About Us
A Little History
The Sandia Collaborative emerged out the need for greater regional collaboration during the Forest Plan Revision process for the Cibola National Forest. Convened for the first time in 2015, the Sandia Collaborative met from 2015 to 2019 as part of the forest planning process. In the early fall of 2018, a facilitation team was contracted to establish a clear vision for the collaborative and expanded the scope beyond the forest plan to include an action plan for collaborative land stewardship. The Sandia Collaborative Governance Committee was established in early 2019 to provide organizational guidance and leadership to the collaborative.
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Collaborative Council Members
While participation in Sandia Collaborative meetings and events is open to all with an interest in the Sandia Ranger District, the Sandia Collaborative Council is the membership-based consensus decision making body representing the multi-stakeholder collaboration of different organizations.
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Our Board of Directors
Mike Madden - President
Mike retired at the end of 2005 from 22 years as a Boeing spacecraft mechanisms engineer, and moved to Sandia Park, NM, where he became involved in building trails as a volunteer with CABQ Open Space and USFS on the Sandia Ranger District. Realizing a need for interconnected trails across agencies, he co-founded a trails planning organization, East Mountain Regional Trails Council (EMRTC) from 2008-present.
Mike joined the Turquoise Trail Regional Alliance (TTRA) board as Open Space and Trails Director from 2009- present. He took the President position of Friends of the Sandia Mountains (FOSM) from 2020-present. Mike has been connected with Sandia Collaborative governance since its inception in 2015 and is currently the President. To get away from his desk, Mike has been a weekly volunteer dog-walker at Animal Humane Shelter from 2009-present. A trivial trail tidbit: Mike has hiked the Triple Crown... 2200-mile Appalachian Trail, 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail, 3100-mile Continental Divide Trail.
Susan Ostlie - Secretary
Susan has been a member of the Sandia Collaborative since its inception; she has also been a member of the Mt .Taylor, the Magdalena, and the Mountainair Collaboratives since they were founded. She is a member of the Zuni Mountain Collaborative Forest Restoration Project (CFLRP), and the SW Jemez CFLRP, as long as it existed. Susan is currently on the Board of the Sandia Collaborative, serving as secretary and writing the summaries for monthly board meetings, and bimonthly general collaborative meetings. She represents the Rio Grande Valley Broadband of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a national group that advocates for public lands and wilderness protections.
She became the co-leader of the Rio Grande Valley Broadband of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness in 2009, and represented them on the Cibola NF collaboratives and the CFLRPs.
As the RGVBB leader, Susan organized and led multiple day Broadwalks in the Valles Caldera of the Jemez Mountains, in the Magdalenas, in the Zuni Mountains and in the Gila NF. Broadwalks involve educational, monitoring, and stewardship activities, and usually include at least 20 members, including out of state members and national Broads staff. The RGVBB monitored for wilderness character in all of the national forests of New Mexico, and wrote comments on their plan revisions, advocating for expanded wilderness designations and Wild and Scenic River designations, all for places that members had hiked.
Susan taught middle school Language Arts, including Gifted Education, for 29 years, and always emphasized environmental and outdoor education, including trail maintenance, drawing, orienteering, and ropes course experiences. Her students mentored kindergarten students in environmental topics, and created seedballs that were scattered in the Rio Grande River bosque, as well as arranging ropes course experiences with the littles.
Susan graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a degree in English, and earned a Masters in secondary and Adult Education from UNM. She also completed postgraduate hours to qualify as a Gifted Educator from UNM.
She and her husband Bruce have two daughters, Kristen who has an MA in Architecture, Restoration, and Planning, and Erin, who is a Physician Assistant in a kidney and liver transplant unit of a Denver hospital. Susan enjoys singing, dancing and reading with her grandchildren, Aiden and Sadie. She and Bruce also enjoy working on their tiny house in the Zuni Mountains and traveling to London, Wales, and Iceland, as well as Death Valley and the West Coast.
Susan is an avid, self-taught quilter.
Phillip Clark - Treasurer
Philip’s professional experience includes executive and consulting positions responsible for strategic product planning, long-range business planning, and business planning for startups. He holds BA and MBA degrees from UNM. He has been a member of the Sandia Collaborative since 2016. His Placitas community involvement includes serving as a board member of the San Antonio de Las Huertas Land Grant, doing volunteer work with the Placitas Community Library and the Menaul Historical Library and Research Center, and being a board member of the Placitas Resilience & Preparedness Alliance.
Steve Glass - Commmunications
Steve Glass earned an MS in Environmental Biology from NM State University in 1976. After graduation, Steve enjoyed a 35-year career in virological research, environmental laboratory management, biosolids composting, constructed wetlands research and stormwater compliance. Steve retired from local government in December 2011 and now teaches biology and environmental science at Central New Mexico Community College. Steve previously represented local governments on the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission for 10 years and has served as Chair of the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District Board for 23 years. In addition, he serves on the Mid-Region Council of Governments Water Resources Board and the New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation Commission.
Allen Saville - At-Large
Allen earned degrees in political science, law, urban and regional planning, and environmental planning and design (PhD). After service as an Army officer, he worked more than 40 years designing and managing sophisticated management consulting projects for both public and private sector clients including federal, state, municipal and local government agencies, multinational and other corporations in an exceedingly wide range of industries. He supported emergency incident response and served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for 12 years. He is a founding board member and president of the Placitas Resilience and Emergency Preparedness (Prep) Alliance.
