Editor’s note: A standing ovation to ForestWatch for honoring 16 local extraordinary women during Women’s History Month. Visit their website for full descriptions and photos: https://lpfw.org/women-leaders-of-central-coast-public-lands/
By Los Padres ForestWatch
This March, Los Padres ForestWatch honored sixteen extraordinary women who—through actions large and small—have played a leading role in protecting public lands and waters throughout California’s central coast region.
Their stories inspire us and remind us that strength, determination, and tenacity are some of the best tools we can use to protect and defend the places we love.
And what do you know, some are/were Sierra Club members, notably Anne Van Tyne and Kathleen Goddard Jones (see below). Many others worked with the Sierra Club and may have been members.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and it focuses specifically on groundbreaking work protecting public lands and waters. They are:
Anne McMahon: From Cambria to Carrizo (1952-2009)
She was a relentless crusader for environmental protection and led efforts to the creation of the 200,000-acre Carrizo Plain National Monument among other acquisitions.
Anne Van Tyne “Grand Dame of the Environmental Movement” (1904-1993)
Anne was Sierra Club’s Chapter Chair for many years and led a years-long campaign to protect a large swath of the San Rafael Mountains, prompting Congress to pass a law in 1984 establishing the 70,000-acre Dick Smith Wilderness. She led countless hikes and opposed the Forest Service’s use of herbicides to clear fuel breaks.
Gloria Brown “Black Woman in Green” Goleta (1951-2021)
Gloria served with the U.S. Forest Service from 1974 to 2007 and was the first Black woman forest supervisor.
She worked her way up, eventually retiring as Los Padres National Forest supervisor in 2007. While here, she scaled back a proposal to expand oil drilling in the forest. She co-authored Black Woman in Green: Gloria Brown and the Unmarked Trail to Forest Service Leadership.
Jan Hamber: “Champion of the Condors” Santa Barbara
Jan is a wildlife biologist who has worked to bring endangered California condors back from the brink of extinction since 1976, tracking down the last known condor in the wild. Also a founder of SB Audubon and curator of condor archives at SB Museum of Natural History.
Janine McFarland: “Forest Archaeologist & Whistleblower” Goleta
Janine worked as an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service, and her studies helped us better understand the relationship of the Chumash people to the land.
She was also steadfast in reporting sexual harassment and discrimination within the agency, serving as a whistleblower and filing more than two dozen complaints that led to Congressional hearings and investigations, making her the subject of retaliation and threats to her personal safety.
Joy Parkinson: “British Birder Extraordinaire” Santa Barbara (1924-2013)
Joy was a founding member of Santa Barbara Audubon, spearheading its response to the 1969 blowout and oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel.
She was instrumental in getting the land around Lake Los Carneros dedicated as a county park and organized a campaign supporting passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964.
Julie Tumamait: Chumash Elder and Educator, Ojai Valley
Julie’s ancestors were raised in the Chumash village of Matilija, and she is well-known for her Chumash cultural education programs with local schools and community groups. She is the founder and former Chair of the Barbareno-Ventureno Band of Mission Indians and works tirelessly to protect culturally important landscapes.
Kathleen Goddard Jones: SLO Defender of the Dunes (1907-2001)
Kathleen helped found two local Sierra Club chapters in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, where she attended hearings and testified in support of the San Rafael, Ventana and Santa Lucia Wilderness. Her most important efforts led to the preservation of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes.
Linda Krop: A Force of Law - Santa Barbara
Linda has served as Chief Counsel at the Environmental Defense Center since 1999 where she and her legal team represent community groups (notably our Sierra Club) seeking to protect coastal, open space, and natural resources.
She has protected the Santa Barbara Channel by defeating several oil and gas development proposals and compelling the retirement of forty federal offshore leases; saved coastal open spaces from development at Ellwood Mesa, Carpinteria Bluffs, and Hearst Ranch; preserved lands abutting Los Padres National Forest and served on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council for fifteen years, where she advocated for the first network of marine reserves.
Linda teaches Environmental Law at UCSB, inspiring the next generation of environmental lawyers.
Lois Capps: A Conservation Congress member, Santa Barbara
Lois Capps served as the federal representative for central coast communities for nearly two decades. Her record is exemplary: she introduced legislation that led to the establishment of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, to ban oil drilling in the Los Padres National Forest, to stop the Adventure Pass, to study the feasibility of a Gaviota Coast National Park, and to expand the network of wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers.
These accomplishments and more earned her a 95% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters.
Marlene Braun: Legacy for the Carrizo Plain (1959-2005)
Marlene served as the first Manager for the Carrizo Plain National Monument, tasked with developing a resource management plan that prioritized putting the health of native plants and animals ahead of commercial grazing operations and other development.
Her experience included thirteen years working with the Bureau of Land Management and an advanced degree in soil science. A change of administrations in Washington DC and a new supervisor prompted a reassignment of her duties amidst an onslaught of harassment and bullying.
The situation became intolerable, and Marlene took her own life at work one day, on the land she loved so dearly. Five years after her death, the new management plan was approved, marshaling a new era of conservation in keeping with Marlene’s vision.
Mary Looby: A Mighty Volunteer, Ventura
Mary has contributed thousands of volunteer hours in Los Padres National Forest. Pick any trail and she’s likely helped maintain it, protect it, or used it on a mission with the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue team. She was recently recognized as Volunteer of the Year for Ventura County for her years of community service. She was an admired speaker at the Sierra Club’s Wilderness Basics Course.
Nancy Sandburg, Santa Barbara
Nancy served as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service for two decades on the Mendocino, Tongass, Rio Grande, and Los Padres National Forest. She received several awards for her work; however, she became the subject of harassment and retaliation by her superiors after reporting illegal bulldozing by Forest Service employees that destroyed stream habitat and killed hundreds of endangered frogs and toads.
Patricia Weinberger: Defender of Pine Mountain & Ojai (1923-2016)
Pat worked tirelessly to protect Ojai’s character and the sanctity of its backcountry. She stopped the expansion of a freeway through Ojai, was instrumental in protecting the Lake Casitas watershed from construction of 10,000 homes and thwarted a plan in the early 1970s to construct open-pit phosphate mines on the south slope of Pine Mountain.