Native to California, Dave Herrero grew up in the San Bernardino National Forest in a small community known as Mountain Home Village, which is a stone’s throw away from The Wildlands Conservancy’s Bearpaw Reserve. Dave’s journey with Wildlands began in 2010, working as a ranger at Bluff Lake Reserve. He’d been backpacking out of the country and returned home without a plan, only to discover a seasonal position open at Bluff Lake Reserve in his home mountains. He favored working outdoors, but after the season was over, moved on to pursue teaching. Dave says he found himself looking out the window more often than his students during his stint teaching and took that as a sign that teaching wasn’t for him. Dave came back to work for Wildlands in 2017 and never looked back. He currently works as preserve manager for the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, and also leads our conservation and advocacy efforts in southeast Utah as the Four Corners regional director.
Growing up in a small community and close to nature, Dave says he had something of a free range childhood. This enabled a lifestyle of camping, hiking, and backpacking, paving the way for a future in conservation work.
“My dad read Ed Abbey quite a bit when I was young, and donated to Greenpeace and the Sierra Club so we had the member mags lying around. I also remember him reading some Annie Dillard, Larry McMurtry, Barry Lopez, and other earthy writers,” says Dave.
A pivotal juncture in Dave’s path was finding Wendell Berry’s Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community in a used bookstore when he was 19 or 20. An avid reader, Dave says Berry’s ideas were different from anyone he’d read before.
“I started tracking down other stuff by him — novels, poems, essays, and eventually came across The Work of Local Culture. That really blew my hair back. I’d recommend it to anyone reading this. His understanding of conservation turned me onto things I’d never considered. At the time, I thought I’d live a life informed by conservation, living mindfully, and perhaps volunteering for a trail clean-up day now and then. I had no idea I would end up here,” says Dave.
Dave kept reading conservation-minded writers, he continued to deepen his connection to nature — camping, hiking, and backpacking — and eventually solidified a career path in conservation when he joined the Wildlands team nearly a decade ago.
“The most rewarding time I spend in nature is when I’m not doing anything except paying attention,” says Dave.
“To sit, or walk, and notice where I’m at. The seasons, the changes, the evidence of life living around me, these things are all tremendously inspirational and life affirming to me. There is something pleasing about walking slowly and paying attention, finding metaphors in the living world around you.”
The Eastern Sierra holds a special place in Dave’s heart, as it does for many. Dave grew up camping at June Lake with his family, has spent countless days and nights backpacking and camping throughout the region with friends, and has embarked on many solo trips for self-reflection over the years.
“I have memories in the Eastern Sierra I’ll hold onto my entire life,” says Dave.
“When you hit that corridor just past Ridgecrest and head north through Owens Valley, the Sierra escarpment climbs so suddenly…It’s as beautiful a region as I’ve ever seen. I’m thrilled to be on the ground floor of the Conservancy’s work up here.”
In asking Dave what his favorite destinations are in the Eastern Sierra, he won’t reveal his most cherished spots, but he’ll encourage you to discover your own!
“There is no shortage of trails, roads, peaks, creeks, and lakes in the Eastern Sierra. You’ll find a favorite destination. I definitely recommend the trails out of upper Twin Lakes, either toward the Matterhorn or Barney and Peeler Lakes, or the trails out of Virginia Lakes. Any of these trailheads will get you into remote backcountry within a couple miles and are as beautiful as any place in the lower Eastern Sierra range. Baptize yourself in the lakes and streams up there. If you’re more inclined to drive, Green Creek Road, Burcham Flat Road, or Bodie Road are all terrific. Some great local swimming holes, if you’re coming up from the south, are the artesian springs east of Bishop,” shares Dave.
In his free time, Dave enjoys traveling with his partner, Heather, and their dog Vivian as often as possible. He says traveling, by plane, car, or foot is his favorite thing to do.
“The world is filled with curious people and curious places,” says Dave.
Dave also enjoys trail-running, playing his guitar, reading, growing his book and music libraries, and more recently, has taken up fly-fishing, inspired by A River Runs Through It, his dad, and several of his favorite authors.
