Rachel leach Co- chair

Rachel Leach grew up in rural Nevada and has shared her love for learning with students in the Silver Stage schools for the last 21 years. Teaching grades 5 - 8 with an emphasis on upper level math and music/band, Rachel looks forward to the adventures each day holds. Rachel leads the award-winning Silver Stage G.R.E.E.N. Team, a partnership between the school district and teachers that supports school gardens as outdoor STEM labs. Fall Festival at SSMS, celebrating food, farming, family, and fun, is Rachel’s favorite day of the year.

ED DECARLO co-chair

Ed enjoyed a long career working as a forester, snow ranger, lands and minerals manager, and on the wildland fire overhead team for the U.S. Forest Service in Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. Ed ended his career as a water and lands specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation. He has a B.S. degree in Forest Management Science. Since retiring in 2012 Ed has been volunteering with outdoor environmental education programs including Sierra Nevada Journeys and Great Basin Institute, and with various church youth activities. Ed’s passions include gardening, hiking, skiing and stand-up paddling.

KIM ZUCH             TREASURER

As a high school student, Kim volunteered at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum and went on to complete two internships and seven years with Utah State Parks. She graduated from Utah State University with a double major in parks and recreation and anthropology. Kim worked as an interpretive park ranger at Fort Churchill State Historic Park at Buckland Station, and in 2014 she accepted a park interpreter job at Washoe Lake State Park. She joined the River Wranglers board in 2015 and enjoys kayaking and making soap at her home in Carson City.

Darcy Phillips
Board member

A native Coloradan who adopted Nevada years ago, Darcy holds a master’s degree in anthropology and has worked for numerous non-profit organizations. Darcy was the most recent Executive Director at River Wranglers, taking over from Linda Conlin in 2018. Darcy left her own mark on River Wranglers, working with new groups of students and shepherding the organization through the pandemic. She left in 2022 to take a position with the Nevada Cancer Coalition, but River Wranglers and the Carson River hold her heart as a kayaker and a lover of all things environmental education.

Sydney Wirkus Board Member

Sydney started out in Southern California, and briefly in Mexico, before settling in Nevada with her family in 2004. In 2018 Sydney spent time in Puerto Rico doing disaster relief work after Hurricane Maria, and ultimately fell in love with the outdoors. She brought that love back to Nevada with her when she returned home. Sydney was an AmeriCorps member with River Wranglers before being an employee, and is now a board member. In her spare time Sydney enjoys hiking, writing, and cuddling her cat.

ERIC JOHNSON

Eric Johnson was born and raised in Reno and graduated from UNR with a BA in Forestry. He worked throughout the state of Nevada as a park ranger from the time he was 19 years old. Eric recently retired as Nevada State Park Administrator. He lives in Fallon where he and his wife operate a small farm raising alfalfa and a variety of animals, including goats, chickens, cows, and turkeys. Eric’s interests include auto mechanics, fishing and hunting. Since the start of River Wranglers, Eric has been on the board and has held a variety of positions.

linda conlin

Linda is passionate about working with youth, having spent 35 combined years working with River Wranglers and the Nevada 4-H program. She retired in 2018 as the Director of River Wranglers and then served on the board through 2020. She enjoys spending her days with Bill at their home in Silver Springs beekeeping, quilting, reading, camping, and trying to keep up with her twelve grandchildren and their parents.

dan kaffer

Dan retired as a district conservationist and resource, conservation and development professional from USDA-SCS & NRCS. Dan has sponsored & helped champion over 100 river restoration and community development projects in Nevada and California. He is the founder or founding member of 14 new land conservation and education organizations/non-profits & districts. Dan resides in Minden, NV and enjoys almost every outdoor and water activity possible, as a sportsman, yogi, and naturalist.

Tina carlsen

Recently retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Tina studied the effects of contaminants on grassland and scrubland ecosystems and the aquatic communities found within. She is the leading authority on the federally-endangered large-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia grandiflora). Tina graduated from Cal State Stanislaus and USF before completing her PhD in ecology at UC Davis. Tina and her late-husband Fred moved to Minden after years of visiting the area. Tina enjoys hiking, walking, yoga, and playing Irish fiddle for the local band Ciana.

CARLA KUHN

Carla grew up in the Mojave Desert of California and became a dedicated rock-hound. Carla worked for the Kansas Geological Survey as a cartographer, built log cabins in Colorado, and worked as a technical illustrator for an environmental consulting firm in Washington DC. On her return to the west coast, she raised two wonderful children, completed her B.S. in Geology and M.A. in Education, and eventually taught middle school science and mathematics. Carla enjoys sharing the companion stories of rock and water found in the Carson River watershed. Carla served on the River Wranglers board until 2021.