Contact Us

Home
News Items
Action Ideas
Current THPs
Maps
Archives
Photo Album
Education
Great Links
Donations
Contact Us
Letters

Contact Information:

Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch

Post Office Box 2862 - Arnold, California - 95223

Office Phone: 209-795-8260

John Trinkl, President came to EPFW from a lifetime of activism in various social causes and has been focusing much of his energy recently on preserving the quality of life of Calaveras County. He and his family own a cabin in Big Trees Village north of Arnold. He enjoys hiking in the area and shopping at the ACE hardware store in Arnold. Besides being president of EPFW, John has worked in a garbage bag factory, been a reporter, writer, editor, marketing specialist, web developer, worked in the travel industry, the book publishing business, and high tech ventures. He hopes to travel to North Dakota someday, the only state he hasn't visited.

Agata Sulczynski, Vice President received her Juris Doctor degree from University of San Francisco as a public interest law scholar. She is currently a Senior Project Manager at an environmental consulting firm, providing regulatory compliance support to a diverse base of clients. She also provides legal and strategic planning assistance to non-profit organizations working to protect California's natural resources. As a resident of Dorrington and an avid recreationist, she is interested in working for sustainable management of our public and private lands. Ms. Sulczynski offers her experience and interest in protecting our public trust resources.

Alice Trinkl, Secretary comes from a long line of Californians who have been involved with the Sierra. They've lived in the Sierra foothills, ranched among them, and tried to protect the land one way or another.
Alice was a public information and media relations professional in San Francisco for many years, as well as a writer and editor. She puts these skills to use now as editor of the EPFW newsletter as well as helping with media relations for the group.

Bunny Firebaugh, Treasurer has been a member of EPFW since its inception in May 2000. She served on the steering committee for about nine months before being elected to the Board in June 2001. Bunny has been a mainstay of the organization, helping with Town Hall meetings and special events, including fairs and Earth Day, among many others.
In addition to her EPFW work, Bunny is a board member and docent at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. She also is a Volunteer In Protection inspector. She has lived in Blue Lake Springs full time since she retired in the fall of 1994 and has loved every minute except for what is happening to the forest in the Sierras. She looks forward to continuing her work with all the other devoted EPFW members to preserve a healthy forest for future generations.

Kathi Malone is a retired social worker who has lived in Calaveras County for six years. She attended the first public meeting of EPFW five years ago and was "appalled" at what she learned about the clearcutting going on the area. Kathi has been an active member of EPFW, attending meetings, helping with newsletter mailings, and lending a hand whenever needed. Sierra the Chickaree loves riding in Kathi's convertible at local parades.

Susan Robinson joined EPFW several years ago after becoming aware of SPI's clearcutting plans at the Arnold Crafts Faire. She and her husband are now retired near Arnold and previously had a cabin in Big Trees Village. She recently retired from a major Bay Area corporation where she held positions in environmental and safety managment and strategic and business planning. Susan's father had a Masters in Forestry from Penn State and was a district forester and regional park manager in Pennsylvania. She grew up with his views on respectful forestry (including logging) and love of all plants and animals in the forest ecosytem. Her deep love of the Sierra Nevada and its diverse forests drive her to action to protect them from being clearcut on an industrial scale and opposition to our government's perspective that forests are only sources of timber.

Dale Sanders joined EPFW several years ago and was recently elected to the Board. Dale has a life-long dedication to environmental issues from teaching science to grammar school students to graduate courses at Cal State Hayward and UC Berkeley. His family has a cabin in Big Trees Village where they enjoy hiking, birding and bug chasing (mostly grasshoppers). Dale's experience includes graduate school at Berkeley, a post-doctoral position in Nutritional Sciences, nine years as an ecologist with Contra Costa County, and a continuing interest in biological research on endangered species. His desire is to bring practical science to natural resource protection and sustainable forestry; he enjoys the "tree-hugging" measurement forays. His interest in forestry spans four generations. His great-grandfather Sam Bretz was a landowner and logger near the Sierra National Forest, near Shaver Lake in the mid-1800s. Dale remembers his grandfather taking him for rides on the steam carriage at the Bretz Mill in Blue Canyon and eating in the cookhouse with the mill workers.

Ron Szymanski has had a cabin in the Ebbetts Pass area since 1990 and retired to Hathaway Pines in 2001. An active Adult Scouter in the Boy Scouts, Ron has been encouraged by EPFW's activities since its inception. He is committed to bringing EPFW goals to fruition, ensuring that a viable ecosystem is maintained to nurture humanity for all to share and enjoy now and in the future. He is not against logging, only irresponsibility in its logging on private and public lands. He believes big business, including the timber industry is not capable of nor willing to police its activities beyond the effect on its bottom line, therefore it's our responsibility as citizens to point out other approaches that must be considered.