Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors are multi-talented and represent varied skills and expertise from land use planning and development, environmental law, and media.  All share passion for imperiled species and are committed to advancing our work.

Ken Sanchez, Chairman

Ken Sanchez has a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University and is currently the Western Regional Regulatory Manager for Resource Environmental Solutions, a national habitat and species restoration and mitigation development company.  Ken spent 10 years working for the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service in California, Oregon, and Alaska and recently retired after 25 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in North Dakota and California working primarily on endangered species conservation and ecosystem markets.

Ken’s outside interests include camping, river rafting and kayaking, cycling, and music of all kinds.

Susan K. Moore, Vice Chair

In 2013, I retired from Federal service, having over 35 years of experience.

From 2006 until 2013, I served as the Field Supervisor for the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office (SFWO).

During my tenure, the SFWO was the largest field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).  It had responsibility for administering programs for endangered species, habitat conservation, water resources, and environmental contaminants for half of California – the western side of the Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, an area that is home to both 14 million people and 190 species of plants and animals that are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

I moved to the SFWO in 1999, working first in External Affairs, then as the Listing branch chief before becoming Deputy Field Supervisor.

Prior to going to the SFWO, I served 14 years in the National Park Service.  I served as the Executive Director of the John Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Rhode Island, the first partnership park in the National Park Service from 1996 to 1999.  Prior to that, I served as the first woman superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield, where I worked from 1990 to 1996.  I also worked at Manassas National Battlefield from 1985 to 1990.

I worked in Washington, D.C. for the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks from 1981 to 1985.

Earlier I worked for the Department of the Interior in the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service and the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation from 1975 to 1981.

I live in the foothills outside of Sacramento with my husband, a retired National Park Service manager, where we enjoy camping, hiking, biking, and other outdoor activities.

David C. Lee, Treasurer

David works in the field of Energy Finance at a German bank in London, which invests in infrastructure projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  In this context, he performs regular environmental analyses to ensure that potential investments comply with international standards like the Equator Principles, fairly reflect the interests of relevant stakeholders, and align with environmental best practice across their lifecycle.  He has a particular interest and expertise in the development of renewable energy assets, a sustainability focus that mirrors CNLM’s conservation mission.

A Southern California native, David looks forward to bringing his finance experience and global perspective to bear on the maintenance of his home state’s natural landscape.

Eric Cherniss

Eric Cherniss is an Energy Industry Executive focused on sustainable infrastructure.  Mr. Cherniss is the founder of Elevate Renewables, which is a national renewable energy development company focused on the strategic deployment of battery energy storage resources co-located at existing large power generation facilities.  Prior to forming Elevate, Mr. Cherniss was part of the Corporate Development and Strategy team of Vistra Corp. and was instrumental in the growth of the Vistra Zero platform and specifically the redevelopment and hybridization of existing fossil assets with renewables and energy storage.  Mr. Cherniss earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Alicia Guerra

Currently an active attorney and shareholder with Buchalter, Ms. Guerra’s areas of practice include natural resources, land use, environmental, real estate, and administrative law.  Her multi-disciplinary practice focuses on local, state, and federal land use entitlement and permitting and environmental review for a broad sector of private industry, developers, and public agencies.  Her expertise includes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Water Act, federal and state flood control statutes, California’s planning laws, and other state and federal laws governing the use of land, water, and other natural resources.

In addition to her client-driven professional practice, she has published on a wide variety of topics including the impact of COVID-19 on real estate transactions.  Ms. Guerra is a frequently sought speaker for national and state conferences of business, environmental law, academic, and real estate communities.

She was recognized by Super Lawyer Magazine as a Northern California Super Lawyer in 2019, a recognition she has received since 2014.

Alicia and her husband live in the East Bay.

Michelle C. Lee

Michelle C. Lee is a member of the Pit River Tribe and a mother of three. She is an Indian law attorney and has owned and operated an Indian law practice since 2006.  She has been practicing Indian Law for nearly 25 years and has represented tribal governments in legal matters including cultural resource protection, Indian child welfare, tribal taxation, tribal gaming regulation, cannabis regulation, tribal governance, the fee-to-trust process and real estate transactions, and general civil litigation involving tribal governments.  In addition, she has published a number of law review articles, essays and non-fiction articles on topics relative to her work with California Indian tribes.

Prior to entering private practice, Michelle edited and contributed significantly to reports that were submitted to Congress in August 1997 by the Advisory Council on California Indian Policy.  In 1999, she negotiated a tribal-state gaming compact with the State of California and has successfully negotiated many amendments to other gaming compacts since that time. In 2003, she was appointed to the Governor’s Children’s Justice Act Task Force which allocates Title IV-E Child Abuse Prevention Program funding to agencies in the state of California.

She has served as a trainer in seminars with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research regarding the implementation of SB 18, a statewide general planning law that she drafted in collaboration with Governor Gray Davis’s Legal Affairs Department in 2004. In 2006, she was featured on the cover of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine with an article she co-wrote, entitled, “Real Estate Transactions in California’s “Indian Country”:  How to Conduct Business with California Indian Tribal Governments and Businesses”.

Michelle is extensively involved in developing statewide policy in California regarding cultural resources protection including drafting, negotiating, and ensuring the passage of improved cultural preservation laws such as burial site protection and consultation requirements for new projects. She was recently appointed to the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section of the California Lawyers Association.  In July 2023, she was also appointed to the Board of Directors for the Center for Natural Lands Management which protects and manages nature preserves in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.  All the preserves provide refuge for threatened or endangered species as well as protect rare and sensitive habitats such as wetlands.

Michelle received her B.A. in 1993 and her J.D. in 1998, both from the University of California, Davis.  She is admitted to practice in California, all federal district courts in California, the Ninth Circuit, the United States Supreme Court, the Hoopa Valley Tribal Court and the San Manuel Tribal Court.  She was a recipient of the 2015 Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship and earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2017.

Peter Prows

Peter Prows is the managing partner of the San Francisco environmental law firm Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP.  He advises public agencies, private clients, and sovereigns in all areas of environmental law.  He advises property owners looking to put their property into conservation, or needing mitigation credits for developments.  He has advised the Republic of Palau on domestic legislation and international policy around marine and terrestrial protected areas.  And he has litigated for clients over the scope and validity of conservation easements and natural and cultural resource-related regulatory obligations.  He is eager to be of service to the Center’s mission.

Rick Rayburn

Rick has 35 years of experience in natural resource land management and land acquisition with California State Parks (Sacramento), and environmental land use planning and regulatory work at the California Coastal Commission (North Coast).  He found great satisfaction in achieving resource protection through joint efforts with federal, State and local conservation entities.  He authored the policies towards managing the adaptation of natural resources and land acquisition strategies in light of climate change for the State in 2010.

Retired, Rick continues efforts to preserve the natural diversity of the California landscape through volunteer means and leisure time.  He serves as Chair of the Board of Governors for Santa Lucia Conservancy in Carmel Valley.  In 2016, he developed land acquisition policies and priorities for the California Wildlife Conservation Board.  Recently, he began writing poetry, primarily of outdoor California.  Periodically, he critiques plein-air art, with experience in landscapes of southern France.

David C. Thoreau

David C. Thoreau is a well-respected media expert and writer.  His experience spans 30 years and includes writing for both film and television, including Side Out, Walker Texas Ranger, The Sentinel, Murder She Wrote, and Miami Vice. Mr. Thoreau won the First Lady’s Excellence in Television Award for his Highway to Heaven script “Parent’s Day.”  In addition, Mr. Thoreau has written multiple novels, including City at Bay, The Satanic Condition and the Jimmy Lujack thrillers The Good Book and The Book of Numbers.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in English from UCLA.  He resides in Orange County, California.