Board & Staff

Posted: April 17, 2010

Board

Nancy Bale
Treasurer
I grew up in central California, and from early childhood enjoyed the Sierra Nevada mountains with my family. In my early twenties I hiked the John Muir trail, spending six weeks in the roadless backcountry. On that trip, I learned to feel at home in wide-open spaces. Moving to Alaska was simply the next phase in that education for wilderness. Arriving at the entrance to the park just as the Parks Highway was opening, I witnessed the birth of the shuttle system and the decline of private vehicle access. At that time, about 50 people lived near the entrance of the park in winter. In the years since I arrived at Denali, the growth of tourism, spurred by improved road access and hotel development, has brought both benefits and challenges to the park and its environs, and made the work of DCC as important now as it ever was. As the Denali region changed over those years, my life did too. I went from local employee, working for over 20 summers at Camp Denali, to community nurse in Anchorage. I went from bush resident for over 20 winters on the Tonzona River, surrounded by those wide-open spaces I’d craved since the Muir trail, to a city life. DCC keeps me grounded in both my past joys and hopes for the future.

Anne Beaulaurier
Vice President/Membership Chair
When I first arrived in Denali to work during the summer of 2003, I was awestruck and speechless. In fact, I don’t think I uttered much more than a necessary “yes” or “no” when asked by my coworkers if I was enjoying myself, or if I needed anything. Suddenly, in the vast, wild reaches of Denali, I had much more than I had ever dreamed of. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest under the tutelage of my parents who enjoyed sharing outdoor endeavors with the family. In college, while studying ecology at the University of California-Berkeley, I melded my interest in the natural world with academic studies and developed a fascination for the interconnectedness of every community. Here in Denali, I consider it a privilege to participate in the year-round community—to watch the stormy weather move in from the south, hear the hoot of an owl after dark, follow lynx tracks down the ski trail, share a ridgeline with caribou while hiking, and celebrate with neighbors the spring return of migratory birds. In this world, everything needs a voice in order to have its interests considered. I have always been thankful for DCC’s participation in important conversations as the voice of the land and of this Greater Denali Ecosystem, including its human inhabitants. It is a pleasure to be able to serve on the board and help to keep this voice heard. When not working on issues, you are likely to find me skiing, helping neighbors train their sled dogs, driving a bus on the park road, or leading hikes at Camp Denali in the summer.

Barbara Brease
I arrived to Denali in 1986 where I have worked for the National Park Service, raised two daughters, and explored the landscape with my late husband, Phil Brease.  Having grown up mostly in the hills of West Virginia, I developed  awareness of the need for environmental stewardship. I have a degree from Temple University, worked for several non-profits and have a strong belief  that, when informed and aware of pertinent issues that face our local and global communities, we can make a difference. I am motivated to seek solutions for problems that affect  Denali and environs.

Nan Eagleson
I have lived in the Denali area with my family, which includes a team of sled dogs, for over 20 years. I graduated from Colorado State University in Biology and soon afterwards headed to the Canadian far north, where I worked in tourism and wildlife for 7 years, before coming to Alaska. I live in Denali to experience the wilderness surroundings firsthand and explore my naturalist interests on a daily basis. I am involved with DCC because of concerns with the continuing struggle over proper uses of our natural heritage of wild places which I feel are continually threatened with development and exploited for economic opportunity at the expense of preservation. I am presently the chief naturalist and head instructor at the Denali Education Center and enjoyed many years working at Camp Denali, in the heart of Denali National Park. I am on the Middle Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Council, helped co-author the Birds of Denali, and if my son Jeff were still on the Healy Hockey team, would be a hockey mama for Obama!

Charlie Loeb
President
I arrived at Denali National Park and Preserve as a volunteer interpretive ranger in 1988, an experience which introduced me to the National Park Service, the life of a seasonal ranger, and Denali. I completed a graduate degree in regional planning at Cornell University while working seasonally at the park, and then spent 3 years employed as a professional economic development planner on California’s north coast. Denali called me back, and in 1996 I took a job as branch manager for the Alaska Natural History Association (now Alaska Geographic) at Denali, and then spent 6 years as a NPS planner and a year managing KTNA radio in Talkeetna. At present, I am spending much of my time chasing my 8-year-old daughter.

JJ Neville
Born in Salt Lake city in 1984, I was fortunate to have family that enjoyed the outdoors, particularly wilderness. I spent many of my childhood days exploring the wonders of the Wasatch and Uintas mountain ranges. As time went on I found a certain kinship with everything that surrounded me in these wild places. Not only did I start to perceive my surroundings as something newly discovered to myself, I also developed a real heart-felt connection to the land I was standing on at the time. I felt the need to find wild places that were perhaps even more untouched, which prompted my decision to come to Alaska for the first time. Currently I am a shuttle bus driver, transporting guests through Denali. I take a lot of pride in inspiring people to experience the splendors of wilderness and encouraging them to ask the same questions I once asked. I am now a year around resident, living in the Stampede area. I’ve worked in the winters for Denali Dog Sled Expeditions, taking guests into Denali park by dog teams.

Jared Zimmerman
Secretary
I first came to Denali in 1999 to explore the park’s backcountry. I never forgot the awesome wildlife sightings along the park road and the sensation of feeling like the first person ever to explore the Wyoming Hills. I returned to Minnesota at the end of that summer to continue studying at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Years of traveling and studying in Latin America inspired me to move to Nicaragua. After graduating, I worked for two years as a volunteer with Witness for Peace, educating people from the United States about how international banking and trade policies from Washington, D.C. create a global economy that makes rich countries richer and keeps poor countries poor. In 2004, I answered the call of the wild and moved to Denali National Park to mush sled dogs. Now Bridget Borg and I live outside of Healy, spending as much time as we can exploring the park by dog team. I hope that people from all over the world will always have the opportunity to feel like they are discovering the park for the first time.

Hannah Ragland
Born and raised in Northern California, I moved to Alaska in 2006 after receiving a BS in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University. I have worked as an interpretive ranger in Redwood and Denali National Parks, and currently spend the winter season working with kids at Tri-Valley School in Healy. I am a proud co-owner of some stellar sled dogs, and recreate with them out my front door in the Panguinge Creek subdivision. I have enjoyed many adventures in the Stampede area and look forward to many more. The Denali region is a beautiful place, and my goal is to see it remain that way.

Erica Watson
I first came to Denali in the summer of 2004 to work for the Alaska Natural History Association, and through a combination of luck and good timing, I was able to work that summer and the next in the West district of the park. I will always feel lucky for having had the opportunity to get to know Denali from Toklat, where I first fell in love with this incredible place.  The first several summers I spent at Denali, I returned to Arizona in the fall, eventually completing a degree in creative writing and women’s studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where I was involved in student activism and the literary community. But every spring, I returned to Denali, and eventually, stopped leaving. I’ve worked as an instructor and naturalist for the Denali Education Center and the Murie Science and Learning Center, worked on education projects for the Park Service, as a substitute teacher at Tri-Valley School, and as a jewelry and tortilla vendor, and the list continues to grow, but through each of these experiences I’ve learned more about the ecology, politics, and history of the park and its surroundings. I’m currently pursuing ways to continue my education as a writer, and aspire to use my skills to broaden the discussion of how we live on and tell stories about our planet. Joining DCC allows me to work for the preservation of this place which has, in many ways, shaped my life and the lives of the many inspiring people who call it home.

Staff

Julia Potter
Community Organizer
As I grew up in north central New Jersey, many a day was spent tromping through the woods and nearby swamps and creeks. From when I was very young, my mother inspired a love of all things natural–birds, plants, and animals–as well as respect for the earth and our environment. Following high school I moved to Florida and continued my love for the outdoors, hiking, and birding throughout the state. After many years of being prompted by a friend that I really should come to Alaska, I made the decision to do it. So in September 2003, I packed my car and headed out across the country. Thirteen days and about 5,000 miles later I landed in Fairbanks. In 2005 I moved to Healy to handle sled dogs. I immediately fell in love with Denali. Wanting to do more than just handle dogs, I applied for the position of Community Organizer with DCC in the fall of 2006. My life hasn’t been the same since. I now live in Cantwell with my dog Scoobie and continue to spend time doing what I’ve always done–tromp through the woods, the creeks, and now the tundra. I hope that my work with DCC will inspire others to care about and protect Denali, and the surrounding wild places I love, for future generations.

Molly McKinley
Gas Organizer
Driven by soul-searching & restlessness, I worked as a caseworker in Appalachia, built homes with Habitat for Humanity in Florida, guided tours in the Sierras and dabbled in social work and conservation across the country, before arriving in Denali in 2005.  Like so many, I was only planning to stay in Alaska for one summer.  It took me a few years to recognize that when in Alaska’s interior, the restlessness is quieted.  The magnificence of this place is satiating.  Since 2005, I have worked seasonally at Denali National Park.  Motivated by my experiences in casework in the coalfields of West Virginia where resource extraction has left a wide swath of environmental and social destruction, I completed a graduate degree in environmental studies at The University of Montana in 2007.  Against the knowledge of how poor planning can wreak havoc on rural communities, my role as DCC’s gas organizer is an exciting opportunity for me to encourage the communication, forethought, and informed community participation imperative to protecting rural places and beloved landscapes