Don Hoffheins, Board Chair: After 42 years of land management experience; over 25 years with USDA Forest Service and over 16 years with USDI Bureau of Land Management, Don retired in 2018. He began his career in 1976 for the Forest Service and worked on Forests in New Mexico, Arizona, three in Colorado and one in Oregon. Don started as a soil scientist and gradually moved into natural resource planning focused on recreation, lands and timber management. In 1996 he moved to Oregon as Ski Area Planner, and in 2001, transferred to the Bureau of Land Management as an Environmental Coordinator/Planner. After many years of supervision and management with the BLM in Oregon, his last move brought him to southeast Utah as a Field Manager which included working on the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument. Besides SCCA, Don has served on the Board or completed support projects with the Kremmling Chamber of Commerce, San Juan Mountains Association, Klamath Trails Committee, and Mancos Trails Group.

Dave Rightley, Past Chair: Dave has been on the Board of Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance since 2018. He is one of the owners of Cross Canyon Engineering located in Cortez.  He has technical understanding of the Empire Electric and Kinder-Morgan systems within and adjacent to CANM. Dave has hiked around Canyons of the Ancients National Monument for over 30 years and desires to maintain the cultural and scenic values of the outstanding National Monument here through public education and outreach.

Marcie Ryan, Board Treasurer/Secretary: Marcie previously served as Treasurer when SCCA was originally formed, and has an in-depth understanding of the mission and Treasurer’s duties. Marcie is recently retired from a variety of occupations. With a formal education in geology, she discovered the “archaeology community” when she moved here in 2005. She worked for over 10 years at Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants in Cortez as their bookkeeper, office manager, and geologist/paleontologist, doing archaeological survey and field work as well. Most recently, she was the co-owner of Ryans’ Custom Products Engraving and Awards, as successful business for over 28 years. She served as an educator and front desk volunteer at Canyons of the Ancients Museum and Visitors’ Center for seven years, and currently volunteers on the Hisatsinom Survey crew, enthusiastically helping to record new archaeological sites on private land. She looks forward to helping SCCA achieve their goals and increase their membership. Marcie loves to travel, camping, dogs, and making jewelry. She has been married to husband Jerry for almost 30 years.

Dr. Tara Gray, Board Member: Tara has been passionate about recreating in Southwest Colorado since she moved here over 20 years ago and still sometimes refers to the Canyons of the Ancient National Monument as “Sand Canyon.” With over 30 years of service in education and mental health, she now combines her devotion to social justice with that of environmental justice and stewardship. Dr. Gray is currently Clinical Faculty in the Counseling Department at Prescott College and serves clients in her private practice, Dr. Tara Gray Counseling & Wellness, in Telluride, Colorado. She has served over 4,000 clients and students to date, has presented over 50 presentations, earned 7 awards, written 20 grants funded at over half a million dollars, and has served in over 30 different professional service volunteer leadership roles. When she’s not engaged in professional service you can find her hiking, exploring canyons, paddling, skiing, and mountain biking with her Australian Shepherds.

Dr Charles Riggs, Board Member: Dr. Charles Riggs is a professor, curator of archaeological collections and current chair of the Department of Anthropology at Fort Lewis College. Working primarily in the American Southwest, Riggs’s research focuses on Neolithic societies, the spatial organization and architecture of communities, and encouraging Native American perspectives. He has directed excavations and archaeological surveys at numerous sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and California. Prior to joining the faculty at Fort Lewis College in 2002, Dr. Riggs was a project director and the mapping department director at Statistical Research, Inc. a cultural resources management firm in Tucson, AZ.

Dr. Riggs has received grants from the Colorado State Historical Fund to conduct research and teaching. He was selected by students as an Outstanding Faculty Member in 2007. Riggs is a long-time member of the Society for American Archaeology, and currently serves on its Native American Relations and Native American Scholarships Committees. He is also a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA), and is a regular organizer of the Pecos Archaeological Conference, having hosted the conference in 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2021. He currently also serves as vice president of the board of Southwest Archaeology, the non-profit organizing entity for the Pecos Conference.

Dr. Riggs has numerous peer-reviewed publications, including two books, has delivered countless professional and public talks on all facets of archaeological research and ethics, and teaches courses on subjects ranging from introduction to anthropology, to the history of anthropological thought, to archaeological survey courses on ancient Britain, the ancient Near East, and the pre-contact Southwestern United States.

He most enjoys spending time with his family, and also finds time to to play and perform as a competition bagpiper, both as a soloist and as a member of the Red Sky Collective Pipes and Drums.