Staff & Board of Directors
The BCRLT Board of Directors is the governing body for the organization, and is supported by Board-designated committees which oversee conservation project selection, fund raising and outreach, financial management and human resources. Please contact BCRLT staff for more information.
BCRLT Staff
Sue McIntosh - Executive Director - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Prior to joining Black Canyon Regional Land Trust, Sue enjoyed a varied career in both the private and public sectors – all with an overriding focus on environmental, conservation and preservation issues. After earning a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Denver, Sue practiced natural resource law in Washington, DC before becoming General Counsel and Conservation Director for the New Mexico and West Texas Sierra Club. In 2003, she opened her own private legal and natural resource consulting practice with an emphasis on land use and the environment. As Environmental Coordinator for the Cornerstone community on the Uncompahgre Plateau Sue was instrumental in bringing over 3,000 acres into dedicated conservation status and demonstrating that human land use can indeed be accomplished in a way that complements and benefits the wildlife and habitat we live among.
Julie Barger - Office Manager - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Office Manager and 9 year resident of Montrose County. Julie has held several positions as Office Manager and has functioned in Public Relations work as well. She possesses a broad knowledge of real estate closings/title transactions and was a Real Estate Closer for 5 years. She has extensive customer service background and has fostered many long-term relationships in the local community with her endearing personality and genuine interest in helping people. Julie not only manages the BCRLT office, she also participates in fund raising, education, conservation and stewardship for BCRLT.
Olivia Bartlett - Stewardship Director - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Olivia Bartlett has met with nearly all of BCRLT’s 350 landowners to discuss their conservation easements and various needs. Olivia began working at BCRLT after she completed her master’s degree in science working with a land trust in central New Hampshire. Olivia’s knowledge and experience in conservation biology was accumulated over several years of working across the globe with diverse groups of conservationists. Olivia has found a home in Ridgway, CO where she can be found playing in the mountains with a huge smile on her face.
Dan Murphy - Conservation Director- .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Dan Murphy, joined us after graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in environmental science. Arriving in June, Dan joined the BCRLT team as our Land Steward conducting monitoring visits of conservation easements throughout Ouray, Delta, Gunnison, and Montrose Counties. Dan lived in Montana during the fall of 2009 and discovered a love for the conservation world after taking part in a conservation/ecology based field study program there. He has since found a passion for keeping the open landscapes of Colorado intact. Now a resident of Ouray, when not working to save land, Dan can be found climbing, snowboarding, or traveling.
2011 Board Members & Officers
Bill Bottomly - Board President
Bill Bottomly has lived, worked, and played in the Montrose, Colorado area since 1979, and has an affinity for the land. He first started working after college in 1965 for the City of Columbia, South Carolina, as a landscape architect, then the US Forest Service in South Carolina and Virginia. He moved west in 1976, working for the Bureau of Land Management in Denver, then in Montrose, where he retired in 2005 after a 40-year career in land management positions. He has a son and daughter, both living and working in Montrose. His wife, Ciel, is a mental health counselor with her own practice, The Counseling Place.
Tom McLeod - Vice President
Tom is a fourth generation rancher raised on Black Mesa and in the Crawford area. He received a degree from Texas Christian University in Ranch Management . Tom is a ranch owner that was established in 1914 and takes part in the raising of grass fed cattle. In addition, Tom is owner of Black Mesa Lodge that was established in 1978 that has a base herd of elk which produce trophy animals for hunters to pursue. His two sons Levi and Custer, the 5th generation of Mcleods, are heavily involved in the operation and will continue the legacy of his ranching lifestyle to hopefully pass on to his grandson. Tom is excited to be on the board and continue conservation in the area that his family has been and will continue to live in for years to come.
Fred Stemmler - Treasurer
A resident of Ridgway, Fred joined the Board in late 2011. Fred attend the University of California Los Angles in 1969 and finished with a degree in Economics. From there, Fred went on to receive his JD from the Univerity of Southern California and moved on to begin his career as a realestate attorney with Loeb & Loeb. His work continued, specifically focusing on redevelopment projects targeting obsolete urban regional shopping centers. Now retired, Fred is enjoying a full-time life on Hastings Mesa and is focused on conserving the Mesa his grandson will inherit.
Peggy Lyon - Secretary Peggy Lyon, our newest member, has been a Ridgway resident since 1982. For the last 17 years she has been the western slope botanist for the Colorado Natural Heritage Program at CSU, working from her home. She has been the principal investigator for numerous western slope research projects, including county-wide natural heritage surveys of ten western slope counties, rare plant surveys and monitoring projects for federal, state and local clients. She spends summers in the field (her favorite part of the job) and winters at the computer. She has a BA degree in English from the University of Washington and an MS in botany from the University of Wyoming.
Steve Smith - Board Member Steve Smith has worked all his life in the non-profit world, mostly overseas, and still continues his long-term involvement with an African social message media company that he helped establish, based in Tanzania. He also set up and ran a computer sales and service business for 15 years near Baltimore that continues today self-propelled. Steve has been in Colorado for 11 years spending most of his time on his conserved Black Mesa property. He’s a skier and loves mountain living, especially outdoors, and has two grown children and a couple wonderful grandkids.