MISSION
The mission of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch is to protect, promote, and restore healthy forests and watersheds to maintain the quality of life in the Sierra Nevada.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Trinkl, President
John Trinkl

John Trinkl 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.
Ron Szymanski, Vice President  
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.
Ron Szymanski
Alice Trinkl, Secretary
Alice Trinkl 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.
Alice Trinkl
Bunny Firebaugh, Treasurer
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.
Bunny Firebaugh
Addie Jacobson , Director

Addie Jacobson, has been an active member since the founding of the organization in 2000. She served as EPFW Vice President in the past. Addie became aware of the clearcutting issue around the time that it hit the public consciousness in June 2000 after the public meeting at Avery Middle School. Addie became  active and became involved in policy advocacy. She attended Calaveras County Water District (CC WD) and Board of Supervisor’s meetings. On her own, she went to the Supervisors and asked them to form a task force on clearcutting. Addie is well known to the Supervisors, the Board of Forestry, legislators in Sacramento, and to many of her colleagues in other conservation-minded organizations.  In addition to EPFW, Addie is involved with the CHIPS project (Calaveras Healthy Impact Product Solutions). This is a Calaveras-based group that is developing smallwood and biomass utilization solutions to employ county residents while lessening fire danger and creating healthier forests.

addie
Susan Robinson, Director
 
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 management 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 ecosystem. 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.
Susan
Dale Sanders, Director
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.
Dale Sanders
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Agata Sulczynski, JD

Agata Sulczynski, received her Juris Doctor degree from University of San Francisco as a public interest law scholar. She served on the EPFW Board of Directors from 2005 to 2007 and was the Vice President of EPFW during this time. She was the Director of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour hosted by EPFW in Calaveras County. 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. She continues to support EPFW in the area of legislative reform and as the Director of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival.

Agata_photo