Charlton 'Chuck' Bonham, Chair
Charlton “Chuck” Bonham was appointed as Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and became Chair of the Wildlife Conservation Board effective September 6, 2011. Prior to his appointment as Director of Fish and Wildlife, Mr. Bonham served in a number of roles for Trout Unlimited over ten years, including since 2004 as the organization’s California director.
Mr. Bonham was responsible for developing, managing, and implementing TU's programs in California. These programs include the California Water Project, Sportsmen’s Conservation Project, and restoration and watershed projects in both northern and Southern California. In addition, Mr. Bonham was a senior attorney for the organization.
Mr. Bonham also served on the Board of Directors of the Delta Conservancy, whose mission is to conserve, sustain and enhance the cultural, agricultural, recreational, wildlife and natural habitat resources of the River Delta region, as well as develop and promote sustainable protection, management and stewardship programs through research and education.
Mr. Bonham received his J.D. and Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, in Portland, Oregon. Before Trout Unlimited, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa, and an instructor and guide at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, in Bryson City, N.C.
Mr. Bonham brings a diverse background and a longstanding appreciation for the outdoors to the position.
Damon Nagami, Vice Chair
Damon Nagami was appointed to the Wildlife Conservation Board by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in August 2021. He is a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council and director of NRDC’s Southern California Ecosystems Project, which focuses on increasing equitable access to nature for low-income communities of color and protecting open space and wildlife habitat across Southern California. Damon also serves as the board chair of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, an equity-focused organization that has helped create 29 parks and gardens since 2002, serving more than 400,000 Angelenos annually, and as co-chair of the Los Angeles County Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force, which advises county officials on public health priorities and practices that will achieve health equity and healthy communities.
Damon holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. He lives in Los Angeles and enjoys fishing in the Eastern Sierra, singing, and playing music in his family band.
Karyn Gear
Karyn Gear was appointed to the Wildlife Conservation Board by Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire in January 2025. Karyn spent nearly four decades with the California State Coastal Conservancy, including 26 years as the Conservancy’s North Coast Regional Manager. While there, she worked closely with local, state, and federal agencies, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations to develop and manage resource enhancement, public access, and agricultural preservation projects, oversaw the acquisition of 150,000 acres of conservation lands, and served as the agency’s first tribal liaison. In addition, Karyn served as an international board member of the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture for nearly two decades, including several years as the US Steering Committee’s vice chair. She also managed the formation and growth of the Great Redwood Trail Agency as its Interim Executive Director. Karyn retired from the Conservancy in July 2024.
Karyn holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of California Berkeley, and a master’s degree in geography with a concentration in resource management and environmental planning from San Francisco State University. She enjoys travelling to places near and far with her family, and hiking with her trusty dog Abby.
Fran Pavley
Fran Pavley was appointed to the Wildlife Conservation Board by the Governor in February 2018. Prior to that she was elected to serve 14 years in the State Legislature. She served in the Assembly (2000-2006) as Chair of the Budget Subcommittee, 3 on Natural Resources and Transportation. In the State Senate, she was appointed to serve as the Chair of the Natural Resources and Water Committee from 2008-2016. She successfully led the legislature on water, air quality, natural resource protection, and climate change policies during her terms in office. Four of the 160 laws she authored include the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and AB 1493 (vehicle emission standards), as well as AB 32 and SB 32 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets laws that have created markets for new clean energy technologies.
Prior to serving in the State legislature, Fran served as the first Mayor of her hometown in Agoura Hills, an appointed member to the California Coastal Commission, and a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee. Currently, former Senator Pavley serves as an Environmental Consultant, and the Environmental Policy Director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute where she continues to work on climate and water related policies. She also is a member of the board of the UCLA Law School Emmet Climate Center and CAL Clean Energy Fund.
Fran graduated from CSU Fresno and has a Master's Degree in Environmental Planning from CSU Northridge. She and her husband, Andy, were both middle school teachers and still live in Agoura Hills, where they raised two children and four guide dogs.
Joe Stephenshaw
Joe Stephenshaw was appointed as Director of the California Department of Finance by Governor Newsom in July of 2022. In this role, he serves as the Governor’s Chief Fiscal Policy Advisor. Prior to his appointment, Stephenshaw served in Governor Newsom’s Office as a Senior Counselor on Infrastructure and Fiscal Affairs.
Stephenshaw was Staff Director for the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee from 2017 to 2022. He held multiple positions in the California Legislature from 2008 to 2017, including serving as a Policy Consultant in the Office of the Senate President pro Tempore, a Special Advisor to the Speaker of the Assembly, and as a Budget Consultant for both the Assembly Budget Committee and the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Stephenshaw was a Budget Analyst for the California Department of Finance from 2005 to 2008.
Stephenshaw is a graduate of Menlo College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Sacramento.
Tina Thomas
Tina Thomas was appointed to the Wildlife Conservation Board by the Governor in February 2025. Thomas has been Of Counsel at Downey Brand LLP since 2023. She was Founding Partner at Thomas Law Group Sacramento from 2012 to 2023. Thomas has held multiple positions at Remy, Thomas, Moose, and Manley, LLP from 1982 to 2011, including Counsel and Managing Partner. She was an Associate Attorney at Remy and Associates from 1979 to 1982. Thomas is a Board Member at the Steinberg Institute, Sacramento Federal Judiciary Library, and Meristem, and Member Emeritus at the Sacramento Food Bank. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego, and a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Sociology and Political Science from Stephens College.
Erika Zavaleta
Erika Zavaleta was appointed as President of the Fish and Game Commission and to the Wildlife Conservation Board in February 2025. Erika Zavaleta is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), where she helped found the Coastal Science and Policy graduate program and runs the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program and the Center to Advance Mentored, Inquiry-based Opportunities (CAMINO). Erika joined the faculty in 2003 and has since partnered on projects with scientists, farmers, hunters, ranchers, indigenous communities, conservation organizations, state and federal agencies and private foundations.
She won the 2007 Ecological Society of America (ESA) Sustainability Science Award for work on community responses to climate change and wildfire in Alaska’s boreal forests. She co-edited the book Ecosystems of California, which in 2016-17 won a California Book Award, and its partner Guide for Policymakers volume, which brought together hundreds of experts across the state in every aspect of ecology and stewardship. Erika has served on boards for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Society for Conservation Biology and is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and the Ecological Society of America.
Erika earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in biological sciences and a Master of Arts degree in anthropology from Stanford University. She lives in Santa Cruz, California, and her favorite pastime is exploring the outdoors with family, friends and her students.