Mark Rockwell, Endangered Species Coalition Pacific Coast Representative

Mark works to engage people up and down the Pacific Coast in efforts to protect wildlife and wild places. He is vice president for conservation for the Federation of Fly Fisher’s Northern California Council, and has worked with the Rangeland Conservation Coalition, Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl, California Trout, the California Endangered Habitats League and the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. He is on the steering committee of the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of more than 20 groups in the San Francisco and Central Valley of California, working on water issues and an important voice for the environment and endangered species.   

Testimonials from Conservation Leaders

Mark's organizing expertise is highly valued by his colleagues in the conservation community. Here is a little bit about what people are saying about him:

Mark Rockwell has also been on the forefront of the defense in California's "water wars," playing a key roll in protecting against the efforts by Big Agribusiness to roll back the Endangered Species Act itself in order to loosen water restrictions that keep them from dewatering major California rivers and killing off several ESA-listed aquatic species.  Also at risk are many runs of once abundant Pacific salmon, which desperately need more water in the rivers and whose populations have crashed in the last two years, putting many commercial fishing families out of business, all because Agribusiness has taken unsustainable amounts of water from California's rivers.  Without the Endangered Species Coalition's help in general, and Mark Rockwell's in particular, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and many other groups' efforts to roll back these anti-environmental bills, restore more water to California's rivers -- and to save many Pacific salmon runs from extinction -- would likely have failed.
- Glen Spain, NW Regional Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA)

Dr Mark Rockwell and the Endangered Species Coalition provide essential organizing and strategic support for protecting endangered species in California.  They have assisted us locally in fighting for California gnatcatchers and coastal cactus wrens on former military lands in Orange County.  We worked together on a seminar and photo exhibit about our threatened habitats.  The Coalition has also given our group a voice on issues throughout the state, as well as inputs to federal issues of concern.
- Dan Silver, Executive Director, Endangered Habitats League, Los Angeles, Calif.

I have come to greatly respect Mark’s work.  I am a fishing equipment manufacturer and a board member of the American Sportfishing Association.  I have worked with hundreds of people and organizations on fishery issues for over thirty years.  I place Mark in the top tier of people I have met who can rise above the fray and get things accomplished.  I look forward to our continued cooperative efforts into the future.
- Richard B. Pool, President, Pro Troll Fishing Equip. Company
 
Working with Mark Rockwell has been a pleasure. His presence at pivotal meetings brings a layer of professional expertise that is rarely seen. Mark has also facilitated connecting a number of grassroots networks, which has created more support for myriad efforts on behalf of fish, streams, and groundwater.  Using his network again, he has increased the effectiveness of Endangered Species Coalition campaigns by locating scientists to bolster efforts to protect the Endangered Species Act. Mark's work is essential for the numerous special status species in California.
- Barbara Vlamis, Former Executive Director, California Endangered Species Habitats Association (CESHA)