Who We Are

The Southern California Mountains Foundation is a non-profit that is passionate about our mission and community. We strive to:

  • Support youth development through conservation initiatives integrating environmental education, training, and hands-on service projects;
  • Protect our natural resources through adult and family-led programming; and 
  • Provide interpretive services that focus on outdoor recreation, responsible use, and stewardship of our natural environment.

We achieve our mission by raising money, organizing critical volunteer resources, and creating and managing programs focused on health, stewardship, and sustainability of our Southern California mountains and urban “forests”.

Over the past 30 years, the use of national forests has increased while funding has dramatically declined. The Mountains Foundation works to bridge that gap and add value to our local mountains through the visitor experience. It takes the efforts of our staff and more than 700 trained volunteers to support that work.

For the past 20 years, the organization has made a critical difference, executing volunteer programs that donated 1.5 million hours of service valued at $32,685,000.00.

Donate Now to Help Protect Public Lands

Your donation will help protect Public Lands for everyone, now and for the future.

Each year our programs have a positive impact on Public Lands!

What We Have Done:

$2.1 M


Contribute 70,000 volunteer service hours amounting to $2.1M

500


Native seedlings planted and cared for on public lands

40,000


Provide naturalist guided eco-tours to over 40,000 visitors

Our History

Looking back at the last 25 years . . . The organization, founded and incorporated in 1993, was the idea of a group of stakeholders associated with the San Bernardino National Forest. With millions of recreational visitors per year and a year-round population of hundreds of thousands, the Southern California Mountains represented one of the U.S. Forest Service’s greatest challenges. At that time, meeting these recreational demands with quality services seemed beyond Forest Service resources.

The solution the stakeholders generated was to create a non-profit to support the work of the San Bernardino National Forest, assisting with the mandate for responsible recreation, undertaking conservation to safeguard the Forest’s future, and providing education that promotes stewardship. The San Bernardino National Forest Association was born.

The organization started out by interpreting the forest to visitors along off-highway vehicle trails and in historic fire lookout towers through their Off Highway Vehicle Safety and Education and Fire Lookout programs, respectively. At the same time, the National Children’s Forest was developed to engage young people.

The San Bernardino National Forest was threatened and under attack by an 8-year drought, massive infestation of the bark beetle and what began with the wildfires of 2003 followed by the devastating fires of 2006. This extreme call-to-action created a fundamental shift in their priorities from a focus on interpretive programming and natural resource protection to an on-the ground restoration team that was shovel-ready with the organizational capacity and reputation to get the job done; primarily led by youth.

Hence, the Forest Care and the Urban Conservation Corps of the Inland Empire (UCC) were launched in 2006 in response to assisting homeowners create more fire safe mountain communities and to expand their commitment to youth development. They accomplished this charter through the Urban Conservation Corps by engaging inner city and at-risk youth from both San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in conservation projects by integrating education, hands-on work and job readiness training. In the process, the organization has helped young people succeed while creating healthier and sustainable urban public lands and mountains loved by so many Southern Californians. In addition, our restoration efforts expanded the role and voice of youth at Children’s Forest in public lands management.

In 1998 the Big Bear Discovery Center was opened and co-managed with the U.S. Forest Service as a gateway to the forest through visitor services, family-oriented programming and interpretative tours and services designed to teach responsible recreation and foster a respect and appreciation for our public lands through stewardship education. In 2017 the mountains partnered with the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation and is currently undergoing a merger to add the seventh program to our portfolio that will support trail stewardship throughout the Big Bear Valley.

Over 750 volunteers support the Mountains Foundation on a year-round basis. The Foundation supports public lands and our partners through grants, corporate sponsorships, memberships, private donations and fundraisers.

Donate Now to Help Protect Public Lands

Your donation will help protect Public Lands for everyone, now and for the future.

Board

Mike Jasberg | President

Retired

Mike Mutschler | Vice President

Mike Mutschler started his professional life as a computer programmer and non-destructive testing engineer in the 80’s while in college at Cal Poly Pomona. By 1991, his entrepreneurial tendencies took over and he started a technology support company aimed at helping clients get the most out of their IT budgets. His company, Resource Computer Solutions has been doing just that ever since mostly in Southern California but all over the country as well. He knows and understands what it takes to make a small business successful.

He first got involved as a Board member for the Mountains Foundation in 2015. He was asked to serve because of his passion for the environment and for the preservation of the Big Bear Valley. He has spent a lot of his vacation time in Moonridge since he was 5 years old and continues to make Big Bear his second home. “There is nothing better than making the short drive up the hill and feeling the stress of life slowly dissolve as the sky turns more blue and the air changes to something pure.” He attributes much of his success to the ability for him and his family to get away from it all in just an hour. He believes we have to do everything within our limited power to keep the forest a place where everyone can experience the power and beauty of nature.

Eric Mart | Second Vice President

Eric R. Mart co-founded the California Land Management Services Corporation (CLM Services) in 1981. He currently serves as President. CLM Services operate commercial recreation businesses on eight National Forests as well as for a variety of other Federal, State, and local government agencies as well as private companies.

Mr. Mart currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Forest Recreation Association (NFRA), the Southern California Mountains Foundation, the Giant Sequoia National Monument Association, the California Parks Hospitality Association, and the Cal Alumni Association (University of California at Berkeley). He is a Charter Member of the California Roundtable on Recreation and Tourism. Mr. Mart has also served on the Board of Directors of the American Recreation Coalition (Washington, DC), the California Trails Foundation, and the Three Forests Interpretive Association (California).

Mr. Mart holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s degree from California State University, Hayward (CSU – East Bay).

Kevin Jaskowiak | Treasurer

Senior marketing officer with broad breadth and depth of marketing experience to both consumers (B-to-C) and enterprises (B-to-B). Specialize in developing clear, unique and compelling value propositions, which disruptively differentiate products and brands in cluttered markets. Leveraging this as a strategic foundation, I bring greater multi-channel and digital focus to product and industry marketing, lead generation, advanced analytics, Data-driven Marketing, and Customer Experience with proven results.

Dan Knapp | Secretary

Dan Knapp assumed the role of Executive Director/CEO of the Conservation Corps of Long Beach (CCLB) on February 1, 2016. Prior to joining CCLB Dan served as Deputy Director of the LA Conservation Corps. Dan worked for the LA Conservation Corps for 19 years, the past 9 years in the role of Deputy Director. He started working for the LA Conservation Corps as an environmental science teacher during the summer of 1996.

In addition to his conservation corps work, Dan sits on the board of directors of the Southern California Mountains Foundation, the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC), and the California State Conservation Corps Museum. He is an active member of both the National Forest Foundation’s Big Tujunga Treasured Landscape Coordinating Council and LA Metro’s Urban Greening Technical Advisory Committee. Dan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Geography from California State University, Long Beach. He is an ISA-certified arborist (WE-6295-A) and a lifetime member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. He currently resides in Huntington Beach with his wife Judy.

Larry Lawrence

Larry Lawrence is Nestle Waters’ Natural Resource Manager for the Southwestern United States, and he has primary responsibility for managing the numerous water resources throughout the region for long-term environmental sustainability. Larry also manages the identification, siting, licensing and development of new spring sources for the Company’s brands. Larry has worked with Nestle Waters since May 2003.

Larry graduated from California State University Fullerton with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. His work as a mechanical engineer has included processing machine design, machine automation, process water reuse projects, ground water development, conveyance and remediation over the last 18 years. Prior to joining Nestle Waters, Larry was a Senior Engineer with URS Corp in Southern California. Larry and his wife Cela enjoy traveling, riding his motorcycle, and volunteering with the Southern California Mountains Foundation.

Linda C Stevens

Linda Stevens is a Marketing, Business Development and Strategic Executive with 20 years experience driving year to year growth in the technology sector. She has experience in both global corporations and start-ups. She is a strong strategic thinker with extensive experience providing leadership and management to global teams while providing strategies for continued global growth and profit for a $1 Billion high-tech software, services and education organization with 3,000+ employees. She is noted for ability to motivate performance by fostering creativity and teamwork.

Mike Davis

Mr. Davis is a senior shareholder with over thirty-five years of experience representing businesses, individuals, and governmental clients in complex real estate and business transactions and litigation. Mr. Davis has extensive experience evaluating water rights and resources; and in water rights disputes, with an emphasis on groundwater basin adjudications and litigation. Mr. Davis provides land use guidance for water resources management under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Urban Water Management Plans, Integrated Regional Water Management Plans, Water Supply Assessments, and Proposition 218. Mr. Davis has extensive experience as general counsel to numerous county water districts and mutual water companies.

Mr. Davis has extensive experience in eminent domain and inverse condemnation proceedings, organized real estate, and the organization and representation of business entities including non-profit organizations. Mr. Davis has decades of service as general counsel to numerous county water districts, mutual water companies, local associations of California Realtors®, and large common interest developments. Mr. Davis’ dedication to his profession is equaled only by his civic involvement and commitment to community service.

Kevin K. Randolph

Mr. Randolph’s practice focuses on complex real estate, land use, receivership, and public/private economic development transactions. During his 30-year legal career, he has represented private and public clients in numerous projects involving the assembly, disposition and development of land for residential, commercial and governmental uses, including low- and moderate-income housing. Mr. Randolph’s public sector insight was acquired during 20 years of representing public agencies prior to joining Gresham Savage. Mr. Randolph is a member of the California Receivers Forum and has been appointed by the California courts as a receiver in over 150 receivership cases throughout California. Together with his team of seasoned legal and real estate professionals, he has successfully rehabilitated single-family, multi-family, and commercial projects throughout California.

Mr. Randolph sits on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Mountains Foundation, Riverside Housing Development Corporation, and SmartRiverside.

Dayan Anderson

Steve Baker

Jake Huxman

Larry Lawrence

Rusty Layton

Robert Prince

Kevin Randolph

Matt Tonkovich

Elwood York

Harald Zundel

Staff

Stacy Gorin | Executive Director

Stacy Gorin, a 10 year veteran of the Southern California Mountains Foundation has been leading the organization since October 2015. Stacy has been energized by nature since childhood and believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy the beauty, solitude and joy that connecting to nature provides.

Through her leadership, the nonprofit continues to win large-scale grants since her employment in 2006; and, created collaborative partnerships successfully advancing our environmental conservation, education and responsible recreation initiatives. Stacy previously served as Deputy Director for the Southern California Mountains Foundation from December 2012 until April 2015. Stacy joined the nonprofit in 2006, then named the San Bernardino National Forest Association, as Lead Naturalist at the Big Bear Discovery Center performing student and visitor education program, training volunteers and leading interpretive programs; moving to Discovery Center Director position in 2010 overseeing all operations and staff at the Center. The nonprofit was formed in 1992 and renamed the Southern California Mountains Foundation in concert with its 20th milestone year and celebration. It is comprised of 6 key programs and supported by 1,000 plus volunteers.

Stacy Gorin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Analysis and Design from the University California Irvine. Stacy connects to nature through her hobbies of hiking, biking, snowboarding, and rock climbing.

Juli Goss | Assistant Executive Director

Juli Goss, a Southern California native, began her career on the San Bernardino National Forest in 1996 as a Wildland Firefighter with the Forest Service. After spending 3 seasons fighting fires, Juli began working in the Forest Restoration Program where she gained experience in greenhouse management and ecological restoration. Juli began working for the Southern California Mountains Foundation in 2011 as the Restoration Program Manager and she also manages the AmeriCorps program. Juli enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and attending her children’s many sporting events.

Karl Heirl | Controller

Karl Hierl was born and raised in Bavaria/Germany. He graduated his high school in science of art, finished a 3-year apprenticeship in the architectural field and soon after received an AA degree in technology. After he experimented with his first computer in 1983 and took his first college course in spreadsheets on an American military base, he realized his passion for numbers and technology. He continued his education in accounting and was certified in the business field in accounting. When he moved to California in 1990, he continued his education in accounting, worked for a few different companies as a general manager and finally started and ran his own business from 2005 until 2013. He joined Southern California Mountains Foundation in early 2013 as an accountant and moved into the controller position in 2015.

Linda Stamer | Off-Highway Vehicle & Restoration Partnership Director

Linda Stamer majored in biology from Cal State San Bernardino and worked as a wildlife biologist performing ecological restoration for the San Bernardino National Forest for 16 years. During that time she wrote grants for the Forest Service and developed partnerships in restoration and recreation, assisting in the development of the restoration program for the Southern California Mountains Foundation. She joined the Southern California Mountains Foundation as a restoration project manager in 2014 after spending two years on the Coronado National Forest as a partnership coordinator. She now oversees the restoration and off-highway vehicle teams for the foundation and enjoys hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and skiing with her family during her time off.

Sandy Bonilla | Director of the Urban Conservation Corps of the Inland Empire

A co-founder and a 10 year veteran of the Urban Conservation Corps, Sandy Bonilla has been leading the UCC since 2006. Sandy’s interest in the development of young people started in the late 1980s when she worked under three mayoral administrations in the City & County of San Francisco for youth workforce development and later for the federal government in Washington D.C. In the late 1990s, she helped launch an AmeriCorps program at the University of Nebraska in Omaha and later returned to Southern California to work with at-risk youth in San Bernardino. Sandy’s undergraduate is in Sociology from the CSU and graduates studies in public administration from the City University of New York. She is currently working on an M.B.A. at Azusa Pacific University. Sandy has worked for the Southern California Mountains Foundation since 2007.

Ignacio Robles | Urban Conservation Corps Director of Operations 

Ignacio holds a Master of Science degree in Health Services Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the California State University of San Bernardino.

Ignacio has over 20 years of experience working in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Logistics, Transportation, Customer Services, Account Management, Human Resources, and Office Administration in the private and public sectors for large organizations such as Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Mission Foods, Sports Authority, and Home Depot.  Ignacio has extensive knowledge in performance management, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, professional development, and human resource management.  Ignacio is involved in assembling and conducting leadership and professional development-based training. He oversees the Operations Department at the Urban Conservation Corps of the Inland Empire as well as the Support Services programs.

Shane HarrisShane Harris | Fire Lookout Manager 

Shane was born and raised in New Zealand.  After High School, he joined the New Zealand Army where he served for more than 10 years. Shane was also a firefighter for a number of years, fighting both structure and vegetation fires. In 2000 he moved from New Zealand to San Diego County. Shane spent nine fire seasons with the Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA), staffing fire towers on the Cleveland National Forest, In the last six of those seasons, he served as the Training Officer and Chairperson of the FFLA, managing the lookout program and training new volunteer lookouts. Shane enjoys the outdoors, he is an archeological site steward for the California State Parks in the Anza Borrego Desert and enjoys hiking and primitive camping.

Angel Mariscal | Urban Conservation Corps Conservation Manager 

Angel’s passion for nature led him to complete his degree in Environmental Studies at  California State University San Bernardino in 2016.  That same year he started with the UCCIE as a Corpsmember, eventually being promoted to a Crew Supervisor, then Restoration Coordinator, and now Conservation Manager. Over the last four years, the UCCIE has encouraged and cultivated his interest in the care and restoration of our local forest.  He thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to provide the same education and encouragement to others at the UCCIE. He currently manages several supervisors and crew leads with years of experience and the dedication to make a difference in our community. Together we are committed to learning, growing, and working hard every day to accomplish the mission of the Urban Conservation Corps

 

Wayne McIlroy | Urban Conservation Corps Recycling Manager 

Wayne joined SCMF in 2019. He has been a resident of California his entire life. His work experience is in management, customer service, and operations. He has 16yrs in the restaurant industry as a General Managing with Domino’s Pizza Restaurants and 13yrs in Recycling with EarthWize and RePlanet Recycling in beverage containers, as an Area Supervisor. He is also involved in youth sports where he volunteers on the Board of Directors as Vice President for Desert Aquatics in the High Desert area.

Gaby Nunez | Urban Conservation Corps Support Services Manager 

Gaby Nunez born and raised in San Bernardino California has spent much of her working life in youth advocacy and has a passion for social justice. She has a degree in sociology from Cal State San Bernardino.

Her resume and work experience include social-economic research with Rand Institute and Chapin Hall/ Chicago University. She has been involved in research projects in various states including Illinois, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and California. 

As a Support Services Manager Currently at UCCIE Gaby enjoys helping others change their perspective on what their future can hold through education, nature, and motivation.  

She currently oversees all education phases of UCCIE including environmental education, life skills, and other active educational programs. Her passion for seeing others succeed and taking care of Mother Nature makes a great match for her current role which she is very passionate about!

Other passions include hiking, managing her vintage shop, and volunteering in her community.

Duvonne Easley | Urban Conservation Corps Fleet, and Warehouse Manager

Duvonne Easley was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He started conservation work at the age of 15 with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC) Clean & Green Program. He continued his work in the conservation field by becoming an adult corpsmember and advanced his career where he was promoted to Assistant crew lead and supervisor in a short period of time. During his time at LACC, he was involved in various beautification projects around the greater Los Angeles Area and for his time he was awarded the Russell Kantor Education Scholarship as well as an AmeriCorps award to further his education. He went on to the College of Southern Nevada and transferred to Victor Valley College where he became a certified Automotive Mechanic, licensed Smog Tech, and studied in the Criminal Justice field. After college, he worked as an armed security guard in the Las Vegas area where he responded to alarm responses, and emergency situations when dispatched. He advanced to the rank of Lieutenant and loved to help and resolve issues within his community. While there he realized that he has a profound passion and commitment to helping the challenged youth within urban areas and went back to working in the conservation field with Kern Service And Conservation Corps (KSACC) where he was the lead supervisor. With his time there he became a California State Parks Certified Trails Maintenance Expert.  All of his experiences led up to him accepting a position within the Southern California Mountains Foundation, Urban Conservation Corps where he is currently working for the last 8 years. In his leisure time, he enjoys the outdoors, restoring classic cars, and spending time with family and friends.  

Malcolm Cade | Urban Conservation Corps Indio Site Manager 

Malcolm has lived in California for his whole life. He has only left the state twice. Malcolm started at the Corps as a corpsmember around 2012. He worked on numerous projects however spike is where he started to flourish. He became a supervisor of a lot of the spike crews for the next few years. In 2015 we opened the new Indio shop, that’s when he was given the opportunity to become the Manager of that site. He moved out to Coachella Valley and has been helping build our Indio site for the last few years.

 

Mike Casares | Off-Highway Vehicle Program Manager

Mike has lived in Southern California his entire life. Much of his free time is spent enjoying the San Bernardino National Forest. Combining this with his work schedule it is safe to say he is in the forest right now. He is known for getting the job done efficiently and safely, all while having fun doing so. His passion for nature has landed him in the position of working with others who love and enjoy the outdoors as much as he does.

Jennifer Prado | Indio UCC Site Director 

Jennifer Prado was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. After admission to the California State Bar in 1997, Jen moved to the Coachella Valley. After 5 years as a Public Defender in Indio, she left the practice of law and worked as a commercial real estate broker and appraiser for several years until she reconnected her career with her lifelong passion for environmental conservation. She spent the past 10 years working with Friends of the Desert Mountains in land conservation and environmental education in the Coachella Valley. In that role, she had the opportunity to work closely with UCC crews on many projects and was consistently awed and inspired by the work of the Corps. Jen is excited to lead our Indio UCC office to the next level and beyond.

Lisa Underwood | Restoration Manager

Lisa really enjoys working with people in the outdoors, doing the hard work, enjoying the science of habitat restoration, and seeing people from all walks of life enjoying nature together. She worked at various camps in Forest Falls, Barton Flats, and Mammoth Lakes which sparked her love for the mountains and her enthusiasm for sharing outdoor experiences with others.

She has had an array of jobs leading up to Project Coordinator such as Forest Service wildlife tech, backpacking instructor, bat lady, and spelunking guide. She graduated from California State University, San Bernardino, with a BA in Environmental Studies, and attended Humboldt State for a year where she learned to key plants and about humidity. She and her husband love to hike, backpack, drywall and are in search of the perfect paella.

Bonnie Hunt | Grants Compliance Manager

Bonnie is a lifelong resident of Southern California who recently relocated to the Inland Empire. After several years working in accounting for for-profit corporations, she began seeking a position that would be a bit more meaningful and allow her to contribute to a cause she believed in. Working with a non-profit organization focused on helping young people as well as public lands and local communities seemed like a perfect fit, so she happily joined the Southern California Mountains Foundation team in 2019. Bonnie has since embraced the change and challenge of taking on the role of Grants Compliance Manager and hopes to continue to expand her knowledge and grow with the organization.

Melinda Herrera | Restoration Project Coordinator

Melinda Herrera was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She has always had a love and passion for nature since she was a child. She was given the chance to work for the Urban Conservation Corps in 2018 and was able to grow out of her shell as well as gain tons of knowledge by gettings hands-on experience with fencing, slashing, seed collecting, and much more and variety of places she’s never been before such as Baldy Mesa, Lytle Creek, Deep Creek, etc. She was fortunate enough to be a part of the first bilingual naturalist class at the UCC and receive a certification. Melinda was later on promoted at the Urban Conservation Corps as crew lead and shortly after supervisor. As Supervisor she was able to share her love and knowledge of the outdoors with newly hired corpsmembers and become a role model as well as someone they could confide in. She is now working with the SCMF monitoring all front country areas and leading conservation crews in many projects to help protect the beautiful national forest in hopes to teach others about the importance of conserving our land. Melinda loves to spend time with friends and family, enjoys walking her dogs, helping others, and watching scary movies.

 

Andrea Mendoza | HR & Payroll Coordinator 

Andrea Mendoza is from Colton,CA. She studied at Cal State San Bernardino where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. During her studies, she enjoyed volunteering locally at places such as the Humane Society of San Bernardino and Feeding America Riverside|San Bernardino. She also spent some time working for the California Department of Food and Agriculture as a Pest Prevention Assistant. Andrea was able to join her career, love of nature, and devotion to helping the community when she started working with SCMF. She started out as a corpsmember in 2018 and after being given the opportunity to work as a junior admin assistant, she worked her way up to her current position as the HR & Payroll coordinator. She loves the mission of this organization and its positive impact on the local community.

 

Connie Alvarado | Bookkeeper

Connie Alvarado was born and raised in Southern California. After years of working in customer service, Connie decided to go back to school and get her degree. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University Monterey Bay. She began with SCMF in 2021 and is excited to be a part of an organization that does so much for its community.

Lizzet Pineda 

Lizzet is passionate about the outdoors and connecting her community with nature. She attended CSU San Bernardino where she graduated with a dual degree in Environmental Studies and Geography with a concentration in Global Studies and certification in GIS. She has interned with the National Park Service creating story maps and doing community outreach. She has also worked in the private sector as a program assistant doing community outreach for easier access to public transportation. Soon after she decided to return to San Bernardino and help her own community and began working with the Urban Conservation Corps. While at the UCC she helps train our corpsmembers to become educators in their own communities and teach the community how to be more environmentally friendly by recycling and doing guided tours in the mountains. During Lizzet’s free time she likes to visit botanical gardens, bake, travel, and look at sloth memes. 

 

Donate Now to Help Protect Public Lands

Your donation will help protect Public Lands for everyone, now and for the future.

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