Ellen Trescott was born in Western New York, and moved to Washington State in 1998. She was introduced to and awed by Washington 's wildness during a year working with the Washington Conservation Corps, on the Olympic Peninsula and Mt. Rainier . After receiving her bachelor's degree from The Evergreen State College, Ellen taught environmental curriculum to visiting urban students in the Catskill Mountains of New York. She returned to the Northwest in 2004 to attend law school at Lewis and Clark College , focusing on environmental and land use law. She hopes to practice law, and utilize the skills and lessons learned during the writing of this book, to promote effective and culturally responsive conservation strategies across political and ownership boundaries.

Ellen was a coauthor of several chapters as well as an integral contributor to the Appendices