Have you ever wondered who are the Commissioners and what do they do? We caught up with Commissioner Molly Doran and asked her five quick questions about her experience as a volunteer Commissioner and about her love of the land.

Meet Commissioner Molly Doran. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Molly moved to Wyoming in her 20s to work for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). While at NOLS, she helped run branch schools in Alaska, Canada, Kenya and Patagonia Chile (1979-2002). Molly earned her MA. ABS in Managing and Consulting at the Leadership Institute of Seattle, Bastyr University, and her Bachelors of Environmental Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Molly currently lives in Washington State in "the Skagit," which is near the Canadian-U.S. border in Northern Puget Sound. She is currently the Executive Director of Skagit Land Trust. She is also a former chair of the Commission. She has served on the Commission for eleven years.

Q: What drives your passion for land conservation?

A: Leaving a natural legacy to future generations of people and wildlife. We need to save important land and water for the health of our planet. And, I have rarely met a person anywhere in the world that doesn't enjoy nature in some way, so it is very satisfying, community-oriented work .

Q: What is one thing that you wish land trusts knew about being a commissioner?

A: I wish land trusts knew how much we enjoy getting a glimpse into what they accomplish. We spend a lot of time looking at how they run the business, do the projects, but with every land trust I have reviewed, I am also wowed by what they are doing for their community.

Q: What has been the most surprising thing about serving on the Commission?

A: That I could be this interested in the details of say, nonprofit by-laws!

Q: What is your favorite childhood memory of being outdoors?

A: It is a hard choice between the YWCA camp on Georgian Bay I attended every summer, and exploring old logging roads, forests and bays at my family's cottage in the Canadian Shield.

Q: What is your favorite way to spend time in nature?

A: With my family, exploring. We look in books or at a map for a new adventure, and off we go. We've had wild adventures out our backdoor in the North Cascades, in Africa and many places in between.

Thanks to Molly for sharing her story with us and for her tireless work during her time with the Commission.

9/16/2020