Shannon Wilson (tsuga [at] efn.org) grew up in southern Oregon's Siskiyou mountains. He worked in southern Oregon as a mill worker and wildland firefighter in the late 1980's.  After being injured in the mill he attended Rogue Community College and earned an Associate of Science Degree in Forestry in 1990.

In 1991, after working for the Umpqua National Forest as an endangered species surveyor for two years, he moved to Eugene to do the same for the Eugene BLM up through 1994.  He refused gainful employment with both agencies because of unethical practices of both.

In 1995 he earned an Associate of Science Degree in Energy Management.  However, before he could get started in an Energy Management career President Bill Clinton signed the Salvage Rider (Logging Without Laws Rider) into law in 1995.  From 1995 through 2000 he worked as a full time volunteer to stop hundreds of ancient forest timber sales throughout Oregon. (However, we only managed to stop a few dozen. ) In 1998 he co-founded the Northwest Trails Project which later evolved into Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates (CEA) in 2001. In 2011 CEA became Ecosystem Advocates NW.  From 1995 to 2010 he served on the Executive Committee for the Many Rivers Group of the Oregon Chapter Sierra Club until he was ousted for being publicly critical of destructive decisons made by local politicians.  He continues to work unpaid as Co-Director of Eco Advocates NW.

 

Samantha Chirillo (samantha [at] thenice.org) grew up in the Appalachians on the outskirts of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Received a B.S. in Microbiology with a Minor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2000. She moved to Eugene in 2002 and received her M.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon in 2005. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree and Nonprofit Certificate at the University of Oregon and expects to graduate in August 2008. In 2006, she worked as a Canvasser and Phone-Banker for Cascadia Wildlands Project and the Sustainable Forestry Network.

 

Eco Advocates NW - info@eco-advocates.org