About Us
Since its founding in 1912, the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) has been an unwavering advocate for the protection of wild, remote, and quiet places.The CMC was instrumental in landmark achievements such as the designation of Rocky Mountain National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and the passage of the Wilderness Act. Today, the CMC continues this tradition by working with land management agencies, partner organizations, elected officials, and coalitions to permanently protect our last remaining roadless areas and the ecological integrity of our region.
Conservation Staff

Clare was exposed to the conservation movement through her two-year employment as an intern for the Philadelphia Environmental Protection Agency in 1994-1995. Upon graduating from Bucknell University in 1996 with a degree in Environmental Studies, Clare moved to Colorado for the first time to work for the University of Colorado at Boulder.  In 1997, Clare then headed to Oregon to represent the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as an Organizer for Colleges and Universities throughout the Western United States. She also worked for NWF for several summers leading backpacking and rock climbing excursions in and around Rocky Mountain National Park.

In 1998, Clare decided to use her skills abroad, and pursued a two-year service in the Peace Corps in West Africa, working as a Resource Management volunteer in a village in the Ivory Coast. Upon her return to the United States in 2000, Clare began teaching mountain ecology and environmental issues at the Keystone Science School, based in Keystone, Colorado. She began her work as West Slope Conservation Coordinator for the Colorado Mountain Club in June, 2001. After working in this capacity for 5 1/2 years, Clare became the Club's Conservation Director in late 2006.  

Clare is an appointed member of the Garfield County Energy Advisory Board and the Northwest CO BLM Resource Advisory Council, and a board member of the Wilderness Education Institute. She is also the Chair of the Carbondale Environmental Board.  While working as CMC's West Slope Conservation Coordinator, Clare Bastable received the award of "Conservationist of the Year" from the Colorado Wildlife Federation for all of her hard work in coalescing diverse voices such as those of hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, and outfitters on key environmental issues such as protecting the Roan Plateau.

Clare is an avid mountain biker, and also loves to backcountry ski, hike, climb and road bike.

Bryan has worked on conservation and recreation projects his entire career. After earning his degree from Penn State University, he traveled to Queensland, Australia to work for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service on the planning, design, and construction of a long-range hiking trail through the D’Aguilar Range northwest of Brisbane. Returning to the U.S. with this new experience, Bryan became a passionate advocate for recreation’s role in the conservation and preservation of natural areas.

His work in Australia led to positions with the International Ecotourism Society, an organization which promotes environmentally and socially responsible principles within the travel and tourism industry, and The Nature Conservancy (both in Washington D.C. and Boulder), one of the largest environmental non-profits in the country.

From 2003 to 2007, Bryan was the Field Operations Manager for the Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA). CDTA is the primary non-governmental partner in the completion, protection, and management of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. The CDT travels through five states, 25 National Forests, eight BLM Resource Areas, three National Parks, and one National Monument. As Field Operations Manager it was his job to develop relationships with key agency personnel at the state, regional, field office, and district levels to develop projects, fund those projects, and track progress toward the 3,100-mile trail’s completion. 

Bryan, his wife Sally, and their hound dog Chattooga enjoy long road trips, hiking and biking, swimming in the ocean, and visiting new places.
Anya Byers

Anya Byers
Recreation Planning Coordinator

Anya, as a Colorado native, has been recreating in the Rocky Mountains for longer than she can actually remember. Her combined interests in outdoor recreation and environmental protection prompted to her to spend several seasons working on and leading trail crews for the City of Boulder's Mountain Parks and Open Space Department. While pursuing a degree in Human Ecology from Stanford University, she worked on monitoring and GIS mapping with The Nature Conservancy in Colorado and spent six months researching grazing and land use patterns in the Succulent Karoo Biome, a biodiversity hotspot in South Africa.

After graduating, Anya was drawn to New Mexico where she worked as a researcher at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Designated by Congress in 2000, the 89,000-acre Preserve is known as a case study for multiple-use management of public lands, seeking to unite diverse stakeholders through science-based adaptive management.

In 2006, Anya joined the staff of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative as Volunteer Coordinator and later Restoration Manager, planning and supervising trail construction, restoration and maintenance projects and public education efforts on Colorado's peaks over 14,000 ft (4,267 meters). Working on these high peaks provided her the opportunity to engage people of all ages in preventing resource damage to extremely fragile natural places.

Anya is a member of the Colorado Native Plant Society and is certified as a Leave No Trace Master Educator. In addition to enjoying high altitude trailwork, she's an avid cyclist, runner, backpacker, skier, knitter, and gardener.
Steve Bonowski, Senior Policy Advisor

A former Board Director, Steve today represents The Colorado Mountain Club on the Vail Pass Task Force, the Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative, and the Northwest Colorado Stewardship (multi-agency lands conservation entity focused on BLM lands in Moffat County, Colorado). In the past, Steve has served as the President of the Board of the Colorado Environmental Coalition and as an appointed member of the Colorado State Trails Committee. Today, he is also active with Republicans for Environmental Protection. Steve has a master's degree in political science from Butler University and a bachelor's degree in political science from St. Joseph's College, and has a certificate in administrative law from McGeorge School fo Law.
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