January 21, 2005, Sacramento, California:

"I'm a rabid bird watcher," says Ian Nelson, the Pacific Crest Trail Association's new Regional Representative for Northern California and Southern Oregon. "I guess you'd say I'm an amateur naturalist. I pride myself in getting to know the land on an intimate level. I feel like I can never know enough about the natural world."

As the PCTA's first-ever staff Regional Representative, Ian's keen sense of observation and passion for the landscape will serve him well. Operating out of Ashland, Oregon, Ian will foster relationships with land management agencies, PCTA members, trail maintenance volunteers, and others working and recreating along the trail in his region, which stretches about 500 miles from the southern border of Crater Lake National Park to the border of the Lassen National Forest and the Plumas National Forest "I'm hoping I can help land management agencies and volunteers do their best work while also enticing more people to get involved in trail maintenance and the PCTA," says Ian.

"It is really exciting to come into the PCTA as its first Regional Representative," he adds. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of developing this position and nurturing the PCTA's presence in my region. Also, the PCT's protection is not complete, and I feel honored to be a part of efforts to solidify its future."

Prior to joining the PCTA staff, Ian served as Associate Regional Representative in the Mid Atlantic Regional Office of the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC). The ATC is the national non-profit resource organization that initially built, and continues to maintain and manage, the 2,100-mile, Georgia-to-Maine, Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Over the years Ian has also been a trail crew leader for the Student Conservation Association and taught environmental education. It was during his years as a teacher in Southern California that he was first introduced to the PCT. He has hiked the John Muir portion of the PCT as well as portions of the trail in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains with his wife, Amy Dunham Nelson. Ian graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Forestry and Wildlife Resources with an emphasis on wildlife science. When not hiking or maintaining trails, Ian enjoys traveling both in the U.S. and abroad. Along with being an avid birder, Ian is an ultimate frisbee fanatic.

"Ian has experience working with a wide range of people from agency partners, to volunteers who maintain the trail, to students. That experience is going to be really helpful in his new position," says Liz Bergeron, PCTA Executive Director. "He also has practical trail building and restoration skills that he honed with the ATC and Student Conservation Association - all-in-all, a great fit."

The PCTA is "The Voice" of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. The mission of the Association is to protect, preserve and promote the PCT so as to reflect its world-class significance for the enjoyment, education and adventure of hikers and equestrians.

For more information, contact Liz Bergeron, Executive Director of the PCTA at 916-349-2109.