Born in Appleton, WI at the age of 28, after traveling a good deal, I realized I could leave once and for all!

I lived and renovated buildings in New York City from 1984-1988, also exploring Theatre and Art. My wife and I have resided in the Baca Grande, south of Crestone, CO for the last 25 years in a house that we hand-built. During that time I was a Volunteer Fire Chief and Deputy Chief for 20 of those years and an ambulance driver for 7 years. I served on my Property Owner's Association Board of Directors for three years and I have participated in numerous activist causes, including helping to stop two trans-basin water diversions from the San Luis Valley, supported the creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Wildlife Preserve and resisted the Colorado Air National Guard's low altitude overflights. I remain a volunteer disc jockey at Alamosa's Public Radio Station KRZA, which I have done for most of my time here in the valley.

I have been coming to Valley View most of my time here and I have been OLT's Facilities Manager for the last 3 years before accepting my current position. My wife, the Director of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, helped Neil and Terry to create Orient Land Trust. We have a 15 year old son who has worked and played at Valley View over the years. I feel, as all of you do, that this unique place deserves to be preserved, as our mission states, "for current and future generations" and I will continue to bring my energies to that vision. We are blessed with a top -notch crew at OLT that has worked very hard to make it look like nothing changes here. I have enjoyed working with this crew and look forward to continue working with them. Please give them a "thank you" when you see them. They deserve it.

OLT now includes almost 2300 acres of varied terrains and ecosystems (including an increasingly working ranch) with different prescriptions needed for some of them. We have historically worked with Valley-based state and federal agencies, as well as with our conservation easement holders (The Nature Conservancy and the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife) toward our goal of implementing the best possible preservation practices for all these properties. These relationships will continue. We will also continue to refine our Strategic Plan to better achieve these goals and to explore other potential options.

At this point in time, OLT is in great need of raising money to pay for our state-mandated Waste Water Treatment Plant replacement. The new facility will be odorless and quiet. You can find more details of this project elsewhere in these pages but I am reaching out to all of you, asking that you consider giving your financial support to this very important improvement for Valley View's future. We thank you in advance for your historically generous support.

I want you all to know that I will endeavor to be as available as possible to you. Naturally, the administration of this organization does, and will, require a good portion of time; still I want to embrace your input whenever possible. Please approach me with your suggestions.

— Mark Jacobi, Interim Executive Director