Joseph Medeiros
President & Secretary
Joe taught biology and ecology for 35 years in California community colleges, spent summers with the National Park Service, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Sierra College Press. Contact: sierrajoe48@gmail.com.
Leadership Team
The all-volunteer officers and board behind SARSAS.
Officers
Gary G. Mapa
Co-Founder & Acting Treasurer
Gary’s family moved to Meadow Vista in 1960. A Placer High graduate and Sierra College alumnus, he has been a full-time Realtor since 1977 and a real estate consultant to the wireless industry since 1990. He joined the SARSAS dream of Jack and Valerie Sanchez to see salmon and steelhead thrive in every reach of Auburn Ravine, for his wife Leslie, three children and seven grandchildren. Contact: gmapa@reatta.com or 530-320-9097.
Board members
Robert Hane
Board member & North Ravine Restoration Coordinator
Born in Chico, Robert served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne, then worked 35 years as an Operating Engineer. He and his wife moved to Auburn in 1969, where they run a Christmas tree ranch. An avid fly fisherman since age thirteen, he joined SARSAS after reading about Jack Sanchez’s efforts to save small fish and wants to help make Jack’s dream come true.
William (Bill) Pennington
Board member
A retired Water Resources Engineer with a background in dam safety, project management, operations and maintenance, construction inspection, and environmental mitigation.
Founders & prior board members
Jack Sanchez
Founder and former President
Born and raised along Auburn Ravine in Ophir, Jack taught English at Del Oro High School for 38 years and worked 27 summers as a State Park Ranger. He founded SARSAS out of a lifelong love of the ravine and its creatures.
Valerie Sanchez
Co-founder and former Treasurer
Valerie taught German, English and drama at Del Oro High School for 31 years. She hopes to one day watch salmon spawning in the center of Auburn with her grandchildren.
William Wauters (deceased)
Former board member
William Wauters died unexpectedly on May 2, 2026. He was a passionate lifelong activist, environmentalist, and involved community member in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, and will be dearly missed. William spent much of his life dedicated to stewarding the Bear and American River watersheds. He was involved in multiple anti-dam campaigns, trail development projects, river clean-ups, among many other community efforts to support the long-term vitality of the rivers, lands, and their inhabitants. He was a valued SARSAS Board Member for many years. His environmental advocacy extended to the Sierra Club, PARC (Protect American River Canyons), ASRACK (Auburn State Park Canyon Keepers), Friends of Placer Legacy, a myriad of Bear River efforts, and pretty much anything fishy and wild.
Jim Holmes
Former Board member; former Placer County Supervisor, District 3
An Auburn native who has worked with SARSAS since its inception, Jim served three terms on the Board of Supervisors beginning in 2005.