Sarah DeMay

Sarah spent her childhood in Oregon timber country, earned a B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science from Willamette University, drove to New Mexico in 1999 for a six month internship with Bandelier National Monument, and has been in Northern New Mexico ever since. Sarah worked in both Fire Ecology and Wildland Fire and Aviation for the National Park Service and the Santa Fe National Forest on an interagency helitack crew. Sarah quit full-time federal fire work to raise two children, now 7 and 10, with husband Sam, and has been engaged in learning about and practicing land stewardship on private lands since then. After experiencing catastrophic wildfires firsthand as both a firefighter and later as a mother, Sarah is especially passionate about education regarding, and mitigation of, catastrophic wildfire risk on both public and private lands. Sarah, Sam, and kids currently live off-grid in the Jemez Mountains and also spent a few years living in Archuleta County, CO. They purchased their dream property near Tierra Amarilla, NM almost 10 years ago, and have also been CPLA members since then. Sarah and family spend as much time as possible on their land, Agua Fria Ranch, working hard to improve the health and resilience of the forest, streams, wildlife, and land because they have fallen in love with the area and enjoy the work, but mainly for the sake of their children and future generations.