Luther Propst founded the Sonoran Institute in 1991 and served as executive director until December 2012. Under Luther’s leadership, the Institute grew into what High Country News called “a regional conservation powerhouse with 50 employees and a $6 million budget.” With seven offices in the Intermountain West and Northwest Mexico, the Institute worked with partners to conserve the West’s public lands, promote sustainable and efficient land use and community development policies, better manage water and rivers, and reform energy policies – the core issues that define how the West is growing and changing.
Previously, Luther worked for World Wildlife Fund in Washington DC, and practiced law, where he represented local governments, landowners, and organizations nationwide in land-use matters. Luther received his law degree and master’s in regional planning, as well as his undergraduate degree, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Luther has co-authored three books, including Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities, published by Island Press. In addition, Luther serves on the boards of the George B. Storer Foundation, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Center for Jackson Hole (the SHIFT summit), the International Mountain Bicycling Association, the Southwest Council of the National Parks Conservation Association, and chairs the Outdoor Alliance. Luther lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He enjoys exploring the mountains, deserts, canyons, and rivers of the West and beyond. |
Jonathan Schechter is the Founder & Executive Director of the Charture Institute, a Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based think tank focused on growth, change, and sustainability in Places of Ecological and Aesthetic Significance (PEAS). He is also the Founder and Executive Director of 1% for the Tetons, a member-funded organization providing leadership and financial support to innovative conservation projects in the greater Tetons region. His consulting firm, Summit Management Consulting, offers a variety of consulting services to senior management, including strategy formulation/implementation, market research, and economic analysis. He is also a frequent lecturer of economic and social change in the northern Rockies, which include speaking engagements at previous Mountain Town and Resort Planner’s Summits. He is also the publisher of Compass, an annual report of economic development activity in Jackson Hole and the surrounding region. Jonathan holds a B.S. in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public and Private Management from Yale University.
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Anna Trentadue is the Program Director & Staff Attorney for Valley Advocates for Responsible Development (VARD), a 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for responsible land use planning in Teton Valley, Idaho/Wyoming. During her 10 years at VARD, she has authored several well-known academic research papers in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Use Policy and the Sonoran Institute, including Arrested Developments: Combating Zombie Subdivisions and Other Excess Entitlements published in 2014. In 2013, she successfully argued an annexation challenge filed by the citizens of Tetonia, Idaho which went for review before the Idaho Supreme Court, reversing a controversial land use decision that was the precursor to residential development in globally-significant wetlands. In 2015, she was the course instructor for Rural Real Estate Supply and Marketability, a continuing education course for Idaho and Wyoming realtors. Anna has also been an instructor for several courses offered at the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's annual conference at the University of Denver School of Law. Prior to VARD, Anna practiced transactional water law in Boise, Idaho. Anna holds a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. in Biology from Colorado College.
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top photo courtesy of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort