Email the board chairperson with any questions and comments for the board. Individual board members can be contacted directly with the links below.
See Board of Directors Position Description below and Board Meetings for more information.
All officers are elected at the annual meeting in July.
If you are interested in serving on the Board, please submit a letter of interest and resume to the Board Development Committee, Orient Land Trust, PO Box 65, Villa Grove, CO 81155 or email to the Governance Committee chairpersons. Please highlight your experience with nonprofits (including volunteer boards), fundraising, finance, work on committees, volunteerism, familiarity with OLT, your interests and expertise that you can bring to the board, and the reasons you want to be its newest member. Candidates for the Board of Directors will be asked to attend one meeting prior to being interviewed by the Board Development Committee. Committee work is also strongly encouraged prior to serving on the board.
Not Pictured: Board Member Scott Hamilton. Pictured: Former Board Member Sarah Halliday Resigned 08/12/23 After This Picture Was Taken in July.
Officers |
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Douglas Bishop - Executive Director (email) 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. |
Board of Directors |
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Roger Courtemanche - Board Chairperson (Term expires 2025) (email)
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Jon Florey - Vice Chairperson (Term expires 2024) (email) Jon was born in South Dakota. He moved away from that state in the early 1990’s to begin his professional career in sales and marketing and lived in Chicago, Dallas, Tampa, and few other places during this time. After the terror attacks of 9-11-2001 he joined the United States Air Force (USAF). During his 4-year tenure in the USAF he was based at Croughton Royal Air Force Base in the United Kingdom, England. He served 3 years overseas and, for his last year, he served at Hanscom, Air Force Base near Boston, MA. He left the USAF as a Captain and moved to Steamboat, CO eventually ending up living in the burbs of Denver. Jon has a Master’s degree in Information Systems and started a towing company in Denver in 2011. He met his husband, Aaron, in 2007 and whom introduced him to Valley View Hot springs in 2009 and they have been members ever since. Aaron and Jon now live in Golden, CO where they own a small business. They enjoy snowboarding in the beautiful Rocky Mountains that surround them and, of course, visiting Valley View as much as possible. When asked, “What do you love about Valley View and why are you on the Board of Directors?”, Jon says, “Let’s just say this, if more people were like the people that are members of Valley View Hot Springs and Orient Land Trust, out in the real world, we could fix everything…outside of the magic of the land and water…the people are what make this place special. I’m honored and blessed to be able to be a small part of it.”
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Patrick Comiskey - Treasurer (Term expires 2025) (email) Bio coming soon.
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Scott Hamilton - Secretary (Term expires 2024) (email) Scott Hamilton's first experience with Valley View Hot Springs was in the early 80's, before the first bathhouse was built, when his girlfriend (now wife) Rachel suggested a visit to this cool place in the northern San Luis Valley "where you don't wear any clothes – anywhere". Always a naturist at heart, he was intrigued and then charmed by the magic of Valley View. He visited sporadically during the 80's, but after the first boy was born in the early 90's, visits accelerated. Soon two more boys were added to the roster (identical twins) and all three learned to swim in the Valley View swimming pool. Camping and swimming and diving for baubles in the party pool – ahem – "soaking pond" -- what's not to like? Scott and Rachel and kids loved the family-friendly atmosphere, rustic setting and clothing-optional environment found nowhere else.
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Mike Allen - (Term expires 2026) (email) Mike has enjoyed Valley View Hot Springs for over 25 years. It’s a remarkable place in the Northern San Luis Valley. He wants to support all of the OLT mission as a Board member and to keep the spirit of this unique area so visitors can enjoy the land trust because of the many magically features: pleasant hot springs, magnificent sunsets, extraordinary bat flights, amazing heavenly views from the OLT telescope and the friendly people at Valley View Hot Springs. Mike enjoys getting outdoors and participating in mountain biking, cycling and hiking. He has spent 20+ years in the technology industry and over five years volunteering for non-profits, 501(c)3. Mike looks forward to visiting with members at Valley View Hot Springs.
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Susan Hicks - (Term expires 2025) (email)
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Bill Moench - (Term expires 2026) (email) Bill grew up in Iowa with a family that vacationed in Colorado and the west nearly every year.After attending music school at UNC in Greeley, he became a public school band director for six years. He then went to law school in St. Louis, and became a trial lawyer over the next thirty-five years, specializing in employment discrimination and other civil rights cases on behalf of employees. He first discovered the peace and freedom of Valley View on a solo vacation from St. Louis during a rough patch in his personal life, and was hooked. After moving to Denver to work for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2009, he was able to visit Valley View more often. He retired from trial work in 2015, and started volunteering as a camp host. He has continued hosting every year, and became a board member in 2022 in hopes of contributing to the legacy and positive direction of the Orient Land trust.
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Allegra Torres - (Term expires 2026) (email) Allegra grew up in Maine and graduated with a degree in Geology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Her career is focused in Conservation, specifically trails. She has worked for several state, government and non-profit organizations in Maine, North Carolina, Colorado and California and is currently the Trails Manager on the Pike San Isabel National Forest with the Forest Service. Her love for Orient Land Trust has grown throughout the years and she is usually volunteering as a camp host. |
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Vacancy - (Term expires 2027)
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Advisory (non-voting) Board |
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Terry Seitz - Consultant and Cofounder (email) 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.
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Neil Seitz - Cofounder 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.
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John Eiseman 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.
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Harold Pratt
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Kirk Navo, Bat Biologist
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Don & Kathy Geddes
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