FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pierce County Conservation Director named

Promotion, staff additions at Cascade Land Conservancy

Pierce County conservation, forest stewardship and management of grant applications will be enhanced with changes at the Cascade Land Conservancy, according to Gene Duvernoy, president of the Seattle-headquartered four-county conservation organization.

Pieter Bohen has been named Vice President – Stewardship at the CLC, where he has been Stewardship Director for the past two years.  As the head of the Stewardship Department, Bohen is responsible for the care of the land the CLC either owns or manages for itself or others under various kinds of conservation easements.

The CLC recently adopted a strategic plan that calls for CLC lands to steward to an ecological standard, the highest level possible.

Ryan Mello, former Chief of Staff for State Representative Hans Dunshee in the Washington Legislature for three years, is the new Pierce County Conservation Director for the Conservancy.  Mello also has managed and consulted on a number of political campaigns for candidates and ballot measures in the South Sound.

After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, Mello became an AmeriCorps member, serving at United Way of Pierce County.  He coordinated the Youth United Program where he implemented the first-in-the-nation “Varsity Letter in Community Service” program. Mello is also a Tacoma Parks Commissioner

Shamra Clark joined the Cascade Land Conservancy as Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager in April 2006.  She has been a part of Washington’s conservation community for more than 10 years and most recently served as Grants Manager with the Washington State office of the National Audubon Society and Outreach Director for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition.

Clark has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Western Washington University and is an Eastern Washington native.

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