Volunteer Spotlight

Mary Kay, Margy Verba, Jose Perez, John Dittli, Bill Bailey, Carol Wiley, Dave Willis, Louie Lujan, Todd Vogel, Matt Nelson

Todd Vogel

When it comes to wildlands, Todd Vogel is as experienced as they come. So in 2000 when he found out about the California Wild Heritage Campaign’s efforts to protect the Eastern Sierra, he immediately threw himself into the fray. Since then he has played a central role in our efforts throughout the Eastern Sierra.

Todd grew up in Michigan, skiing, rock-climbing, and regularly tagging along on expeditions with his father, a geology professor. Todd’s love for adventure grew quickly and by the end of high school it was enough to keep him away from his own graduation ceremony – he was out in Washington state starting a three month long hike down the Pacific Trail. 1,600 miles later he came out of the mountains and headed over to college in Santa Cruz where he began studying environmental education.

In the early 80’s his passion for the mountains finally began making him money as he started teaching and guiding backcountry tours in the Sierra for the University of California Santa Cruz Recreation Department and Western Mountaineering. Todd was always in the mountains, and he once clocked 32 weekends in a row climbing in Yosemite.

Determined to spend more time climbing and less time driving, Todd and his fiancé Chris Iverson (now wife and also a valuable CWHC volunteer) moved to Bishop in 1988. On top of working as a developer and consultant on numerous outdoor education programs throughout the Western US, Switzerland, Spain, and New Zealand, Todd also opened his own guiding business – appropriately named A Taste for Adventure.

In 1998 Todd merged his business with that of S.P. Parker, another outstanding mountain guide and CWHC activist, to create Sierra Mountain Center, LLC. They and their staff offer a wide range of courses and guided trips, often entering wilderness and proposed wilderness areas. Dedicated to protecting the land, all Sierra Mountain Center trips “strive to leave little or no evidence of our passage, helping to ensure that future generations will also find a near pristine wilderness and that species making these areas their home can have the best chance at survival.” All guides are Leave No Trace Trainer certified and Todd is a LNT certified Master Trainer.

As part of the California Wild Heritage Campaign, he has given dozens of presentations on wilderness issues to school groups, campground users, and other organizations as well as spoken at various County Supervisor meetings. He has also served as a Board Member of Friends of the Inyo for two years, an environmental preservation and stewardship group that is a key CWHC coalition partner in the Eastern Sierra.

Most recently Todd volunteered his time, his expertise, and his extensive array of outdoor kitchen equipment to help with this year’s annual CWHC Round-Up. The volunteers and staff who gathered from around the state for this event – and their stomachs – were extremely thankful to have Todd around!

The California Wild Heritage Campaign would like to thank Todd for all of his hard work and continued support. Todd, along with all of our volunteers around the state, is making a difference.

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