At SLV GO! our mission is to connect people to the outdoors by expanding opportunities for trails, parks, and public lands through community-driven initiatives.
Founded in 2013, SLV GO! (San Luis Valley Great Outdoors) is a grassroots, regional nonprofit working across six counties to improve access to nature, health, and connection. We believe everyone deserves a chance to explore the outdoors—whether on a trail, in a park, or beside a river.
Through partnerships, planning, and on-the-ground projects, we help build and maintain trails, steward public lands, and empower local communities to lead the way.
our team
Mick Daniel
Executive Director
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Mick Daniel is Executive Director at San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, where he leads the organization’s mission, ensures its financial health through active fundraising, oversees strategic planning and program implementation, and enhances SLV GO!’s community image. Previously, he served as Director of Student Life and Recreation at Adams State University, and was a Course Director at the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Mick is passionate about outdoor experiences, their positive effects on health and wellness, and building strong collaborations in communities. He currently serves on the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Advisory Council, Colorado State Recreational Trails Committee, Colorado Outdoor Partnerships, and the Colorado Tourism Office Destination Stewardship Council. Outside of work, he enjoys mountain biking, adventure motorcycling, and time with his wife Morgan.
Dani Robben
Operations Director
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Dani Robben is the Operations Director at San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, where she leads staff, manages daily operations, and supports organizational growth. She previously coordinated SLV GO!’s community collaboratives and partnerships across the San Luis Valley, and now supports their ongoing management and leadership. Dani also brings hands-on trail work experience with the Southwest Conservation Corps and Rocky Mountain Field Institute and holds a Master’s in Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University. In her free time, she enjoys fishing, biking, running, skiing, and spending time with her partner and dogs.
Brian Puccerella
Outdoor Recreation Manager
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Brian Puccerella is the Outdoor Recreation Manager at San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, where he works to get people outside. Previously, he ran the Adams State Adventure Program and has 15 years experience as an outdoor educator. Brian is passionate about getting young people outside, creating lifelong relationships with the outdoors, and is actively involved in the water community and teaches swiftwater rescue courses and avalanche education. Outside of work you can catch Brian riding his bike, floating a river, skiing, and spending time with his wife and daughter.
Esteban Salazar
Health & Wellness Coordinator
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Esteban Salazar is the Health and Wellness Coordinator at San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, where he manages outdoor programming and provides interpretation through the Embajadores program, which engages Hispanic communities in the outdoors through culturally relevant programming. He earned a B.A. in History and Anthropology from Adams State University and has several years of experience as a Cultural Resource Management Field Technician and Crew Chief in the southwestern U.S. Esteban brings expertise in marketing, curriculum development, public outreach, data analysis, and GIS mapping, and is a dedicated conservationist and advocate for public lands. Outside of work, Esteban enjoys hiking, foraging, flint knapping, wildcrafting and reading.
Ian Muñoz
Trails Program Manager
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Ian Muñoz is the Trails Program Manager at SLV GO!, where he manages the Great Outdoors Action Team (GOATs) and trail work operations. Previously, he has worked for Big Bend National Park and Texas Parks & Wildlife as trail manager for Big Bend Ranch State Park. Ian is passionate about providing outdoor opportunities to current and future generations through sustainable work, and actively involved in trail stewardship and outdoor recreation development. Outside of work, Ian enjoys creek fishing and spending time with his two chihuahuas.
Adam Moore
President
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Adam Moore is the Supervisory Forester of Communications and Communities for the Alamosa Field Office of the Colorado State Forest Service where he oversees the daily operations of providing technical forestry services to private landowners, community forests in municipal settings, wildfire preparedness, Good Neighbor Authority efforts with the Rio Grande National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management as well as projects with other partners. Previously he worked for Virginia State Parks as a Park Ranger, YMCA as an Environmental Educator and the Utah Conservation Corps. Adam is passionate about providing outdoor recreation opportunities for all citizens while also balancing multiple-uses of our natural resources at the same time and is actively involved in the Alamosa Tree Board and the San Juan Nordic Club. Outside of work he enjoys biking on roads, gravel and trails, skiing, camping, hiking and miscellaneous projects to reuse old skis.
Nick Saenz
Secretary
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Nick Saenz is Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs at Adams State University, where he leads academic planning and accreditation. Previously, he served as a member of the history faculty and as board president of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area. Nick is passionate about land conservation and promoting access to recreational opportunities, and is actively involved in HECHO’s Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council. Outside of work, he enjoys camping, fly fishing, hiking, skiing, and exploring historical sites in the San Luis Valley.
Don Thompson
Treasurer
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Don Thompson served 30+ years in the financial service industry while living in Denver, and has been enjoying retirement in the San Luis Valley ever since. An avid outdoorsman, he has bicycled daily for over 50 years and has completed Colorado’s 14ers as well as every segment of the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Scenic Trail within the state. In retirement, Don serves as treasurer for seven nonprofit organizations and continues to pursue new adventures from his bucket list.
Laura Cusick
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Laura Cusick is the Executive Director of the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, where she oversees a small team serving the six counties of the San Luis Valley, working on conservation, innovative water solutions, and other community needs. Previously, she was a winemaker in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and prior to that, in New Zealand. Laura is passionate about making connections both in the human and natural environment, and is actively involved in the local community in multiple ways. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, cooking and baking, getting outside, and also curling up inside with a good sci-fi novel, a cat on her lap, and a glass of wine.
Ron Garcia
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Ron Garcia is a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge Manager. He was the first manager of the Baca National Wildlife Refuge (Colorado’s largest), and was responsible for the creation, enhancement and protection of habitat for wildlife and for providing high quality wildlife dependent recreation opportunities for the American public. He also spent nearly 30 years as a Federal Wildlife Officer enforcing wildlife and recreation laws. He was a member of the Mount Blanca Habitat Partnership Committee addressing big game/landowner conflicts in the San Luis Valley. As an avid public land consumer, Ron is passionate about conservation and compatible recreation on public lands. In his spare time he enjoys hunting, fishing, backpacking and exploring the vast public lands of the San Luis Valley with family and friends.
Sean Noonan
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Sean Noonan serves as an Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Bureau of Land Management’s San Luis Valley Field Office and is the agency’s liaison to the SLV GO! Board of Directors. He is dedicated to connecting people and communities to their public lands and values the broad coalition of partners working toward the long-term stewardship and prosperity of the San Luis Valley’s natural and cultural resources. Sean is married with two children and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, exploring the many recreational opportunities in southern Colorado.
Tyler Keck
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Tyler Keck grew up in Monte Vista, Colorado, where he developed an early passion for environmental conservation. After earning a degree in Geology from Colorado State University, he worked as a Project Geologist and later as an Environmental Manager, leading reclamation, conservation, and sustainability initiatives across the U.S. He also served as founding Chairman of the Wyoming Mining Natural Resource Foundation, promoting species conservation and sustainable mining practices. Now working with individuals and businesses in the San Luis Valley to achieve their financial goals, Tyler is committed to supporting community well-being through SLV GO!. He enjoys trail running, mountain biking, rock climbing, and most outdoor activities.
Pamela Cisneros
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Pamela Cisneros is a Program Manager at Southwest Conservation Corps, where they oversee youth and young adult crews engaging in conservation and community service projects. Previously, they managed a non-profit rowing club connecting community members with different watersports and recreation opportunities in a city environment. Pamela is passionate about getting BIPOC communities engaged and educated with the outdoors and is actively involved with SLV Generation Wild and is also a Wilderness First Aid instructor with Desert Mountain Medicine. Outside of work, they enjoy reading in the park, hiking, gravel cycling, and skiing.
Katina Widmer
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Katina Widmer joined the SLV GO! Board of Directors in 2024 and lives in Del Norte. She serves as the Community Operations Officer for the LOR Foundation, directing community grant-making and supporting local community officers in rural towns across the Mountain West. Katina brings more than a decade of experience with community-based organizations and foundations in urban, rural, and frontier communities in Colorado, with recent work focused on flexible, community-driven support for rural communities. Her career background spans nonprofits, higher education, academic medicine, and philanthropy, and she holds a master’s degree in sociology from New Mexico State University and a bachelor’s degree in English, Spanish, and sociology from Ohio Wesleyan University. Katina enjoys the San Luis Valley’s access to the outdoors and spends her free time running, hiking, skiing, riding her gravel bike, and tending her (unruly) garden.
Julie Chacón
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Julie Chacón is a 6th and 7th generation Colorado native from the San Luis Valley, born in La Jara and raised between La Jara and Capulin on her family’s homestead. She is the Executive Director of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area and Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic & Historic Byway, bringing more than a decade of experience in nonprofit management, grant writing, and program development. Julie also serves on numerous boards, including the Colorado Preservation Committee, Alamosa Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center, and the Alliance of National Heritage Areas, where she is Treasurer. She is passionate about preserving and sharing the Valley’s history, culture, and traditions, and their important role in the story of Colorado and the United States.
Back row, left to right: Carla Kochis, Zaeria Davis, Mark Franchi, Clay Rondeau, Kirby Wagner, Owen Sullivan. Front row, left to right: Will Burnett, Ian Muñoz, Jimmy Holder.
