John Garder has been a professional conservation advocate for federal lands based in Washington, DC, for over twenty years. He is an advocate for funding and staffing for national parks in his role as Senior Director of Budget & Appropriations at the National Parks Conservation Association, a role he has held for fifteen years. He was a board officer at the Winter Wildlands Alliance for nine years, helping their mission to preserve winter landscapes and human-powered access. He has an M.S. in Resource, Policy, and Behavior from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He doesn’t live anywhere in particular but maintains a home in the mountains of West Virginia in Canaan Valley. He is an avid outdoorsman whose pursuits include but are not limited to backcountry and front-country skiing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, trail running, and mountain biking.