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A BIT ABOUT THE OFFICERS OF MARINWATCH:

By Dave Mitchell, Correspondent

It is well that Marinwatch has been able to attract an impressive group of civic leaders to serve as officers, for the goals of our group are challenging. Marinwatch�s success in part depends on our having officers who are knowledgeable, thoughtful, and familiar with the paths through the labyrinths of government.

    As we note in our mission statement, Marinwatch is a nonprofit, public-benefit corporation established in 2001. Our purpose is to provide information and generate public discussion about what may be happening to public land and waters in Marin County. The focus of our organization differs slightly from some other environmental groups in that we are also working to ensure that Marin�s cultural heritage receives protection along with its environmental heritage.

    President: Barbara Ravizza. Barbara for years has shown an impressive commitment to improving the lives of underprivileged children. For eight years she helped care for children in East Palo Alto while their mothers took part in a support group for Single Women of Color. Barbara continues to advise the group, now called Hand in Hand, and with her husband acts is one of its benefactors. In addition, Barbara has created an endowment at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland to allow three or four high school students to study art for a month during summer vacations. For 40 years, Barbara was a graphic designer, working as in-house designer for various publishing companies until about 10 years ago. Since then she has donated graphics to support organizations ranging from the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto; Summer Search, a program for at risk youth in San Francisco; the new Bolinas Firehouse and Health clinic project, for which she designed the logo; and most recently for Marinwatch, for which she re-designed the website.

    Vice President: Scott Tye, a resident of Stinson Beach, is well known along the Marin coast where he worked 22 years for the State Department of Recreation and the National Park Service, including as a ranger. Years ago, Scott was a lifeguard in Stinson Beach, and more than a few people owe their lives to him. For the past 10 years, Scott has operated a kayak business in Stinson Beach. In his student days at UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Pomona, and Long Beach State, Scott was active in student affairs, and he still is an advocate for individual participation in establishing public policies. His primary goal for Marinwatch is for it to provide a �clearinghouse and public forum for people to express their concerns regarding operation of the state and federal parks in Marin.�

Vice Presidents: Biographical information for Vice Presidents Pat Shea and Jane Woodman, both from Sausalito, will be posted in the near future.

    Secretary: John Lowe. Marinwatch is indeed fortunate to have John�s counsel, for his distinguished career has highlighted his talents for leadership, scholarship, and research. Now an independent consultant, John was formerly vice president for �language engineering� and was chief linguist at Ask Jeeves Inc. (an online question-and-answer system). For approximately seven years, John was a researcher at UC Berkeley, where he earned his doctorate in Linguistics in 1995. He received his bachelor�s degree, also in linguistics, from Yale in 1977. John has lived in the Philippines, Thailand, and India, as well as the United States, and can communicate in an amazing array of languages. Although a native speaker of English, he is reasonably fluent in French and Hindi-Urdu, can carry on basic conversations in Spanish and Portuguese, and retains �rusty reading skills� in Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Old English, Dutch, Brahmi, Kharosthi, Burmese, and Tibetan. He�s also a hiker, a sailor, and a pilot.

    Chief Financial Officer: Judith Teichman. Judith brings to Marinwatch the expertise of an attorney, an appreciation of cultural history that comes from years of museum-related work, and a knowledge of West Marin�s backcountry, having spent 30 years on the coast as a horsewoman. She is a retired public law and museum/art attorney and museum administrator. She has served on the boards of several small nonprofits, ranging from the Southeast Asian Community Center to the Marin Horse Council to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art. As an attorney, outdoorswoman, and museum administrator, Judith fully understands the obligation of the Point Reyes National Seashore and neighboring parks to preserve West Marin�s cultural heritage � along with its nature. The parks� �cultural and recreational and natural resources,� she says, need to remain �accessible � particularly to a diverse urban audience.� As West Marin�s parks continue to evolve, Judith believes that �communities impacted by the parks need to work together to preserve their rural-community values.�

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Marinwatch Board encourages the participation and involvement of others who support the purposes and goals of Marinwatch.org. In particular, the Board is very pleased to welcome Dave Mitchell as a Marinwatch correspondent. Former editor and publisher of the Point Reyes Light, Dave is now a columnist for the online Bodega Bay Navigator.

More specifically, all members of the public are welcome to participate in the Marinwatch blog. If you are interested in initiating a new blog, send your idea from your email program to mail@Marinwatch.org, using �blog� in the subject line. If you are interested in assisting with research, writing, or simply brainstorming regarding the content and future of Marinwatch.org, either go to the �Contact Us� page and submit the form, or send your contact information along with a brief description of your interest directly to mail@Marinwatch.org.

To date, Marinwatch.org has focused on management of the lands in Marin County that constitute the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This will likely continue as both the PRNS and the GGNRA have begun work on updating the 1980 General Management Plan for the lands they manage. Nevertheless, Marinwatch volunteers and visitors to the website are encouraged to post and exchange information about other public land in Marin County, land that is not part of the Point Reyes National Seashore or the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.