FLC board of directors welcomes three new members

FALLBROOK – Three new members have joined the Fallbrook Land Conservancy’s (FLC) board of directors.

Sidney Morel, a retired firefighter, and Zachary Principe, who is employed with the Nature Conservancy, were welcomed to the board in January. Each will serve four-year terms. They replace Kent Borsch and Donna Gebhart, whose terms expired in December.

Miranda Kennedy joined the board in February. She is a volunteer with the FLC’s Native Plant Restoration Team and an Oregon State University graduate with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. She replaces Lynne Weiss, who resigned in January.

Morel was employed with North County Fire Protection District for 30 years before recently retiring. He is a native of Fallbrook, where he attended Bonsall elementary schools and Fallbrook High School. He and his wife, Pam, are also avid hikers.

As the new chair of the FLC's Trails Committee, Morel first teamed up with the FLC in 2011 to create the 9-11Memorial Hill Climb at Monserate Mountain preserve. Now an annual event, it is held in September to honor fallen firefighters and to raise funds for their families as well for the nonprofit organization, Homes for our Heroes.

"In four short years, the 9-11 memorial hike has gone from just over a hundred hikers to well over 300," said Morel. "I hope to bring the same kind of trails exposure to the rest of the FLC trails and encourage everyone to make the 9-11 memorial hike a fitness goal for the new year."

Principe has been employed as an ecoregional ecologist for

the San Diego office of the Nature Conservancy since 1998, specializing in conservation planning, science support for land acquisition for conservation and natural resource management.

He has been a resident of Fallbrook since 2009. Through his work with the Nature Conservancy, he became acquainted with Wallace Tucker, co-founder of the FLC. "I had met Wallace many times before moving here and knew that I wanted to get involved with the local community," Principe said. "As a result, I thought the FLC would be a good fit for my interests and skills, especially since one of my primary interests is land management and conservation."

Kennedy currently works as an assistant in the operation of Finch Frolic Garden in Fallbrook. The small business offers educational tours and lectures on sustainable gardening and food production, with an emphasis on creating habitat for wildlife and incorporating native plants in urbanized landscapes.

Kennedy began a serious interest in bird watching in high school, which led to her ornithology-focused degree in college and a job in 2011 as an Avian Data intern with San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy. She enjoys writing and has also worked as a writing assistant at Oregon State University Writing Center.

For more information about the FLC, visit www.fallbrooklandconservancy.org.