Board of Directors

Douglas is a writer and researcher whose work is focused on the intersection of human consciousness and environmental restoration. He moved from the Sierra Nevada region of Northern California to Wyoming in 2010 and has since spent the majority of his time working up and down the Rocky Mountain corridor of Montana and Wyoming. He continues to take on volunteer field work and writing assignments for a number of environmental organizations in conjunction with his own independent writing and research. He currently lives in an off-grid camp near the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest border in Montana.

Mary grew up in the suburbs of southern Washington state, prowling local wetlands and forest plots in search of butterflies and herps. Early on, watching, forlorn and helpless, as dump trucks gradually filled in a much-loved wetland, she recognized the ongoing threats to the habitats of her favorite creatures. At age 32, tiring of city life and unable to settle on a career, she left the city with her partner, to live in a yurt in the forests of Oregon, NW Washington, and finally, Yaak, MT, while operating a tiny business manufacturing children’s wooden blocks. Here in Yaak, circa 1998, she was immediately attracted to YVFC, as the only local organization advocating the conservation of forest habitat, and served a seven year term on the board. As a board member this time around, she hopes to be of service in advancing YVFC’s mission to create a Climate Refuge, as well as in fostering a positive working relationship between board and staff.

Lauren Strohacker is a professional artist whose work emphasizes the nonhuman in an increasingly human-centric world. Born in coastal Ohio, she earned a BFA from The Ohio State University and an MFA from Arizona State University. In her site-responsive practice, Strohacker routinely consults and collaborates with wildlife/conservation organizations, artists, experts and institutions. Conceptually, her focus on wildlife and biodiversity reflects larger contexts of ecology, conservation, and politics. Her work has been described as a “brilliant gateway to these discussions about the futures of nature and humans as well as nonhumans’ places in those futures.” Strohacker is represented by Visions West Contemporary.