How Do You Inspire the Future?
Save Mount Diablo’s co-founders, Mary Bowerman and Art Bonwell. Photo: Sandra Hoover and Saul Bromberger
When Save Mount Diablo was co-founded 50 years ago by Art Bonwell and Mary Bowerman, they gave a voice to the mountain at a critical time. Development was creeping up Mount Diablo and threatening the natural landscape.
Since 1971, our organization has nurtured strong voices speaking on behalf of the mountain, informing the public of its unique natural features and the need for conservation.
Today, Save Mount Diablo is recognized as both an exceptional example of local land conservation efforts, as well as representative of national and international environmental activism that extends beyond our region.
As part of our 50th anniversary celebration, which we are celebrating for a full year, we’ve been working with UC Berkeley’s Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library. Over the past several years, their team has been working to record some of the empowering individuals who helped create Save Mount Diablo in a series of oral histories.
Voices of Our Past and Present
Jeanne Thomas, one of Save Mount Diablo’s long-time supporters. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Thomas
You can view Save Mount Diablo’s 50-year oral history digital collection from the Bancroft Library here. The diverse list of people interviewed includes some of our current leaders, long-serving Board and staff members, and key supporters, plus a few of our important public agency partners.
Each of these individuals shares a unique role in our organization’s history and offers an insightful perspective to our organization’s history and the inner workings that help make us successful.
Those interviewed include the following.
- Seth Adams: Save Mount Diablo’s Land Conservation Director
- Burt Bassler: Working to Ensure the Financial Health of Save Mount Diablo
- Ted Clement: Through Nature’s Portal on a Deep and Diverse Conservation Journey
- Bob Doyle: An Environmentalist’s Perspective on Land Conservation
- Abby Fateman: Executive Director of the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy
- Jim Felton: A Board President’s Perspective on Save Mount Diablo
- John Gallagher: Veterinarian, Volunteer, and Longtime Member of Save Mount Diablo’s Land and Stewardship Committees
- Scott Hein: Save Mount Diablo Photographer, Naturalist, and Board Member
- John Kiefer: Papa John and the Mountain
- Egon Pedersen: The Beginnings of Save Mount Diablo
- Malcolm Sproul: Supporting Save Mount Diablo
- Jeanne Thomas: Supporting Save Mount Diablo
Each interview starts with a discussion on each individual’s background history, their family and career. Their story describes how they became involved with Save Mount Diablo, as well as their roles inside the organization.
Many of the oral histories end with the interviewees discussing the future as the climate crisis and the need for conservation continues. They speculate about some of the challenges Save Mount Diablo may face, but also how the organization may be more important than ever.
Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future
Bob Doyle with Mary Bowerman at Save Mount Diablo’s 25th anniversary. Photo: Susan Kraughto
By honoring and recording the past, we aim to inspire the future of land conservation, not just on a local scale, but everywhere.
These stories do not just reveal how Save Mount Diablo grew to become a successful conservation force, but how anyone can make a positive noticeable change in the environment and help create a healthy community.
We hope that this collection of voices from Save Mount Diablo will help document, inform, and celebrate our organization’s amazing history.
