Name
Debra Ellers

WWP Affiliation
President, Board of Directors

Residence
Boise, Idaho

Family
Husband, Dale Grooms; dog, Kaz; mom, dad and grandmother in Virginia; brother, sister-in-law, new niece in Portland; assorted aunts, uncles and cousins all over.

Occupation (day job)
Corporate Attorney specializing in employment law.

Occupation (real job)
Fun-hog (backpacking, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, windsurfing).

Other Conservation Affiliations
Wilderness Volunteers, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, Natural Resources Defense Council, Buffalo Field Campaign.

Memorable Conservation Experience
Fence removal project in Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in Oregon in 1998, cow-free since 1993. Lush bunchgrasses, colorful wildflowers and plentiful ground nesting birds showed the beauty of public lands without abusive livestock grazing.

Spectacular Wildlife Encounters
Yearling elk 5 feet away at Bull Trout Hot Springs in Idaho; mountain goat 20 feet away in Seven Devils Mountains in Idaho; giant manta ray and dolphins close-up while diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Other Interests
See above under "Occupation, Real job." Also fitness, digital photography, gardening, reading nonfiction.

Favorite Place(s) in the West
Seven Devils Mountains, Idaho; Pioneer Mountains, Idaho; Boulder-White Clouds Mountains, Idaho; Dirty Devil and Escalante regions of southern Utah.

Conservation Hero(es)
Classic: John Muir, Ed Abbey. Contemporary: Public land activists like WWP's Jon Marvel, Katie Fite and John Carter, all dedicated to saving wild places and wildlife.

Book Recently Read
"A River Lost" by Blaine Harden.

Quotes to Live By
"In wildness is the preservation of the world" - Thoreau. "In the mountains, there you feel free." -T S. Eliot

Three Wishes for the Planet
That people would turn off their TVs and go for a walk; that humans would respect and treat animals as living beings with feelings; that humans would develop sustainable economic systems that don't involve destruction and exploitation of people, animals and the earth.