Nature Conservancy on grassland conservation and management as well as for the Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the USGS. He draws inspiration from Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic.

Email: steffan [at] jhlandtrust.org
Kerry Gold
Green River Valley Program Director

Kerry Gold

Kerry was born and raised in Upstate New York and obtained a B.S. in wildlife biology from Colorado State University. Her expertise is in wildlife habitat management and conservation in the Rocky Mountain region. She spent several years in Pinedale, Wyoming with Wyoming Game and Fish as a habitat biologist focusing on protecting and enhancing natural landscapes for people and wildlife alike. Outside of her conservation work, Kerry spends her time enjoying the public lands in her backyard while sport climbing, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, and bird hunting with her German wirehaired pointer.

Email: kerry [at] jhlandtrust.org
Lindsay Halderman
Director of Communications and Outreach

Lindsay Halderman

Lindsay joined the Land Trust in December 2019. She believes in the power of story-sharing to positively impact the environment, our communities, and the relationships between them. Before moving to Jackson in 2018, Lindsay spent 5 years working to connect people to the wild lands of eastern Oregon and offer them meaningful opportunities to engage on public lands issues. Originally from California, Lindsay grew up in the Bay Area and earned her B.A. in environmental studies at University of California Santa Barbara. Outside of the office, Lindsay enjoys exploring Northwest Wyoming by foot, ski, and bike.

Email: lindsay [at] jhlandtrust.org
Madison Harper
Conservation Project Manager

Madison Harper

Madison was born and raised backpacking in the Ozarks, kayaking the Buffalo River, and calling the Hogs in Arkansas. She knew she belonged out West after a family trip to the Tetons and a 2-week backpacking trip in the Absaroka-Beartooths with Outward Bound. Madison received her B.S. in resource conservation with a minor in dance from the University of Montana. She has lived in Missoula, Salmon, and now calls the Wind River Mountains in Dubois home. Working with community-based nonprofits and conserving lands has become a passion for Madison. She joined the Land Trust in September 2022. You will find her shed hunting, teaching dance to youth, and exploring the backcountry with her husband, Mike, and two dogs, Boxley and Murphy.

Email: madison [at] jhlandtrust.org
Kyle Kissock
Land Steward and Landowner Liaison

Kyle Kissock

Kyle is inspired by the iconic open spaces, natural landscapes, and Western character that make Northwest Wyoming so unique. Growing up, Kyle split time between the Midwest and the Rocky Mountain Front. He holds a B.S. in geology from Bucknell University and an M.S. in geology from the University of Iowa, where he specialized in the study of sedimentary basins and detrital geochronology. Prior to joining the team at the JHLT, he worked for five years at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, collaborating with landowners and wildlife managers to remove obsolete fences and install wildlife-friendly fencing. He joined the JHLT in the spring of 2024.

Kyle believes the best way to get to know a place is underfoot. In his free time, he enjoys running, fishing, hunting, and exploring the area.

Kyle [at] jhlandtrust.org
Max Lewis
Conservation Project Manager

Max Lewis

Max Lewis grew up in Mid-Coast Maine, where he enjoyed exploring the coastal mountains, streams, and bays of his hometown. After completing his B.A. at St. Lawrence University, Max was drawn to the West by the allure of open, connected, and protected lands. Since 2016, Max has worked in Southeast Alaska and across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In Southwest Montana, Max studied the distribution of pikas and contributed to river and riparian restoration projects. His work in the Upper Snake River Watershed includes leading fisheries research initiatives on native cutthroat trout and sport fishes. Max earned an M.S. through the environment, natural resources, and society program at the University of Wyoming, where he studied the social and economic drivers for water conservation policy adoption in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Max joined JHLT in 2024, bringing a passion for working with partners to protect important habitats and agricultural lands across Northwest Wyoming.

In his free time, Max enjoys biking, skiing, fishing, hunting, and boating with his family and friends.

maxlewis [at] jhlandtrust.org
Will McDonald
Staff Biologist and Land Steward

Will McDonald

Will McDonald is from Laramie, Wyoming, and enjoyed a childhood spent outside. He grew up nordic skiing, camping, and being indoctrinated as a birder by his ornithologist father. After receiving a B.S. in biology from Montana State University, Will worked on a variety of research projects in the West and beyond. To name a few, he studied bighorn sheep in Northwest Wyoming, wolf ecology in the Greater Yellowstone region, Weddell seals in Antarctica, and bird populations across Idaho and Montana. Will earned an M.S. in zoology and physiology at the University of Wyoming, where he studied the distribution, genetic structure, and recovery of river otters in the state. Will is passionate about furthering conservation efforts in Wyoming and using research to promote better wildlife and habitat management outcomes. In his free time, Will enjoys fishing and hunting, rafting, and ceramics.

Email: will [at] jhlandtrust.org
Alexandra Munger
Events and Outreach Manager

Alexandra Munger

Alexandra grew up in the foothills of Virginia and moved to the vast mountains of Wyoming with a love and appreciation for wide-open spaces and wildlife. She received a bachelor’s from the University of Mississippi in Hospitality Management. Growing up in a small town and spending most of her time recreating outside she hones a sentiment for connecting the community to the outdoors for a worthy cause and has a passion for advancing her education in western land conservation and wildlife management. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors on horseback with her German shorthaired pointer, documenting adventures through the lens, floating the scenic river, or recreating with her husband shooting sporting clays, upland hunting, camping, and cooking.

Email: alexandra [at] jhlandtrust.org
Emily Reed
Conservation Project Manager

Emily Reed

Emily Reed was born and raised in Wyoming, splitting her childhood between her family’s ranch and farming operations, the Nichol Ranch outside Lingle and Reed Farms outside Cody. Some of her first memories are working alongside her grandmother on the Nichol Ranch, checking cows, glassing for pronghorn fawns, and listening to old friends tell wild cowboy stories around the homestead house table. Her love for agriculture, wildlife, and storytelling led her to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming. Before joining the Jackson Hole Land Trust’s Park County Open Lands program she worked as a research scientist and multi-media science communicator for the Wyoming Migration Initiative. When she’s not in the office, you can find Emily roaming the hills with her Idaho Shag, Lily, leading the way.

Emily [at] jhlandtrust.org
Roxanne Rosales
Advancement and Operations Manager

Roxanne Rosales

Roxanne joined the Land Trust team in early January 2020 after completing Climb Wyoming’s Office Careers program. Originally from Colorado, Roxanne has grown up with a constant appreciation and adoration for the breathtaking mountainous landscapes of the West. She has lived in and out of Wyoming since 2007 and immediately fell in love with the unique Jackson Hole community. She is excited to expand within Jackson Hole’s nonprofit community while working for an organization with a mission she values. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, the occasional Spartan race, and exploring the outdoors with her family.

Email: roxanne [at] jhlandtrust.org
Kathryn Tolley
Grants Manager

Kathryn Tolley

Kathryn Tolley joined the Land Trust in June 2018 as an Advancement Associate for the Green River Valley Program. While growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kathryn fell in love with the landscapes and wildlife of Northwest Wyoming during annual summer trips to the area. With a Bachelor’s from Gettysburg College and a Master’s degree in Philanthropic Studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Kathryn has worked at an education center in Alaska, and also with the Snake River Fund in Jackson. Kathryn enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hunting, and target shooting. She also enjoys baking, playing board games, watching movies, and reading.

Email: kathryn [at] jhlandtrust.org

Our Board

Mike Fenn
Chair

Mike Fenn

Mike was born and raised in Big Piney. He attended college at the University of Wyoming. He owns two ranches outside of Pinedale; one of which was recently conserved through The Nature Conservancy with help from the Green River Valley Land Trust. Mike previously served on the GRVLT board and was the Lands Committee Chair. Mike has over 30 years of experience in construction management in the energy industry.
Cody Lockhart
Vice Chair

Cody Lockhart

Cody is a lifelong resident of Jackson. Cody takes every opportunity to venture into the mountains surrounding Jackson Hole with his wife Shauna, daughter Amelia, and son, Callahan.

Professionally Cody is a director of Wind River Capital Management. Wind River Capital Management helps families and institutions with their unique financial needs, specializing in asset management. His team’s ability to handle all types of complex and unique financial matters for their clients from an office in Wyoming is something Cody takes great pride in.

Cody’s time away from the office is spent helping his family run their cattle ranch, and beef business, Lockhart Cattle Company. Lockhart Cattle Company focuses on producing high quality sustainably grown grass-fed beef.

Cody is the chief advisor of Teton County Search and Rescue, where he is always on call to help those in need.
Kelly Davis
Second Vice Chair

Kelly Davis

Kelly Davis is an avid equestrian and owner of Old Oak Farm, LLC and international show jumping stable. She is married to George Davis. They have two children–Lucy Davis and Clay Davis. Kelly and George are past Chairs of the Stanford Parents Advisory Board. Kelly was on the board of the Sullivan Canyon Preservation Association for 8 years. Kelly currently serves on the California Committee South for Human Rights Watch and the Director’s Circle at the Los Angeles County Art Museum. When not riding horses, Kelly enjoys skiing, mountain biking, fly fishing, and running. Her latest challenge is golf (big challenge!).
Shawn Smith
Secretary

Shawn Smith

Shawn Smith is the founder of Silver Sage Capital, LLC, an impact capital company focused on conservation values coupled with financing and investment in socially responsible real estate development. Previous to Silver Sage, Shawn was President of Convergence Management Co. and a member of Convergence Investments, LLC, a real estate development and investment firm located in Jackson, WY.

An avid angler and outdoorsman, Shawn can be found spending his free time exploring streams and duck marshes with his wife, Beverly, and daughters, Virginia and Harriet. He achieved his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, IL and received a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Lindsay Wilcox
Treasurer

Lindsay Wilcox

Lindsay lives in East Jackson with her husband James and their children – Jack, Virginia, Whitney, and Henry. She and her family are avid skiers and hikers and love the wilderness of Wyoming. Professionally, Lindsay has been a Private Wealth Advisor with Goldman Sachs since 2004 providing financial advice to families and foundations. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs Lindsay received an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. Lindsay is currently a member of Tuck’s MBA Council and is also on the board of Jackson’s Center for the Arts.
Jeff Cohodes

Jeff Cohodes

Jeff and his wife, Suzanne, live in East Jackson. He is the retired chief risk officer of Northern Trust. Over the years, Jeff has served on numerous nonprofit boards, most recently as the chair of City Year Chicago. In addition, he was a lecturer on board governance & financial regulation at the School of Law at Loyola University Chicago. Jeff has an MBA from the University of Chicago-Booth, a BS in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and holds an inactive Certified Public Accountant license. Jeff is committed to serve as a resource to protect and steward open spaces, wildlife habitat, working lands, and community places in Northwest Wyoming.
Anna Cole

Anna Cole

Anna Cole is a marketing executive and business leader with 15+ years of marketing, communications, and business development expertise in finance, wealth management, outdoor recreation, and hospitality. Her career in Jackson started at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR), where she held a variety of positions of leadership within the marketing and sales team, most notably as their Director of Communications from 2017 until 2021. Anna currently runs an independent marketing consulting business, working with both non-profit organizations and local businesses. Prior to going out on her own, she was at the helm of Bank of Jackson Hole (BOJH) as the Senior Vice President of Marketing. She directly supported a number of business initiatives to grow brand awareness, market share, and develop the private banking and Trust and Wealth Partners divisions of the bank.

Anna hails originally from central Virginia and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in Art History and a minor in Mathematics in 2004. A lifelong skier, she moved to Jackson, WY, upon graduation and is proud to call Wyoming home for her adult life. She lives in Red Top with her husband (Eric, owner of Powers Excavating Inc.), daughter (Signe, 4 years old), and two bird dogs. In her free time she enjoys reading, cooking, and ANYTHING outdoors. A passionate trail user and advocate, Anna can be found most evenings and weekends mountain biking, dirt biking or trail running.
Lori Fields

Lori Fields

Lori and her husband, Marlin Risinger, joined the Jackson Hole community in 2005. Lori and Marlin raised their three sons in London, where they lived for 17 years. In January 2016 they returned to the US and now reside in Jackson. In her early career, Lori worked as a trial attorney at the US Department of Justice and later became Assistant Special Counsel to the US House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary. Lori has been actively involved in education-related charities. Currently, she serves on a number of nonprofit boards. In addition, for many years she served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American School in London, a K-12 independent school in central London. Lori studied as an undergraduate at Stanford University and received her law degree from the University of Virginia.
Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher

Mark is a geologist living in Cody. He grew up in Cincinnati collecting fossils and received his BS and MS in Geology from the University of Cincinnati. Mark worked for 34 years for Marathon Oil in the oil and gas exploration and development business as a geologist and manager. Most of that time was in the Rockies and Gulf Coast with an emphasis on Wyoming and the Big Horn Basin. Mark transferred eight times, but always returned to Cody where he has lived four times. Since retiring from the oil industry, he has built a website (Geowyo.com) with two other geologists that details over 80 special geology sites in Wyoming. In the last few years, he has led field trips and given talks for the Forest Service, Nature Conservancy, Montana Tech, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and local rock clubs. Mark has been teaching dance in Cody and Powell for the past fifteen years. If you play a song, he probably knows a dance you can do to it. When not dancing or looking at rocks, Mark loves hiking and exploring in the Big Horn Basin and surrounding mountains with his wife, Connie.
Garrett Growney

Garrett Growney

Garrett is Vice President of Commercial Lending with Pinnacle Bank in Cody. He has been in Cody for 20 years working to finance businesses and landowners in the local area. Garrett grew up in Northern Montana and has a BA in Political Science from Brown University and an MBA from Arizona State University. He and his family enjoy as much of the Wyoming outdoors as possible. Garrett is an avid fly fisherman, backpacker, downhill skier, and boater. He cares deeply about maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in Park County.
Faith Hamlin
GRVP Advisory Council Chair

Faith Hamlin

Since moving to Wyoming at the age of 10, Faith Hamlin has always known this is where her heart lives. She graduated from Colgate University in 2018 with a degree in political science and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. At Colgate, she participated in and led programming for the Outdoor Education program. After university, she moved home to Bondurant, WY to help on her family’s cattle ranch, the Little Jennie. Helping out at the ranch eventually grew into running the operation. More recently, she has started running Bondurant Basin Outfitters alongside the Little Jennie Ranch. Faith has previously served on the Jackson Hole Community Foundation’s Health and Human Service board and currently sits on the Sublette County Fair Sale board and the board of the Wyldlife Fund.
Mekki Jaidi

Mekki Jaidi

Mekki graduated from Columbia University with a B.S. in Financial Engineering: Operations Research. After a four-year stint trading currency options for the Royal Bank of Scotland, Mekki moved to Jackson Hole in 2014 to start Outpost. While the vast landscapes and recreational activities in Jackson Hole inspired Mekki’s move out West, it’s the people that make up the community that Mekki has come to love most. Mekki, his wife Jane, and two daughters frequent JHLT’s community spaces and enjoy the interactive aspect of community conservation. Mekki loves the energy inspired by community conservation and strongly believes in its ability to inspire future generations.
Des Jennings

Des Jennings

Des’ personal history with Jackson Hole dates back to the mid-1990s on a family vacation which led him to return nearly every year since that time, including five years working at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp in Dubois, WY. Originally from Rhode Island, Des made the Valley his permanent home following his graduation from Middlebury College in 2008 and has worked in the sale of residential, ranch, and commercial investment properties in Wyoming and Idaho since 2011. Des is currently an associate broker with Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty.

Des is the 2021 President of the Teton Board of Realtors, a trustee and committee chair at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and serves on the board as treasurer for Jackson Hole Public Art. Des is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys spending his free time hiking, skiing, and fly fishing in the Greater Yellowstone area with his wife, Chloe, and two daughters.
Anita Miles

Anita Miles

Anita was raised in Dallas, Texas, as the daughter of a Mexican diplomat. After moving to California to attend college, she became a US citizen. She earned her BA at Stanford University and JD at University of San Diego. After working as a trial attorney, Anita devoted her time to raising her two children and volunteer work. Most recently, she led Stephen Ministry at St. Monica’s Church in Santa Monica, CA, and is currently on the board of the Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum. Anita and her husband Jim live full-time in Jackson Hole. They were drawn to the valley for its open spaces and wildlife and enjoy the outdoor activities it has to offer, including hiking, biking, and skiing.
Marion Mussafer

Marion Mussafer

Owner of M Home Design Group – Luxury real estate properties. Marion grew up in Texas and received her BS in Radio Television Film & Advertising from the Moody School of Communications at The University of Texas. Upon graduation, she worked for several years in commercial and public television in Austin, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Marion and her husband, David, live in Boston and have four grown children, and one granddaughter. When not visiting family in Texas and Alabama, Marion and David spend as much time as possible in Wyoming and Rhode Island.
Emilé Z. Newman

Emilé Z. Newman

Emilé first laid eyes on Jackson in 2003 and made such an impact on her that she went on to pursue her undergraduate studies at the University of Montana, receiving a double major in Natural Resource Conservation and Environmental Studies with a minor in International Development. At U of M, Emile spent summers researching restoration ecology and policy in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. After her graduation in 2010, she moved back to Jackson to work as an outdoor educator and naturalist, teaching at the Teton Science Schools and the National Outdoor Leadership School.

In 2020, she went back to school to pursue a Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Environment where she is finishing her second year. Prior to Yale, she worked at the Bureau of Land Management, where she conducted habitat assessments, collected ecological data, and worked on federal policy for the Greater Sage-grouse Conservation Plan. As a field ecologist, she researched and studied pollination ecology in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

During her time at Yale, she produced a solar feasibility study for the Nature Conservancy’s Ten Sleep preserve that is now being installed. She served as the Co-Executive Director of the Environmental Film Festival at Yale.

In Jackson, WY, Emilé serves as an ambassador for various outdoor brands, and works as a writer, covering topics from outdoor inclusion, Western identity, and the natural environment. On the side, she works as a sustainability consultant conducting carbon accounting and sourcing offsets for clients.
Chris Perkins

Chris Perkins

Chris Perkins is vice president of programs at the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, where he works to promote the sustainable growth of the outdoor recreation economy. This work focuses on rural economic development through outdoor recreation, outdoor recreation infrastructure, state outdoor recreation advocacy, the outdoor recreation workforce, and building a more inclusive outdoor recreation community. Chris received a Master’s in Environmental Management and a Master’s in Business Administration at the Yale School of the Environment and Yale School of Management. Chris has also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Chris supports Founder Teresa Baker on the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge (“The Pledge”), a commitment for outdoor businesses and organizations to improve DEI efforts. The Pledge now has over 180 corporate and nonprofit partners.
George Putman

George Putman

George first visited Jackson Hole at age 8 on a trip to Trail Creek Ranch. He moved to Jackson in 1994 after graduating from Middlebury College to escape rainy winters and fickle trout. Soon after arriving, he joined the survey field crew at Pierson Land Works. With a background in Geography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Economics, George found he had a range of skills valuable to helping clients navigate the ever-changing development and conservation landscape of Jackson Hole. He worked with Pierson Land Works and Y2 Consultants for 24 years. George now owns Cirque Consulting, LLC and provides land planning and computer mapping services to a range of clients in the Valley and beyond.

George lives in East Jackson with his wife Annie and two sons Will and Zack. George was on the Board of the Jackson Hole Ski Club from 2009-2018 and served as Secretary, Vice President, and was President during the successful Building the Base capital campaign.
Sonja Rife

Sonja Rife

Sonja Rife and her husband, Jason, own and operate Killpecker Creek Cattle Company in the foothills of the Wyoming Range, where the sagebrush plains meet the soaring mountains and pine trees reach toward the open skies. Lush grasses blanket the meadows, while Cottonwood Creek and Killpecker Creek provide ample feed and water for a growing herd of Galloway cattle. Sonja grew up in the D.C. area and earned her Bachelor of Science in biology. She and her husband’s decision to leave the East Coast and raise their family in the fresh air and wide-open spaces, combined with a passion for interesting, scientific-based work, led to purchasing 1,100 acres in Daniel, Wyoming, in 2013 and ranching from a scientific background. With their love of good food and home cooking, Sonja and Jason raise grass-finished, no-antibiotic, no-hormone beef that they are proud to serve at their table and offer to their community.
Pati Rocha

Pati Rocha

Pati was born and raised in Ibagué, Colombia. She and her family moved to Jackson in 1998 and relocated to Hoback Ranches in 2020. Pati attended college at the Universidad Distrital in Bogota Colombia and graduated as a Forestry Engineer. She works as a Latino Outreach Coordinator for the Teton County Library and as a Latino Case Manager for Mental Health and Recovery Services JH.
Nicole Sheehan

Nicole Sheehan

Following a successful career in investment banking with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and investment management with Symphony Asset Management, Nicole has dedicated herself to helping educational and environmental nonprofit organizations pursue meaningful causes. Nicole currently serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Stanford Haas Center for Public Service and is a member of the Democratic National Committee National Finance Committee. Nicole is a past board member of Menlo School, the National Board of Directors of NatureBridge, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, and Lick-Wilmerding High School, and served on the Woodside School Foundation Board. Nicole graduated from Stanford in 1989 with a degree in economics and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994.
Amy Staehr

Amy Staehr

Amy is a Jackson native and has been hiking, skiing, and fishing in Northwest Wyoming for as long as she can remember. She is a partner with Long Reimer Winegar LLP where she focuses her legal practice on trust, estate, and tax planning. Amy received an A.B. in English, from Dartmouth College; received an M.A. in Fiction Writing from the University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law. She is a past board member of the Teton County Library Foundation and the Teton Literacy Center. Amy enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors.
Patti Stancarone

Patti Stancarone

Patti moved to Teton Village with her late husband Joe Albracht in 2000. Most of Patti’s career was spent working in the information technology field for the City of NY. She worked at several agencies in New York City, most recently as a Deputy Director with the Mayor’s Office of Operations under Rudy Giuliani. Prior to moving to Jackson, Patti held the position of Project Manager at the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund, better known as the TIAA-CREF. Several years after purchasing and renovating our home in Teton Village, Patti decided to return to work to start a new career in the financial services field, first with Bank of the West and then at First Western Trust, prior to retiring in 2017.
Hal B. Wheeler

Hal B. Wheeler

After completing a B.S. in Physical Geography at the University of Colorado, Hal moved to Jackson to pursue his love of the mountains. He has held many jobs in the 15 years he’s lived here. He has been a foreman for a construction company, a bartender, a furniture maker, a tandem paragliding instructor, and a musician. Hal now owns The Hub Bicycles, a bike shop with deep roots in the local community. The Hub sponsors many community fundraisers including the annual bike swap and The Run and Ride for the Cure with The St. John’s Hospital Foundation. Hal meets regularly with a task force of local politicians working on community issues. In his free time, Hal enjoys skiing and biking with his wife and two sons and playing music in his basement with local rock stars.

Advisory Council - Green River Valley

Mike Fenn
Chair

Mike Fenn

Mike was born and raised in Big Piney. He attended college at the University of Wyoming. He owns two ranches outside of Pinedale; one of which was recently conserved through The Nature Conservancy with help from the Green River Valley Land Trust. Mike previously served on the GRVLT board and was the Lands Committee Chair. Mike has over 30 years of experience in construction management in the energy industry.
Deborah Dawson

Deborah Dawson

Deborah has been retired since 1997 after a successful career in the money management business. She has served on the boards of the Montana Chapter of the Nature Conservancy and the American Museum of Fly Fishing. She attended Vassar College and received an MBA from Boston University.
Jon Dawson

Jon Dawson

Jon Dawson is the Managing Member of Southport Management LLC, located in Wilson, Wyoming. In 1981, He founded a registered investment advisory in Southport, CT and was its CEO until December of 2011. Jon serves on the executive investment and nominating committees of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. He also currently serves on the board of the Special Operations Fund which provides educational scholarships to widows and children of special operations soldiers killed in action. Jon is a co-founder of New Beginnings Family Academy, a K-8 charter school in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is an honorary trustee of Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Connecticut and the Quebec Labrador Foundation. He has also served on the boards of the New Hampshire Audubon, The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and The Montana Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Mr. Dawson holds a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Fordham University. He was a member of the Connecticut Bar Association from 1975-2011.
Troy Fieseler

Troy Fieseler

Troy spent his childhood on his family’s ranch in Rock Springs and recreating throughout Sublette County with his father, who was an outfitter in Pinedale. He attended the University of Wyoming, where he obtained bachelor’s degrees in business administration and wildlife biology and management. After graduating, he began his career with Wyoming Game and Fish in various technician positions before becoming a full-time habitat biologist in Kemmerer, focusing on the Southern Wyoming Range mule deer herd. In 2019, he moved to Pinedale to be the region’s terrestrial habitat biologist, where he resides with his wife and two young sons. Troy works across all land ownerships with the cornerstone of his work being collaboration with private landowners. He is passionate about protecting wildlife habitats, movement corridors, and working lands for future generations. He considers land conservation the most important thing we can do in conservation.
Faith Hamlin
GRVP Advisory Council Chair

Faith Hamlin

Since moving to Wyoming at the age of 10, Faith Hamlin has always known this is where her heart lives. She graduated from Colgate University in 2018 with a degree in political science and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. At Colgate, she participated in and led programming for the Outdoor Education program. After university, she moved home to Bondurant, WY to help on her family’s cattle ranch, the Little Jennie. Helping out at the ranch eventually grew into running the operation. More recently, she has started running Bondurant Basin Outfitters alongside the Little Jennie Ranch. Faith has previously served on the Jackson Hole Community Foundation’s Health and Human Service board and currently sits on the Sublette County Fair Sale board and the board of the Wyldlife Fund.
Hadley Manning
Jim Roscoe

Jim Roscoe

Jim is now retired after running Roscoe Co. construction company for 35 years. He also served eight years in the Wyoming Legislature and served on Wyoming’s Select Natural Resource Funding Committee helping to direct funding for large conservation projects in Wyoming. He is the owner of the Muddy Creek Ranch in the Big Sandy area and also owns property in Wilson.

He is now looking forward to spending more time at the ranch in Sublette Co. Hope to work with Wildlife Trust on easements in the mule deer migration corridor and Red Desert areas, along with working with the JHLT.

Advisory Council - Park County Open Lands

Rebekah Burns

Rebekah Burns

Rebekah Burns is the Executive Director of Powell Economic Partnership/ Powell Chamber/ Powell Visitor Center. She supports and grows our existing businesses. In addition, PEP develops industries and recruits businesses that match the people and culture of the Powell Valley. Rebekah advocates for Powell’s businesses, citizens, and institutions. She serves as Treasurer for the Park County Museum Board. Rebekah is a graduate of PCLI Class XII and served on the steering committee for XIII. She has a Film Production degree from Towson University. For over 15 years, she has worked in video production and content creation creating stories and crafting messages. As Multimedia Marketing Manager at the first international video production crewing agency, Rebekah oversaw external communications including an industry blog, social media, website development, and video podcast channels. As a Production Manager, she oversaw approximately 1,500 accounts. Her duties included managing and scheduling hundreds of on-location shoots a year for corporations, broadcast, cable, production companies, advertising agencies, PR firms, government, and non-profits agencies. Rebekah also has a strong customer service background. She worked as a Customer Service Representative for a major credit card company acquired by Bank of America and as a Sales Rep. and Assistant Buyer for an outdoor recreation retailer. Currently, Rebekah loves exploring the wilds of Wyoming with her sons and husband.
Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher

Mark is a geologist living in Cody. He grew up in Cincinnati collecting fossils and received his BS and MS in Geology from the University of Cincinnati. Mark worked for 34 years for Marathon Oil in the oil and gas exploration and development business as a geologist and manager. Most of that time was in the Rockies and Gulf Coast with an emphasis on Wyoming and the Big Horn Basin. Mark transferred eight times, but always returned to Cody where he has lived four times. Since retiring from the oil industry, he has built a website (Geowyo.com) with two other geologists that details over 80 special geology sites in Wyoming. In the last few years, he has led field trips and given talks for the Forest Service, Nature Conservancy, Montana Tech, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and local rock clubs. Mark has been teaching dance in Cody and Powell for the past fifteen years. If you play a song, he probably knows a dance you can do to it. When not dancing or looking at rocks, Mark loves hiking and exploring in the Big Horn Basin and surrounding mountains with his wife, Connie.
Garrett Growney

Garrett Growney

Garrett is Vice President of Commercial Lending with Pinnacle Bank in Cody. He has been in Cody for 20 years working to finance businesses and landowners in the local area. Garrett grew up in Northern Montana and has a BA in Political Science from Brown University and an MBA from Arizona State University. He and his family enjoy as much of the Wyoming outdoors as possible. Garrett is an avid fly fisherman, backpacker, downhill skier, and boater. He cares deeply about maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in Park County.
Buzzy Hassrick

Buzzy Hassrick

Since 1976, Buzzy has been exploring the wonders of northwest Wyoming on horseback and foot, from the McCullough Peaks to the Absaroka and Beartooth ranges, developing a deep appreciation for that landscape. From those experiences has emerged a commitment to protect lands with aesthetic and wildlife values as well as the culture of farming and ranching. When she’s not hiking or cross-country skiing, she works as the part-time copy editor of the Cody Enterprise and writes occasional stories for the paper. Buzzy is also a sailor, community activist, and volunteer.
Allen Hogg

Allen Hogg

Allen Hogg was born and raised on the Hogg Ranch in Meeteetse, Wyoming. He is a third-generation rancher on a 100+ year family ranch 12 miles SW of Meeteetse on the Greybull River. He has been married to Kristine for 42 years, and together they have 3 grown boys, Patrick, Tighe, and Wesley. He graduated from Meeteetse High School and NWC in Powell. He has served on many boards around the county including Park County Fair Board and Park County Predator Board, and is currently a member of Friends of the Black Footed Ferret and Sage Grouse Advisory Board. Allen and Kristine placed an easement on their property in 2019, and Allen believes that conservation is very important for the land use of Park County and Wyoming.
Tiffany Manion

Tiffany Manion

Tiffany was born and raised in Cody. She splits her time between working as the director of the Allen Wyoming Foundation and overseeing operations as barn manager at the J Bar 9 Ranch. She holds a BA in English literature from the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. She has worked on ranches her whole life, including at a cutting horse operation in Texas, prior to permanently moving back to Cody.

Tiffany has always been passionate about youth organizations that encourage healthy, active lifestyles. While in high school she was a founding member of Cody CAN Youth, a local nonprofit providing education, health, and recreational services to reduce illicit drug use among youth in Park County. Today, Tiffany acts as an advisor, assisting the youth leadership so they can manage a successful program. Further, she serves in a leadership role for Park County Youth Cycling, a local youth club that provides access to safe gravel cycling and leadership skill development, while sharing the joy of cycling with young people. Finally, she serves as vice president of That Other Project, which initiates infrastructure development projects to improve local safety and accessibility among pedestrians, cyclists, and horseback riders in and around Cody.

Conserving open space in Park County is important to Tiffany because she is a fourth-generation rancher with a deep appreciation for nature and the outdoors. She knows firsthand how a strong farming and ranching economy is integral to the community, and recognizes how vital open spaces are. She is committed to working with a wide variety of users to keep open spaces a priority for our community.
Jarren Kuipers
PCOL Advisory Council Chair

Jarren Kuipers

Jarren is the founder of Land Steward Services, which provides support services for land trusts and their landowner partners across the West. He has 20 years of experience in private lands conservation working for and with land trusts. Thirteen of those years have been in Park County.

Prior to that, he grew up on a medium-sized family farm in eastern South Dakota that focused on dry land crops and livestock. Jarren however, was too easily distracted by hunting, fishing, and trapping; an affliction that eventually led him to a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from South Dakota State University and an MS from the University of Wyoming in Zoology.

He and his wife Tara enjoy exploring the wilds of Park County by foot, pedal, and paddle.
James Seckman

James Seckman

James moved to Wyoming from Michigan in 1979. He served in the military as a military policeman. He later graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1992. James has been in the practice of public accounting for the past 30 years, providing tax and auditing services. He spends all of his spare time at his cabin in the Bighorn Mountains and loves the wide open spaces and recreation opportunities the Bighorn Basin provides.
Abby Scott

Abby Scott

Abby is the Migration Program Director for The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming. She began her work at TNC as the Northwest Wyoming Program Director, where she directed all aspects of land and water conservation for the Conservancy in the Cody region. Abby holds a B.S. in Economics and Environment and Natural Resources and an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wyoming. Her M.S. research focused on the optimal placement of conservation easement purchases for conserving wildlife migration corridors. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Abby worked for the UW School of Energy Resources, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, and as a Mickelson Fellow for Western Governors Association, where she worked on Governor Matt Mead’s species conservation initiative. Abby was raised in Cody and is passionate about conserving this special landscape and community. She now enjoys raising her two sons amid all the Cody community has to offer.
Kelly Spiering

Kelly Spiering

Kelly and her two sons operate Spiering Farms. This is a 600-acre farm that specializes in growing and conditioning native plants including grasses, forbs, and flowers. They also produce seed for commodity crops. Spiering Farms was started in 1950 and Kelly joined the operation in 1976. Kelly has served on numerous boards with an acute interest in maintaining agriculture and businesses in Park County and keeping them profitable.
Anne Young

Anne Young

Anne has enjoyed living and raising children in Park County for fifty-two all too short years; ranching, hiking, and taking adventurous pack trips with her husband, Jim Nielson. As a long-time board member of the Wyoming Nature Conservancy and now a member of their Sage Council, Anne has remained active in conservation work, especially with the Heart Mountain Ranch Preserve and the Canal Park within the City of Cody. She believes it is vital to keep natural areas and open space within cities and throughout rural landscapes. Anne is committed to conserving fertile agricultural lands, viewscapes, and critical habitat for wildlife.

Advisory Council - Wind River Program

Budd Betts

Budd Betts

Budd Betts has lived in Wyoming for over 50 years. He first worked for Triangle X Ranch in the 1970s and lived in Jackson for over 10 years, then in 1983 he purchased Highland Meadow Ranch in the Dunoir Valley and renamed it, “Absaroka Ranch.” He and his wife, Emi, raised their two children, Lindsay and Robert, while operating a successful guest ranch and outfitting business. Budd has always enjoyed volunteering and giving back to his community and to the state of Wyoming. To list a few accomplishments, he served in the House of Representatives in the 1990s, along with serving as Chairman for the Wyoming Community Foundation Board, a Board Member for Wyoming Stockgrowers’s Land Trust, and a Board Member for the Jackson Hole Land Trust.
Carolyn Gillette

Carolyn Gillette

Carolyn has had a passion for conservation and education since first coming to the Wind River Valley over 40 years ago. She claims Central Park in New York as her first wilderness area. She was introduced to conservation by way of backpacking for 30 days with the National Outdoor Leadership School. She then proceeded to work for the school for 6 years in the field in Wyoming, Yellowstone, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. She also ran programs at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., and programs in Ontario, Canada. She then returned to teach in a one-room school on the Wind River Indian Reservation and public schools in Jackson and Dubois. She carried a message of leadership and conservation, and through different avenues, always tried to be part of the stewardship conversation. Most recently she has been on the Board of the National Bighorn Sheep Center.
Carlie Ideker

Carlie Ideker

Carlie Ideker is a fourth-generation Wyomingite raised in Dubois. She grew up exploring the public lands of northwest Wyoming on foot and from the back of a horse. Her early encounters with the archaeological record eventually led to a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming and an M.S. in anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology and cultural resource management from Utah State University. She has worked in the rocky mountain west professionally since 2012, centering her career on the connection between people and place. Outside of work, you’re likely to find Carlie with her sidekicks—husband Mike and two dogs, Aspen and Otter—enjoying the region’s public lands either trail running, hiking, fly-fishing, hunting, backpacking, or skiing.
Jeff Milton
Will Rigsby

Will Rigsby

Will is passionate about everything the wilds of Wyoming provide. Hunting, fishing, and all things about the outdoors have been part of his life from a young age. Originally from Ohio, Will was drawn to the Rocky Mountains and has had the privilege to call Fremont County and Teton County his home for almost 35 years. With a split career, he began managing a dude ranch, which led to ranch real estate, and now his dream of managing a ranch where he balances ranching and land use practices to enhance the core wildlife values. He is married, has two grown daughters, three Labrador retrievers and spends as much time as possible in the fall chasing birds with whoever will put up with him. He is honored to be a part of the Wind River Program Advisory Council.
Meredith Taylor

Meredith Taylor

Meredith Taylor is a long-term resident of Dubois, Wyoming. She and her husband Tory outfitted throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for 35 years, leading natural history and archaeology trips. She originally researched the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in the Whiskey Mountain area of the Wind River Range.

Meredith supports land conservation and has established a JHLT conservation easement on their property to protect the flora and fauna of the wildlife habitat and migration corridors in perpetuity. She is a Certified Master Naturalist and teaches ethnobotany classes to those interested in wild edible and medicinal plants.

Advisory Council - WYLD

Lucas Ayoub
Robin Cameron

Robin Cameron

After graduating from Amherst College with a B.A. in fine rts with a photography focus, Robin spent nearly twenty years teaching, including art at the American School of Milan, field science for the Teton Science Schools, and most recently, she was the Dean of Students and a science and photography faculty member at the Jackson Hole Community School. With an M.S. in Science Education, Robin understands the importance of making scientific information accessible to all. Robin is now the Project Manager for Jackson Hole Public Art where she enjoys exploring the intersection of art and science. She is also excited about the vast opportunities to build community through the arts and to collaborate with local nonprofits like the Jackson Hole Land Trust to inspire community-based conservation. Robin feels lucky to live in such an awe-inspiring landscape and loves to explore the natural world with her husband, two young sons, and dog.
Julie Dery
Andy Flores-Cano
Laura Gaylord

Laura Gaylord

Laura grew up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, CO where she spent her time learning to love and care for the natural world through skiing, mountain biking, and backpacking. She went on to get a dual degree from the University of Colorado in Sociology and Spanish Literature and Language, both of which took her on travels around the world. After spending time working and living on the Roaring Fork River near Aspen, CO she found herself in Jackson trying her best to ski every day there is snow on the ground. Like many in Teton Valley, she was attracted to the area for its unmatched access to outdoor recreation and natural beauty, but really what has kept her here is the community built around these wild places. She is currently the Senior Program Manager of Coombs Outdoors where she is able to share her love for the outdoors with youth in the community hoping to inspire them to love and care for the land we recreate on.
Victor Hernandez
Vice Chair
Kahlynn Huck
Chair

Kahlynn Huck

Originally from Wisconsin, Kahlynn went to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where she majored in political science and philosophy and competed as a gymnast. She moved to San Francisco after school to work for Fund For the Public Interest, which fundraised for Environment California’s Ban The Bag Campaign and Human Rights Campaign. She would go on to spend the next seven years as a recruiter for startup companies. After a scary snowboarding experience in 2018, she decided it was time for a complete lifestyle overhaul. She convinced her partner to move to Jackson, quit her job, and never looked back. Kahlynn recently completed Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance’s Conservation Leadership Institute (CLI) and is serving on Teton County’s Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling Board. In her free time, she loves working on her fixer-upper, running with her golden retriever, skiing, practicing hot yoga, and exploring with her daughter, Bridger.
Mekki Jaidi

Mekki Jaidi

Mekki graduated from Columbia University with a B.S. in Financial Engineering: Operations Research. After a four-year stint trading currency options for the Royal Bank of Scotland, Mekki moved to Jackson Hole in 2014 to start Outpost. While the vast landscapes and recreational activities in Jackson Hole inspired Mekki’s move out West, it’s the people that make up the community that Mekki has come to love most. Mekki, his wife Jane, and two daughters frequent JHLT’s community spaces and enjoy the interactive aspect of community conservation. Mekki loves the energy inspired by community conservation and strongly believes in its ability to inspire future generations.
Elizabeth Martinez
Hal B. Wheeler

Hal B. Wheeler

After completing a B.S. in Physical Geography at the University of Colorado, Hal moved to Jackson to pursue his love of the mountains. He has held many jobs in the 15 years he’s lived here. He has been a foreman for a construction company, a bartender, a furniture maker, a tandem paragliding instructor, and a musician. Hal now owns The Hub Bicycles, a bike shop with deep roots in the local community. The Hub sponsors many community fundraisers including the annual bike swap and The Run and Ride for the Cure with The St. John’s Hospital Foundation. Hal meets regularly with a task force of local politicians working on community issues. In his free time, Hal enjoys skiing and biking with his wife and two sons and playing music in his basement with local rock stars.