Board of Directors

Gail Wilson (President)

Gail is a graduate of UC Davis in bacteriology. She and her husband Ken have lived in Placerville on their small cattle ranch for 35 years. Ken and Gail have also run their own leather goods manufacturing company for 37 years. Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are of particular interest to Gail as well as preserving and protecting the spaces where they can flourish. She believes that the American River Conservancy is the natural place to work locally on these global issues.

Penny Humphreys (Vice President)

Penny, a native Californian, has lived in El Dorado County for over 30 years. She moved to the Rescue area to be closer to the river and mountains and to enjoy all of the seasons. She recently served one term as a County Supervisor. Penny has for several years served as a Board Member of PAWED (People for Animal Welfare in El Dorado Co.). She is a past boardmember of the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council. She spends much of her time gardening and caring for grandchildren.

Ray Pingle (Treasurer)

Ray's love for the Sierras started as a child with annual family camping vacations in Yosemite. He received his dental degree at UCLA. Recently retired, Ray has held many different kinds of executive positions in large healthcare organizations. Ray and his wife Jana moved to the Sierra foothills in 1995 and now live in Shingle Springs.

Barb Lee (Secretary)

After a career in local government management in the South Bay, Barb lives in Coloma with her husband Jeff and their dog, Bella. For several years they looked forward to the time they could turn their part time Coloma residence into their full-time home and were excited to do so in 2003. A CSU Sacramento graduate, Barb received her MPA from San Jose State University.  Barb served as a past Board Member of PAWED (People for Animal Welfare in El Dorado County). Time spent rowing a raft on a variety of Western rivers has reinforced her river and habitat conservation values and she believes strongly in ARC’s mission and goals. Barb likes a variety of outdoor activities and she’s an amateur wine maker.

Cathy Ciofalo

Cathy has a B.A. in Anthropology from University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master’s from San Jose State University in Library and Information Science. She worked for Bechtel, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey and Santa Clara County before being absorbed into the electronics industry and the information revolution in the mid ‘70s. She is now retired after 32 years of being a Business Analysis and Project Manager at Intel Corporation.

Cathy has kept up her interests in anthropology and archaeology through the years and has been on digs in Israel, Italy, England, and in the U.S. She has been involved with El Dorado Search and Rescue since 1994 and is currently on the K9, Search Management and Georgetown CERT teams. She served on the Search and Rescue Council Board of Directors as secretary and treasurer and is currently the training officer for Search Management. Cathy discovered ARC when she moved up to Garden Valley in 2001 and has delighted in the craft and local history workshops. Recently her interests have expanded to include the ARC Stream Water Quality Monitoring program at Hastings Creek, planting oaks, and assisting with the NEST programs. Cathy has a lifelong commitment to our cultural heritage and to understanding and protecting our environment.

Dale Coco

Dale is a retired physician, married with two children and one grandchild, who has lived in El Dorado County for over thirty-seven years.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in the Biological Sciences from Southern Methodist University and a Medical Doctor degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center.  He did post Graduate work at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas and Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, California.  Board Certified in Family Practice, Dale spent fifteen years in private practice in South Lake Tahoe and Cameron Park, and seventeen years with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in various locations in the Sacramento area.  Dale has been a volunteer clinical instructor at the University of California Davis.  He was also the team physician for Oak Ridge High School football and coached youth basketball and baseball.  He served as a former President of Rotary International in Cameron Park.

Currently Dale is a member of the Retired Kaiser Physician's Association.  He enjoys skiing and boating, and he reads extensively with emphasis on the Greek and Roman Classical Periods, the American Civil War, and the Middle Ages.  He also enjoys staying informed of current political, sociological, psychological and archeological advances.

Clint Collins

Clint has been a physician in private practice in Folsom for the last 20 years.   He is the medical supervisor of two free clinics sponsored by Mercy Hospital of Folsom. Clint is also a commissioner at the First 5 Commission for El Dorado County, representing the county medical society. He previously served on the board of ARC from 2001 to 2006. Clint was re-elected in 2008 after a 2-year hiatus.  

Hilary Mulligan

Hilary was born and raised in California to a third generation ranching family. She grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills and spent her childhood exploring the local woods and rivers—particularly enjoying the beauty of Desolation Wilderness. She lives in Placerville with her two children, Brooklind and Koa, and husband. Hilary has journeyed and worked in Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand, promoting organic farming and collective agriculture overseas. Her conservation career has included volunteer leadership development, environmental advocacy, and grassroots community-based initiative training. She has held positions with U.C. Berkeley Entomology Department, U.S. Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory (Missoula, MT), California Department of Fish and Game, and the Sierra Club. Hilary holds a degree in Conservation and Resource Studies from U.C. Berkeley. In 2006, she developed (and continues to manage) The Trust for Public Land (TPL) major donor travel program. It is TPL’s mission of conserving land for people that brought her to the organization in 2000.

Linda Sanford

Linda, an environmental geographer, recently retired from her post as Dean of Humanities, Language Arts and Social Sciences at Laney College, a community college in the SF East Bay. She now resides in Garden Valley where she enjoys vegetable gardening and hiking in the surrounding foothills.

Scott Underwood

Scott did his undergraduate work in Zoology, and then obtained a medical degree in Emergency Medicine. He has been a Conservancy board member since April 1995 and has also served on the Conservancy’s stewardship committee since 1997.

Scott Vail

Scott Vail was most recently a Deputy Chief for the Fire and Rescue Division of the California Emergency Mangement Agency. Scott worked in numerous aviation and fire management positions with the U.S. Forest Service for 34 years retiring as the Forest Fire Chief of the Eldorado National Forest. Currently he is a volunteer chief officer for the Garden Valley Fire Protection District.  Scott’s interest in conservation and the environment began as a Boy Scout (he is an Eagle Scout) and continued throughout his career. His interests include trail running, skiing, hiking and cycling. He has been a volunteer with the ARC working on the South Fork and other trails and as a member of the Stewardship Committee. During his tenure on the ARC Board Scott’s goals are to use his management and natural resources background to assist the ARC with habitat restoration and improvement, managing public use and maintaining the integrity of the natural systems of the Sierra Nevada.

Greg Widroe

Greg is a California native who graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Agricultural Economics. He received his MBA from Cornell University. His career has been focused on financing media and communications businesses. Greg is drawn to the American River Conservancy because of its successful and pragmatic approach to habitat preservation and environmental education. Greg brings to the Board of Directors a passion for the American River watershed and over twenty years of practical business experience.