Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is composed of ten well-experienced professionals who represent varied skills and expertise that support CNLM’s work in protection and management of rare and fragile natural resources.  Collectively, their expertise includes finance, media, green energy planning, natural resources protection, environmental law, native people’s interests and Indian law.  All share a passion for imperiled species and a strong conservation ethic.  Our Board works on a volunteer basis, committed to the mission of CNLM.

Ken Sanchez, Chairman

Ken Sanchez has a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University and is currently the Western Regional Regulatory Manager for Resource Environmental Solutions, a national habitat and species restoration and mitigation development company.  Ken spent 10 years working for the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service in California, Oregon, and Alaska and recently retired after 25 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in North Dakota and California working primarily on endangered species conservation and ecosystem markets.

Ken’s outside interests include camping, river rafting and kayaking, cycling, and music of all kinds.

Susan K. Moore, Vice Chair

In 2013, I retired from Federal service, having over 35 years of experience.

From 2006 until 2013, I served as the Field Supervisor for the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office (SFWO).

During my tenure, the SFWO was the largest field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).  It had responsibility for administering programs for endangered species, habitat conservation, water resources, and environmental contaminants for half of California – the western side of the Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, an area that is home to both 14 million people and 190 species of plants and animals that are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

I moved to the SFWO in 1999, working first in External Affairs, then as the Listing branch chief before becoming Deputy Field Supervisor.

Prior to going to the SFWO, I served 14 years in the National Park Service.  I served as the Executive Director of the John Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Rhode Island, the first partnership park in the National Park Service from 1996 to 1999.  Prior to that, I served as the first woman superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield, where I worked from 1990 to 1996.  I also worked at Manassas National Battlefield from 1985 to 1990.

I worked in Washington, D.C. for the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks from 1981 to 1985.

Earlier I worked for the Department of the Interior in the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service and the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation from 1975 to 1981.

I live in the foothills outside of Sacramento with my husband, a retired National Park Service manager, where we enjoy camping, hiking, biking, and other outdoor activities.

David C. Lee, Treasurer

David works in the field of Energy Finance at a German bank in London, which invests in infrastructure projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  In this context, he performs regular environmental analyses to ensure that potential investments comply with international standards like the Equator Principles, fairly reflect the interests of relevant stakeholders, and align with environmental best practice across their lifecycle.  He has a particular interest and expertise in the development of renewable energy assets, a sustainability focus that mirrors CNLM’s conservation mission.

A Southern California native, David looks forward to bringing his finance experience and global perspective to bear on the maintenance of his home state’s natural landscape.

Michelle C. Lee, Secretary

Michelle C. Lee is a member of the Pit River Tribe and a mother of three. She is an Indian law attorney and has owned and operated an Indian law practice since 2006.  She has been practicing Indian Law for nearly 25 years and has represented tribal governments in legal matters including cultural resource protection, Indian child welfare, tribal taxation, tribal gaming regulation, cannabis regulation, tribal governance, the fee-to-trust process and real estate transactions, and general civil litigation involving tribal governments.  In addition, she has published a number of law review articles, essays and non-fiction articles on topics relative to her work with California Indian tribes.

Prior to entering private practice, Michelle edited and contributed significantly to reports that were submitted to Congress in August 1997 by the Advisory Council on California Indian Policy.  In 1999, she negotiated a tribal-state gaming compact with the State of California and has successfully negotiated many amendments to other gaming compacts since that time. In 2003, she was appointed to the Governor’s Children’s Justice Act Task Force which allocates Title IV-E Child Abuse Prevention Program funding to agencies in the state of California.

She has served as a trainer in seminars with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research regarding the implementation of SB 18, a statewide general planning law that she drafted in collaboration with Governor Gray Davis’s Legal Affairs Department in 2004. In 2006, she was featured on the cover of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine with an article she co-wrote, entitled, “Real Estate Transactions in California’s “Indian Country”:  How to Conduct Business with California Indian Tribal Governments and Businesses”.

Michelle is extensively involved in developing statewide policy in California regarding cultural resources protection including drafting, negotiating, and ensuring the passage of improved cultural preservation laws such as burial site protection and consultation requirements for new projects. She was recently appointed to the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section of the California Lawyers Association.  In July 2023, she was also appointed to the Board of Directors for the Center for Natural Lands Management which protects and manages nature preserves in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.  All the preserves provide refuge for threatened or endangered species as well as protect rare and sensitive habitats such as wetlands.

Michelle received her B.A. in 1993 and her J.D. in 1998, both from the University of California, Davis.  She is admitted to practice in California, all federal district courts in California, the Ninth Circuit, the United States Supreme Court, the Hoopa Valley Tribal Court and the San Manuel Tribal Court.  She was a recipient of the 2015 Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship and earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2017.

Jim A. Bartel

Born and raised in the Central Valley of California, I obtained a B.A. in botany in 1974 and a M.A. in biology in 1980 from California State University, Fresno. My graduate research focused on the reproductive biology of Piute cypress (Hesperocyparis nevadensis), an obscure species that had been little studied at the time.

After seasonally working for the U.S. Forest Service for several summers in California, my first full time job was in 1978 working for the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Miami, Florida. In 1979, I transferred to recently created Sacramento Endangered Species Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) where I worked on botanical issues under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for over 10 years.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, I helped shape the then newly evolving, habitat conservation planning (HCP) program under section 10 of the ESA. Aside from working with several HCP steering committees, I developed an early draft of the HCP handbook that was later finalized by the Washington Office.

After serving in many capacities in the Sacramento office, I later served as staff to the former Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in late 1991 where I assisted Congressional staff on wetlands, water legislation, and endangered species issues, like then highly political northern spotted owl. Such staffers at the time included Dan Ashe, later director of the FWS, and Will Stelle, later regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

I moved to Portland in 1993 to head the listing and recovery division for the Pacific Region of the FWS. Though I transferred to Carlsbad in 1997 to oversee a portion of the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, I was selected as the field supervisor in early 2001. Like the Sacramento office, the Carlsbad office administers programs for endangered species, habitat conservation, water resources, and environmental contaminants for all or portions of six counties in southern California; Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.

After retiring in 2014 from Federal service after more than 35 years, I am now a research associate with the San Diego Botanic Garden. This affiliation allows me to continue my more than 40 years of botanical research and publications on the genetics, ecology, and taxonomy of western or New World cypresses (Hesperocyparis) and their close allies. Much of my recent ecological work has focused on the effects of increasing fire frequency and related climate change impacts to the cypress stands in the western United States. I also continue my studies on the taxonomy and distribution of the succulent genus Dudleya in California. I am also a member of the California Native Plant Society, California Botanical Society, American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Society for Conservation Biology, and other professional and environmental organizations.

I live in Carlsbad with my lovely wife, where we love to travel to new places to visit, hike, and photograph.

Eric Cherniss

Eric Cherniss is an Energy Industry Executive focused on sustainable infrastructure.  Mr. Cherniss is the founder of Elevate Renewables, which is a national renewable energy development company focused on the strategic deployment of battery energy storage resources co-located at existing large power generation facilities.  Prior to forming Elevate, Mr. Cherniss was part of the Corporate Development and Strategy team of Vistra Corp. and was instrumental in the growth of the Vistra Zero platform and specifically the redevelopment and hybridization of existing fossil assets with renewables and energy storage.  Mr. Cherniss earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Alicia Guerra

Currently an active attorney and shareholder with Buchalter, Ms. Guerra’s areas of practice include natural resources, land use, environmental, real estate, and administrative law.  Her multi-disciplinary practice focuses on local, state, and federal land use entitlement and permitting and environmental review for a broad sector of private industry, developers, and public agencies.  Her expertise includes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Water Act, federal and state flood control statutes, California’s planning laws, and other state and federal laws governing the use of land, water, and other natural resources.

In addition to her client-driven professional practice, she has published on a wide variety of topics including the impact of COVID-19 on real estate transactions.  Ms. Guerra is a frequently sought speaker for national and state conferences of business, environmental law, academic, and real estate communities.

She was recognized by Super Lawyer Magazine as a Northern California Super Lawyer in 2019, a recognition she has received since 2014.

Alicia and her husband live in the East Bay.

Stephanie Parsons

The founder and owner of CreativEnvironment Group LLC, Stephanie collaborates with her partners by advising on and developing environmental and regulatory compliance strategies during the concept phase of a project through implementation. She provides expertise in navigating through State and federal regulatory processes and permitting, natural resource compensatory mitigation, demonstration of compliance, and integrated project and program delivery of infrastructure and development projects and programs. Her experience spans across a variety of project types, such as water supply and treatment, transportation, energy, and conservation, of Statewide, regional, and local significance, for nonprofit, private, public, and government entities.

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the California State University of Sacramento. She is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys engaging in activities that combine the outdoors with physical endurance, such as backpacking, camping, tournament-style waterskiing, snow skiing, and traveling. She is excited about the opportunity to contribute to CNLM’s mission.

Peter Prows

Peter Prows is the managing partner of the San Francisco environmental law firm Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP.  He advises public agencies, private clients, and sovereigns in all areas of environmental law.  He advises property owners looking to put their property into conservation, or needing mitigation credits for developments.  He has advised the Republic of Palau on domestic legislation and international policy around marine and terrestrial protected areas.  And he has litigated for clients over the scope and validity of conservation easements and natural and cultural resource-related regulatory obligations.  He is eager to be of service to the Center’s mission.

David C. Thoreau

David C. Thoreau is a well-respected media expert and writer.  His experience spans 30 years and includes writing for both film and television, including Side Out, Walker Texas Ranger, The Sentinel, Murder She Wrote, and Miami Vice. Mr. Thoreau won the First Lady’s Excellence in Television Award for his Highway to Heaven script “Parent’s Day.”  In addition, Mr. Thoreau has written multiple novels, including City at Bay, The Satanic Condition and the Jimmy Lujack thrillers The Good Book and The Book of Numbers.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in English from UCLA.  He resides in Orange County, California.