It is the worst of times and the best of times.

At a juncture when many conservation groups have battened down the hatches to weather the current administration in Washington, D.C., Western Watersheds Project has expanded its resources and redoubled its efforts.

"Complacency has no place in the conservation effort, considering the rate that species are dying and habitat is shrinking," said WWP executive director Jon Marvel.

"The worst mistake we could possibly make is to roll over and let special-interest government further marginalize the public lands that define the beauty and grandeur of the West. We cannot forget that we all own these lands equally."

WWP has long wanted to push its work farther west, and early this year the plan took form. In February we opened an office in a crucial state - California - under the direction of conservationist Todd Shuman.

Shuman, who has worked on several California public lands projects with the Sierra Club, California Trout, Trout Unlimited and the California Mule Deer Association, now leads a three-member WWP team that includes biodiversity director Dr. Elizabeth Painter and field director Jane Baxter.

"A WWP presence in California is needed to assure that the state's valuable natural resources on public lands will survive the relentless assault of the Bush Administration," Shuman said.

Painter has conducted floristic and rare plant surveys on public lands for more than 20 years.

Baxter's conservation work dates back to 1973, when she conducted the original research that led to the purchase and preservation of Madrona Marsh, one of few remaining vernal pools in Southern California.

The opening of the California office comes on the heels of WWP's expansion into Montana and Wyoming. We now have offices and projects in Boise, Idaho; Mendon, Utah; Pinedale, Wyo.; Missoula and Bozeman, Mont.; and Tehachapi, Calif. Our work continues in nine western states.

While WWP was expanding in the West, it was also growing at home. Coincidental with our 10th anniversary, WWP in December moved into new headquarters in the E.G. Willis Building in downtown Hailey, Idaho.

On Feb. 28 some 100 supporters celebrated the opening of the new office with an open house that featured Wood River Valley musicians Paul Smith and AI Yates.

It was a time to share ideas, toast to successes and, most of all, welcome new staff in the main office as WWP grows within and without. After six years of dedicated effort and much success in putting WWP on firm financial ground, fund development director Judy Hall has left the organization to pursue graduate studies. She will be greatly missed.

Her replacement is Faith Wellman, who comes to WWP from Eugene, Ore., where she worked for KVAL-TV as promotions/public service director.

Wellman is joined in WWP's fundraising department by Joyce Harvey-Morgan, WWP's new grants writer. Harvey-Morgan, who makes her home in Boise, was most recently dean of extended studies at Boise State University.

The WWP expansion doesn't stop there. Bill McDorman , well-known in the Wood River Valley for his award-winning wildflower seed business, is WWP's new membership coordinator. Mandy Loving is assisting McDorman and office administrator Teri Stewart-Curtis as WWP grows in numbers, strength and responsibilities.

WWP has also added another member to its advisory board. Dr. Bruce Welch of the U.S. Forest Service's Intermountain Research Station in Utah has joined our strategic team.