Orient Land Trust
                                   Valley View Hot Springs
                                   Email: info@olt.org

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Suzanne Ewy - Executive Director

Suzanne is a naturalist and environmentalist born and bred here in Colorado. She is a fourth generation Coloradan, all of them environmentalists, naturalists, and died-in-the-wool outdoors-folk. Her life has followed that trajectory ever since. College was science, graduate school was law, post graduate school was environmental law. She has worked in both the private and public sectors, here in Colorado and in Alaska, working for other environmental attorneys, owning her firm for years and working for government organizations. Suzanne loves the history of can-do spirit and innovation that is found at VVHS and OLT and feels that if we are going to solve the world's environmental issues, we are going to have to do it through a combination of technology, science, business, spirituality and our natural connection to the Earth... and Orient Land Trust is a great place to make that happen!

 

Neil Seitz - Project Manager

Neil Seitz, cofounder of Orient Land Trust, was born in Minnesota in 1954. Neil first visited the San Luis Valley in 1972 and studied architectural engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder from January 1973 through December 1974.  Before becoming Executive Director of Orient Land Trust, he operated Valley View Hot Springs for twenty-nine years. He lives at Orient Land Trust with his wife Terry. He has experience in designing and constructing buildings and alternative energy projects.  Neil has served on the Saguache County Planning Commission and on numerous local boards. 

Terry Seitz - Office Manager

Terry, cofounder of Orient Land Trust, has resided in the San Luis Valley since 1976. Before joining the staff of OLT she, along with her husband Neil, owned and operated Valley View Hot Springs. She served for many years on the Supervisory Committee of the Saguache County Credit Union, and received the Colorado Credit Union League's Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997. She has also been active in the Villa Grove Area Merchants Association since its founding in 1987.

Doug Bishop is a native of Colorado, born in La Junta in 1950. He moved to the San Luis Valley, Saguache County and was caretaker for property at Major Creek, three miles south of Valley View Hot Springs, from 1973 to 1980. His children, Kestrel and Alan, were born there. He first visited Valley View Hot Springs in March of 1973. In 1980, he moved to ten acres, originally part of the homestead that became Valley View Hot Springs, and built a house. For the past four years he's been building a new house on the property. He conducted recreational horseback rides in the area around the hot springs from 1984 to 2002. In 1984, he started working as a part-time ski instructor at Monarch Ski Area. He attained PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) Level II certification in 1991, PSIA Children's Accreditation in 1992, and PSIA Level III certification in 1993. He was selected Colorado Ski Country USA's Ski Instructor of the Year for the 1992-93 ski season. His seasonal full-time employment for Monarch began in 1988, and in 2001, he completed his eighth and final season as manager of the Monarch Children's Center. In 2003 Doug received a BA degree in Elementary Education from Adams State College. He taught second grade at Jewell Elementary in Aurora for the 2003-04 school year. For the 2004-05 school year, he worked as a teacher's aide for the Title I program in Saguache, Colorado at Mountain Valley Schools. For the 2005-06 school year, he worked as the classroom teacher for a combined classroom of third and fourth graders in Saguache at Mountain Valley Elementary.

Doug has worked off and on for Valley View Hot Springs since 1975. Some of the Valley View projects he has assisted with include: Oak House remodel and upstairs dormitory addition, cabin repair and remodeling projects, Sunset Rooms construction, bath house construction, swimming pool reconstruction, stone retaining wall around swimming pool, soaking pools reconstruction, hydroelectric plant installation and upgrade, pipelines, housing, cleaning, maintenance, and registration/office duties. Doug is interested in maintaining the open space characteristic of the area, enjoying and promoting clothing optional policies, and preserving the existing natural and historical resources of the neighborhood that has been his home since 1973.

Mike Blevins - Vice-Chairperson (Term expires 2013)

Long time visitor and friend of Orient Land Trust, Mike Blevins has lived and worked in Maryland, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Colorado over his career. Having also travelled extensively around the world, Mike keeps returning to Colorado as the quintessential American West and understands the need for land preservation and the need protect natural places for solitude, escape and meditation.

With a career that ranged from journalism to transportation management to information systems development, Mike primarily worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation in safety management, law enforcement, state grant administration, statistical analysis and information systems. His major career accomplishment was in pioneering the use of laptop computers and developing custom software that allowed both Federal and State Field agents to greatly enhance safety inspections and audits.

Long an outdoorsman, Mike has an extensive background with backpacking, hiking, camping, skiing, canoeing, rafting, sailing, and scuba diving. He also worked as a journalist for outdoors publications and led adventure groups and photo workshops on outdoors photography. Mike's present company, Passing Image, does website design and photography training.

Mike has worked with Orient Land Trust as a volunteer camp host, discovery host, and bat host.

John Eiseman - Treasurer (Term expires 2012)

John first moved to Colorado with his family in the 1950s. He was exposed to the beauty of the state from an early age during innumerable camping, climbing, and skiing trips with his parents, and has been a permanent resident since 1971. He has had a life-long passion for exploration, having worked and traveled extensively in Central and South America and the South Pacific. Among his other interests are history, scuba diving, horseback riding, and good old-fashioned ranch work.

He earned his BA in Economics from Stanford University and his MBA in Finance from the University of Denver. Professionally, he has worked in the area of Finance and Treasury in several different industries over the past 30 years. These include experiences in the securities industry, healthcare, natural gas distribution, and homebuilding. Currently, he serves as Director of Finance for KB Home in Denver.

John's first extensive exposure to the San Luis Valley came in 1979 when his family purchased the old Abeyta Ranch on Major Creek, two miles south of Valley View Hot Springs along the Sangre de Cristo Range. For the past 26 years, John's family has worked tirelessly to maintain the old West charm of the family ranch while preserving the natural beauty and robust wildlife habitat of Major Creek.

Dan Jones - President / Chairperson (Term expires 2013)

Dan Jones was born and raised on a dairy farm in Shelton, Connecticut. The dairy herd was sold when he was 10 and Christmas trees took over as the primary crop. His older brother added pick your own strawberries, blueberries and pumpkins to the mix. He knew a rural, earth-connected childhood and ran his own bedding plant greenhouse operation starting at age 13. He has a degree in landscape horticulture from Michigan State University.
Dan moved to Denver in 1981 and worked extensively in the graphic arts field as a typographer. He simultaneously worked part-time at a major garden center which he took over management of in 1991. In 1995 he left to open his own retail store, Wild Flowers in Denver's Congress Park neighborhood. In 2006 he sold the nature and garden oriented gift store to return to his roots with a focus on landscaping work.

Other interests include mountain biking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, backpacking, home gardening and raising much of his own food. He has been a vegetarian for 30 years and is diligent in doing all he can to reduce his footprint on the earth. Mother Nature is Dan's avenue for spiritual fulfillment and he's at peace when immersed in her beauty. He has found no place closer to Mother Nature than at Valley View. He is thrilled to be a part of the team helping to preserve the acreage, vistas and waters of the northern San Luis Valley in a naturist setting.

 

Harold Pratt - (Term expires 2013)

Harold has lived in Colorado since 1959 and has been a member of Valley View since it became a membership organization in the mid 1970s. He is a private consultant working in all areas of science education having retired from the Jefferson County School District in 1991. He has had extensive administrative and curriculum development experience at the local and national levels. From 1994 until July 1999, he was the Director of Science Projects in the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education at the National Research Council (NRC) in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the Center, he directed the revision of Science for Life and Living, an elementary science curriculum at the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in Colorado Springs, Colorado. From October 1992 to December 1994, he served as a Senior Program Officer at the National Research Council in Washington, DC during the development of the National Science Education Standards. From 1986 to 1991 he was the Executive Director of Curriculum for the Jefferson County (CO) Public Schools. Prior to that, he served the district as the Science Coordinator for 23 years. He has co-authored or directed the development of three science textbooks, a book on educational leadership, and published numerous articles and book chapters. He served as president of the 55,000 member National Science Teachers Association in 2000-2001. In addition to his wife Norby, his family includes three grown sons and seven grandchildren.

Paul Zoric - (Term expires 2012)

Paul was born and raised in the city of Chicago, and attended the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign where he graduated in 1982 with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and from DePaul University in Chicago in 1987 with an MBA specialized in Operations Management. Paul's career has been focused on several "firsts," including the first cell phone (yes, that Motorola brick), the first DSL circuit and the first Voice Over IP service platform. Paul also is a veteran of the automotive and medical equipment industries and is currently employed as a Supply Chain professional at a mobility device company in the Boulder area. Paul has travelled extensively internationally during his career, offering him unique perspectives. Paul has been an active member and volunteer with the Sierra Club along with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Trout Unlimited. Paul has also been active with political campaigns in Northern Colorado. Paul is a dedicated and knowledgeable environmentalist and naturalist, having studied at the Smithsonian Institute and USDA. Paul resides in Mead with his wife, Marge, and their two labs. In his free time, Paul likes to spend his time in Colorado's high country hiking, skiing and fly fishing.

Jessica was born and raised in Villa Grove, and now lives at EarthArt Village (earthart.org). Along with her love of quiet rural living, she loves working with non-profits and with her family in the Villa Grove Trade café, coffeehouse, inn and general store. She manages the VGT, is the board secretary for the Saguache County Sustainable Environment and Economic Development group, ScSEED (scseed.org), is an associate in the fundraising and development firm Smoyer & Associates (smoyerandassociates.com), and is the president of the Villa Grove Area Merchants Association (VGAMA). Since she grew up in the Soaking Pond (a.k.a. Party Pool), sheÂ’s especially happy to now be a member of the OLT Board.

Jessica received her Political Science B.A. from Colorado State University in 2005. Her final semester was aboard the U.S.S. Explorer with the Institute for Shipboard Education program that took her around the world in 100 days. On this trip, she was introduced to Vietnam where she later spent one year teaching English and traveling around SE Asia. She feels that Ho Chi Minh City, while amazing, taught her the true value of clear air and water and the need to return to the paradise where she grew up, and devote herself to Saguache County. These experiences and more have solidified her unyielding belief in 'acting locally, thinking globally,’ however she now feels that what may be even more important in our time is to think locally, act globally.’ She looks forward to participating in OLT's mission and helping to educate our guests on the value of localization.