AVLT Board Members
Karen Altaras
Karen has been active in the community since 1971. She is a founding board member of Anderson Valley Arts, and a former member of the Anderson Valley Chamber of Commerce. Karen owned and operated Rookie-to Gallery in Boonville before retiring in 2015.
Barbara Goodell
Barbara is a founding member of AVLT and has been a resident of the valley since 1978. She has served on the board of directors of the Anderson Valley Community Services District, established the community’s adult school, and has advanced sustainable agriculture on a countywide basis.
Nancy Hornor
Nancy retired from the National Park Service as the planning manager at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), ending a career in planning and environmental review dedicated to helping shape the GGNRA as a new national park. Her work involved planning and community involvement in a wide range of projects, from master plans to site plans, restoration, trails. Nancy joined the Board in 2016. She and her husband John spend their time between San Francisco and Anderson Valley.
Yoriko Kishimoto
Yoriko was born in Japan and raised in the United States. She attended Wesleyan University and earned her Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. Yoriko has an extensive record of service on the Board of Directors of numerous public agencies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Of particular note for the Anderson Valley Land Trust is Yoriko’s interest in open space and education being on the Board of Directors for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Hidden Villa, a working farm that fosters educational experiences, build connections, and inspires a deeper appreciation and respect for nature, food, and one another. Living in Boonville and Palo Alto, Yoriko enjoys painting, and she and her husband love hiking and growing grapes and olives.
William Meyer
Bill has been an integral part of Anderson Valley for 43 years. He started out in 1980 working at the Christmas Tree Farm in Philo utilizing his expert fence building and farrier skills and then, “The phone never stopped ringing.”
Bill grew up in the Bay Area and has always liked animals and outdoor activities; he is very happy that he has fulfilled a childhood fantasy of living on a beautiful homestead where he could have a garden, orchard, and horses. He feels like his two children had a great opportunity to grow up in Anderson Valley because of our great community where you can enjoy cross-age friendships and know a great portion of the community.
Barbara Nelson
Before joining the board, Barbara had been a staunch volunteer helping with the Resilient Land Symposium organization and on the fundraising committee. She has owned land on Holmes Ranch for over 30 years and lived here full-time for over 3 years. Barbara’s profession was in creating visual arts. She taught in colleges, was an administrator, and has shown her work in galleries throughout the nation. Antiques are her passion and her art is primarily now in establishing her garden. She is also on the AV Village board and a member of AV Arts.
Dan Sicular
Dan grew up in Berkeley and attended U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in Geography, a degree that allowed him to pursue his fascination with both the natural and social worlds. He has owned land in Anderson Valley since 1991.
Some of you may remember Dan as the coordinator for the pioneering Navarro Watershed Restoration Plan, which came out in 1998. He has walked much of the river and its many tributaries, met many land owners and, for three years, with a broad and very diverse stakeholders group, he wrestled with the complexities of the watershed’s hydrology, sediment and temperature, fisheries, and forests.
Dan went on to work as a consultant with ESA on environmental issues, as forest manager for the Pacific Forest Trust, and now as a highly respected independent consultant. We are so fortunate to have him join the Anderson Valley Land Trust board of directors where his skills have immediately been put to work.
Conservation Director
Price Sheppy
Thanks to many generous donations and our success in getting a grant to increase our capacity, we were fortunate to be able to hire Price Sheppy as our full-time Conservation Director. Price began work with AVLT in January 2024, taking over the role that Patrick Miller so generously contributed as a half-time volunteer Conservation Director in 2022 and 2023. We are so impressed with his work and could see right away what a huge difference he will be able to make in what we can accomplish for Anderson Valley.
Price brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for environmental conservation. His previous role at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy as a Community Program Manager involved leading programs in community engagement and endangered species habitat restoration. Prices efforts spanned a diverse range of projects, from stream restoration for the coho salmon to grassland enhancement for the Mission blue butterfly.
More recently, Price served as the Land Manager at Saratoga Springs Retreat Center in Upper Lake. His notable achievements here include spearheading forest fire recovery projects, innovating in sustainable practices by establishing a biochar composting program, and working to reintroduce cultural fires to the land. His collaboration with pivotal programs like the Cal-Fire Healthy Forests Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and North Bay Forest Improvement Program underscores his ability to effectively navigate and leverage environmental conservation funding.
On a personal note, Price lives off the South Branch of the North Fork of the Navarro River and works to manage his own forested property and homestead. He is excited to learn from all of the collective knowledge held by our AVLT community and is already participating in our own programs as well as in other community events. If you have had a chance to meet Price you have seen his enthusiasm and skills for conservation work. In his new role, Price’s work will include a focus on working with agricultural landowners to explore the benefits of conservation easements for their properties. He aims to enhance the community’s knowledge through educational workshops about conservation easements and build meaningful relationships with local tribal organizations. Price is keen on fostering a collaborative spirit and is eager to engage with everyone to discuss forest management grant funding opportunities and other sustainable practices.
AVLT Advisory Committee
Kathy Bailey
Connie Best
Micki Colfax
Thom Elkjer
David Hopmann
Daniel Imhoff
Jed Pogran
Alan Porter
John Scharffenberger
Steve Snyder
Laurie Wayburn
Peter Wiley
More Information
Please call our office (707.895.3150) if you would like more information about our work, a presentation about conservation easements, to make a donation, or to volunteer your expertise or time. Visit the Contact page for further details.
