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2011 Workshop 2: Dreaming the Salinas

The second workshop will feature Coke Hallowell, president of the Board of Directors of the San Joaquin River Parkway & Conservation Trust, and Sharon Weaver, Deputy Director, who will talk about their successes in not only restoring miles of land along the San Joaquin River for animal habitat and recreational use, but also lobbying for increased releases from Friant Dam to restore fisheries and spawning grounds in the river. Also in the second workshop will be Michael Warburton, Executive Director of the Public Trust Alliance, who will talk about the toolbox available to concerned citizens to get a project like this off the ground in SLO and Monterey Counties.

Presenter Bio:
Coke Hallowell is a founding member of the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust, and served as President of the Board of Directors for 20 years.She has recently been elected to the new board officer position, Chairman of the Board. As Chairman, Coke will focus on outreach and development for the Trust. Coke began her career teaching remedial reading for ten years in the Sanger Unified School District; she was later elected and served two terms on the State Center Community College District, and then on the board of the State Center Foundation for 17 years. She has been active in community organizations such as the National Parks Conservation Association, The Fresno Arts Council, the U.C. Merced Foundation, The Downtown Fresno Coalition and Revive the San Joaquin. Coke currently serves on the boards of the Planning and conservation League Foundation and the California Council of Land TrustsShe has been the recipient of numerous awards including the YWCA Business and Professional Women of the Year, the Fresno Arts Council Horizon Award, the NSFRE Outstanding Philanthropist and Volunteer Fund Raiser, received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from California State University Fresno (2002), and in 2005 she was selected by the Jefferson Awards Board to receive the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for "Outstanding Community Service Benefiting Local Communities."

Presenter Bio:
Sharon Weaver has a degree in political science from the University of California at Davis. She joined the Trust in 1999 and has implemented a variety of major projects including the extension of the Lewis S. Eaton Trail to the River Center and habitat enhancement at Jensen River Ranch. Sharon is responsible for developing and managing capital improvement projects with public and private partners and overseeing the Trust’s land and trails program. When she’s not working, Sharon can usually be found outdoors with her horses and Border Collie.

Presentation File: Sharon Weaver - The San Joaquin River Parkway & Conservation Trust
Creating and protecting the San Joaquin River Parkway (PDF)

Presenter Bio:
Michael Warburton is Executive Director of The Public Trust Alliance, a non-profit project dedicated to defending public trust resources and heritage - things like air, water and certain public places. Co-author of the recently republished Uncertainty on a Himalayan Scale, he was a member of the Scientific Staff at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria, advising United Nations Agencies on appropriate solutions to deforestation of the Himalayan foothills. A member of the founding Steering Committee of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, he has long been interested in the interplay between social equity and access to shared resources. In younger years, he explored the boundaries of personal trust as a member of several International Mountaineering expeditions and rock climbing exchanges, including the first Soviet-American ascent of the face of El Capitan in 1975 and a 1976 Soviet-American expedition to the Pamir and Tien Shan in Central Asia. He studied Political Economy of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley and also has a law degree from the same campus.

Presentation File: Michael Warburton - Tools for River Makers (PDF)

People interested in these workshops may also want to look at the River Cities Workshop and

Workshop 2: Dreaming the Salinas
Casestudy: San Joaquin River Restoration