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SFC Docents
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Pictured from left to
right: (back) Ron Bohigian, Virginia Gutierrez-Osborne, Merle Hansen,
Bruce Busch, Linda Sward,
George Sward, Mary Biskup, Larry Hawkins;
(front) Jane Pritchard, Jim Warner, Kevin Enns-Rempel, Kris Hawkins
Not Pictured: Linda Fiel, Sue Stone, Jamie Taylor, Tyler Wright |
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Kris and Larry Hawkins
We have always
loved being in the mountains. We met while working in Yosemite
National Park and we spent many years hiking and exploring the
area. We moved to the Fresno area to attend college at Fresno
State and later moved to Pine Ridge near Shaver Lake. Kris is a
teacher and works at Clovis West High School and Larry is a soon
to be retired traffic engineering technician for the City of
Fresno. We spend many summers backpacking in the Sierra National
Forest and winters volunteering for the Cross Country Ski
Patrol. We have been involved in the Foothill Conservancy for
numerous years as docents. We enjoy any time spent outdoors!
Our natural science interests include; birding, wild flower and
tree identification, geology and biotic communities. |
Linda and George Sward
Linda
has lived in Kingsburg since 1982. She has enjoyed camping and
hiking in the Sierra since her college days. She works as a
bilingual public health nutritionist. Favorite recreational
activities include singing in the San Joaquin Chorale, camping,
hiking, and volunteering for SFC.
George was born and raised in Kingsburg, California where he
learned from an early age a love of outdoors from his father. A
painter by trade, he is a birder, hiker, and skier by avocation.
He has been part of SFC from its beginning.
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Jim Warner
Jim was born in the
east and gradually moved west to California in the 1950s.
He started walking
in the fields and mountains with his parents, where he became
interested in flowers and birds in particular, in spite of his
childhood impatience.
After high school
in Woodland, he joined the US Navy during his first year of
college, spending most of his four year duty in Hawaii. He
married Jan during this time, and spent their first two years on
Oahu, during which their first son was born.
He went back to
college after working for a plastics manufacturer, realizing
that he wouldn’t be happy spending the rest of his life working
in a factory.
He discovered the
wonders of sharing his love and enthusiasm for natural history
while taking a botany course at American River Junior College in
the Sacramento area, from a professor who spent his summers in
the National Parks.
After graduating
from California State University, Sacramento, earning a degree
in biological sciences with a specialization in field natural
history, he started his career in the National Parks, most of
which was in the Sierra Nevada in both Yosemite and Sequoia and
Kings Canyon NPs, retiring in 1995 after over 30 years with the
federal government.
He maintains his
contact with the parks and Sierra Nevada, leading natural
history tours and backpack trips for the Sequoia Natural History
Association, and leading tours into Sequoia and Kings Canyon for
various Elderhostels.
He also has been
actively working as a docent for the Sierra Foothills
Conservancy since his retirement.
Jim also sings
barbershop with the Fresno Gold Note Chorus and his Silver &
Gold Quartet, and in the Jubilation Singers, a mixed a capella
group, with his wife. |
Mary Biskup
Mary grew up in Santa Monica, CA, and moved to Clovis in 1977
with her husband, Stefan, and three sons. In 2003, Mary and
Stefan moved to Auberry, where they now live and share their
lives with a herd of 30 llamas.
One of Mary's great enthusiasms is hiking, and she enjoys
exploring and sharing the beautiful lands on the SFC preserves.
In the summertime, Mary and Stefan also enjoy extended
backcountry trips into the nearby Sierra, with their three pack
llamas. Mary is a long-time member of SFC, and served on the
Board of Directors for 8 years, three of those as President.
She is chairman of the SFC Fundraising Dinner Committee, and is
also a member of the Education and the Hike and Class
Committees. Mary has a degree in English Literature from CSUF.
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Sue Stone
Sue Stone is a
family physician with a holistic and integrative practice in
Fresno. While fully trained in conventional medicine, her
practice emphasizes natural medicines, nutrition, the
patient-physician relationship, removing emotional blocks to
healing, spirituality, and faith in the body’s amazing ability
to heal itself.
Sue’s love of the
wilderness and thirst for knowledge has led her on many distant
travels, but she still thinks that the Sierra is the most
fabulous place on the planet. Sue loves to share her knowledge
and especially loves learning from others who come along on the
SFC hikes. She has found many ways to enjoy the wilds and the
creatures that inhabit it including backpacking, snowshoeing,
and scuba diving. |
Bruce Busch
Bruce was born and
raised in Fresno and is a third generation raisin farmer. He has
led various groups in the high Sierra's since 1999. He has
organized camping trips and hikes in various areas throughout
California. Previously he was a director in charge of other
docents within a hiking organization. In leading these hikes, he
is helping preserve nature and hikers physical well being. He is
committed to bringing public awareness of the wilderness to
future generations by using a means of exploration of our
Earth's resources through hiking which causes minimal impact to
our environment. Through his docent involvement with the Sierra
Foothill Conservancy is his way of contributing to the future
conservation of the foothills and future generations.
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Ron Bohigian
Ron
Bohigian was born, raised and educated in Fresno,
California. His early outdoor experiences usually involved whizzing past
the Sierra foothills on the way to the higher mountains. Around the time
of SFC’s birth, Ron joined the Conservancy and served on the board for
several years. He now docents regularly. Says Ron, “I really enjoy
leading the longer hikes on McKenzie and Tivy Mountain. These lands give
me a feeling of wildness. There is always something new to discover. I
am so proud to be a small part of what the Conservancy has done to
protect these wonderful lands.”
Ron holds a BA degree in biology
from CSUF and is an elementary school principal in Fresno. His
foothill-related interests include hiking, birding, flyfishing,
backpacking, and bicycling. He is married to Megan Bohigian who shares
his love of the Sierra foothills. |
Tyler Wright
Hi,
I'm Tyler Wright. I've lived in the Tollhouse area for 35 years and
have been a docent since 2001. Over the years I've
enjoyed studying the history of our community including that of the
local tribes. As a part-time employee at Intermountain Nursery, I've
learned about our local plant life from the best. When I am not
out exploring our local community investigating old logging sites
and our hydro-electric system, you can find me in my shop carving or
working on my next woodworking project.
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Virginia Gutierrez-Osborne
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Merle Hanson
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Kevin Enns-Remple
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Jane Pritchard
Grab the opportunity to learn the
geology and history of the preserves while you enjoy a great
hike! I can identify the flowers and trees for you as well as
some birds and insects. Different flowers bloom throughout the
season so come out often. I especially like long hikes and enjoy
stopping to look at things along the way. I hike in the rain,
sleet or snow. I look forward to seeing you have a very
pleasurable experience on a Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Preserve.
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Linda Fiel
Jamie Taylor
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Docents In Training:
Rich Gilman
Jacob Lee
Penny Ross
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