MEET THE TEAM
Team
The Team behind Public Land Creatives
Meet the creatives who work hard behind the scenes to work with public lands, manage our website, provide information on our social media, and others who make this work!
Everyone loves Public Lands. There is something distinctly American about being able to go into the great outdoors and enjoy these lands. I grew up exploring Glacier National Park and its vastness through hiking its phenomenal trails. I have had the opportunity throughout the years to adventure in a variety of the other places we get to call our own.
The ability to document our lives, to share in that freedom, to experience the vastness of this great land, to share a piece of what the explorers felt when they first laid their eyes on its splendid beauty, to feel the majesty of it all, this is America – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We find that in the freedom to enjoy and benefit from our lands. I hope to see common-sense solutions to the challenges we may face. And, I dream of keeping this land accessible for all in the future, especially as I look at my children’s future.
How lucky are we to live in a country with such endless, extraordinary wild spaces; our daily lives enriched by the exploration and enjoyment of the land under our feet and the natural world at our fingertips. It’s no wonder we humans want to capture it all! Those fleeting, powerful moments that move the soul and connect us to this planet and the place we call home. Of course we want to make those memories and take those beautiful minutes with us as we adventure through this life. And we have every right to!
It is a privilege and a joy to live, work and play in such beautiful and vast expanses. As stewards of this earth, it is our duty to protect and conserve our incredible lands while balancing our very real right to exist in & on them, whether to savor a sunrise, climb a mountain or document our reverie. If not, what is this life even all about? Together, let’s keep our lands open, accessible and beautiful!
As a photographer, hiker, and outdoorsman, living just outside of Glacier National Park, is a dream. Every summer I spend the long daylight hours hiking and adventuring throughout Glacier and our National Forests. I am so grateful for our public lands and that I am able to raise my children here in Montana, exploring these wild spaces.
Over the past 10 years, I have noticed an alarming pattern of stricter and tightening restrictions effecting access to our public lands; specifically concerning our National Parks and the increase of trail and road closures, limited access, as well as unchecked regulations and extensive permitting requirements.
It is my hope that we are able to restore ease of access and enjoyment to the public of both our National Parks and our public lands.
My connection to our public lands was forged when my wife and I fell in love while exploring the awe-inspiring beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Once we became parents, we decided to share that experience with our kids by embarking on a yearly tradition of RV road trips to our national parks.
Exploring our parks and meeting new people along the way reinforced my belief that our national parks are a unifying force, capable of bringing people from all walks of life together. Much like the journeys of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, who found different forms of beauty in Yosemite but came together to protect it, our national parks are a testament to the splendor and unity of our great nation.
While our parks may feel timeless, we must actively ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy them. The unifying spirit of our national parks is at risk because of a concerning trend of increased access restrictions on public lands. Our parks are a wasted resource if ordinary citizens cannot experience them. We must remember the words of Stephen T. Mather, who proclaimed that our national parks are ‘national properties in which every citizen has a vested interest.’ Let us champion together both access and preservation, ensuring that the legacy of our national parks endures for all.
Traci works mostly in Washington and Arizona. She loves traveling on the road with her cat, dog and husband: hiking, climbing and experiencing new things. The National Parks changed her life years ago, quickly becoming her safe place and a space to just experience nature. Traci and her husband got married on a multi day backpacking trip in Mount Rainier National Park – what a special experience and a moving way to start their marriage! They want current and future generations to be able to experience an adventure elopement in the same amazing way that perhaps their parents did.
Traci feels that it is an honor to get to work in such beautiful places, but also places that mean so much to those that are choosing to get married on public lands. She is passionate about protecting elopements on public lands because she believes that everyone should be able to get married in a way that is special to them & authentic to what lights up their world. Ensuring that public lands and park remain open is vitally important for their future.
Malachi is an elopement photographer that lives right along the Colorado/Utah border. Some of his earliest memories are of going to Yellowstone National Park and enjoying what the outdoors has to offer. Malachi spends his time photographing adventurous elopements and small outdoor weddings on public lands. When he’s not photographing, he’s out exploring via hiking, rock climbing, backpacking, or off roading.
Malachi wants to ensure that these public lands are around for a long time for everyone to enjoy. We all enjoy these public lands in different ways, but we shouldn’t have to feel so restricted to do something so precious as to get married out in nature. No matter who you are or who you love, there’s something about nature that can help us all feel a little more at peace. And getting to enjoy our public lands shouldn’t feel like a chore.
The Outdoors is for everyone. And it is my hope that access to our outdoor spaces and wild places is expanded, not limited. I am lucky enough to call Virginia home and explore Shenandoah National Park every chance I get. Whether I am capturing memories in my travels, storytelling for outdoor accessibility, or documenting real human connection against the stunning backdrop that is Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s art that I am creating in our natural home.
We can’t take our responsibility to care for and protect these wild spaces for granted. Likewise, we can’t take for granted our freedom to create, to play, and to explore in these incredible places.
Mission
Advocating for equal, fair, and unbiased access to create on public lands without discrimination and impedance.
To accomplish our mission we need your help! You can help by contacting us with your ideas or by making a donation.