Board and Staff

Bill grew up in Holladay regularly hiking with his dad and dogs in Neffs Canyon and going on hiking and camping trips in the southern Utah canyon country. He spent as long as possible at the University of Utah, beginning with a music scholarship, later getting Bachelor and Master degrees in linguistics, and ultimately getting his J.D.—and backcountry skiing in the Wasatch as much as possible all the while.

His life experience has been widely varied, having done technical writing in the Paleolithic era of computing, taught academic English and ESL in Malaysia, traveled for a year mostly in south Asia but all over the Eastern Hemisphere from New Zealand to Soviet Russia, developed innovative designs for a structural engineering firm, litigated business, personal injury, and personal injury defense cases, climbed in Yosemite, Canada, Nepal, and Alaska, and participated in the successful start up of a contracting firm in Santa Fe specializing in restoring historic adobe and stone buildings.

His most regular sources of pleasure include seeking out small corners of the Wasatch he’s never been and exploring long, improbable hiking routes in southern Utah. He lives in Sugarhouse with his pervasively beautiful wife Jill and a charismatic cat.

I grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts and discovered my love for the outdoors in my teens backpacking, biking, fishing skiing and mountaineering in the mountains of Northern New England. When it came time for college, I headed west to Boulder Colorado, where I continued my outdoor recreation and got a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. After college, I worked for 15 years in environmental consulting and engineering, working to help industries with contaminated soil and groundwater meet regulatory and legal requirements in Colorado and California while weekending in the mountains. I returned to graduate school to study counseling psychology and now work as a marriage and family therapist.

Having lived and adventured in some of the most popular public lands in the country, I have seen firsthand the impacts of human use and development can have on the landscape, environment, wildlife and user experience. My goal with Save Our Canyons is to help our community to find a path that allows this increasingly pressured resource of the Wasatch Mountains to be available for wildlife, watershed and future generations.

Jayme Blakesley grew up in Millcreek with Mt. Olympus as the backdrop of his youth. After completing a degree in Philosophy at Brigham Young University, falling in love, and graduating law school at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Jayme traded his beloved mountains for a bicycle commute among the rivers, trees, and monuments of Washington, DC, where he spent a decade working for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration.

With two children starting school and one more on the way, Jayme’s family felt the pull of the West and moved to Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest was a revelation to Jayme as he learned the “Oregon Story,” experienced the majesty of tall trees, and again had a mountain view to the east. He spent every free moment hiking, biking, paddling, and skiing.

Jayme returned to Utah in 2015 as General Counsel of the Utah Transit Authority, where his office helped draft the Mountain Accord. He became acquainted with Save Our Canyons when he testified before the U.S. Congress alongside Carl Fisher in support of the Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Area Act.
In 2018, Jayme joined the law firm of Hayes Godfrey Bell, P.C., where he focuses in transportation, local government, and real estate law.

Jayme lives in Holladay with his wife Katie and their three children. When he isn’t working, you can find him on skis, or with a ball or book in hand.

I am a skier, business operator, and environmental advocate. I have lived in Salt Lake City since first moving here to go to school at Westminster College in 2014. From an early age, I have been passionate about the environment and the ecosystems in which we live and play in, and have always had a keen desire to give back to these areas that are so meaningful to me. In 2014 I moved to Utah to attend Westminster College and complete my undergrad degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in entrepreneurship. Shortly before graduating, I began working with a local apparel and accessories company whose mission is to build versatile, outdoor-oriented apparel and accessories that are made from recycled/ sustainable materials.

I chose to move to Salt Lake and attend Westminster College thanks to its proximity to the Wasatch. I have fallen increasingly in love with these mountains with each passing day that I get to spend in them. I’ve traveled around the world from Japan, to Peru, Europe, and down to Chile and Argentina and I can say that I have not seen the anomaly that is the Wasatch anywhere else on the planet…. The level of respect I have for these mountains and the desire to keep Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons from turning into places overrun by concrete, hotels, trash, and gondolas, grows immensely year over year. As someone that operates a business whose mission it is to get better at giving back as it grows, I’ve also found it important to get involved with organizations on a personal level that are helping ecosystems that I hold near and dear to my heart. I am excited to be involved with Save Our Canyons and contribute to an organization working tirelessly to align passionate people toward common goals surrounding preservation.

I am originally from California, but have now called Utah home for over four years. I moved to Salt Lake City to attend law school at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. I was initially drawn to Utah because of its recreational opportunities and the law school’s well-respected environmental law program. I’ve always been passionate about the outdoors and my decision to apply to law school was motivated by a desire to protect the natural places I grew up recreating in. Since moving to Utah, I have fallen in love with its natural beauty, proximity to wilderness, and outdoor community. I now work as an attorney at Ray Quinney & Nebeker P.C., a local law firm, and practice in the firm’s environmental and natural resources and general litigation practice groups. I am passionate about conservation and protecting public lands and wilderness areas and became involved with Save Our Canyons to contribute in this area in a meaningful way. Most weekends, you can find me recreating in the Wasatch or other public lands around Utah, whether that’s running or hiking in the summer with my dog, Hallie, or snowboarding in the winter.

My name is Omar Alam, a second-generation American citizen who has resided in Utah for the past two decades. My cultural background is diverse, with roots in Pakistan, and my formative years were spent in the Middle East. Despite the allure of cricket, I opted to pursue my dream of becoming a software engineer in the United States. During my undergraduate studies at Weber State University, I cultivated a profound affection for Utah’s natural landscapes. As an enthusiastic snowboarder, camper, and hiker, I seek solace in the rugged beauty of the mountains and the joy of outdoor pursuits.

Beyond my personal interests, I’ve played a pivotal role in Oracle Corporation’s development and launch of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure product and the Exadata Database Service. These offerings cater to public cloud, hybrid cloud, and multicloud scenarios, serving large-scale customers. My professional journey involves driving complex technical initiatives, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and leading diverse stakeholders.

Outside of work, I’ve also founded and served as President of the Utah Cricket Association and other club teams. Armed with an MBA in Technology Commercialization from Westminster College and a B.S. in Computer Science from Weber State University, I am eager to apply my technical acumen and leadership to address the challenges faced by our canyons. My goal is to assist our community in finding a sustainable path to preserve the increasingly scarce resource of the Wasatch Mountains—benefiting the wildlife, and future generations.

A lover of right footed turns, loam dirt, and tailwinds, Eliza has been working on environmental issues for the last decade in a career that spans policy, fundraising, and community engagement. She grew up in the small climbing town of Rumney, NH and attended St. Lawrence University where she received a B.A. in Global Studies and African Studies while competing on SLU’s Division I ski team. Both spots were surrounded by amazing public land that built her love and commitment for preserving these areas for future generations.

Eliza first visited Utah as a freshman in college when the University of Utah hosted the NCAA finals in Park City. After spending the next week playing across Utah’s public lands from snow covered mountains to red dirt trails and rivers in between, it didn’t take too long for Eliza to decide to settle down here. Her career had other plans but she kept Utah in the back of her mind as she worked on rural economic, resort community, and climate impact work on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC as a congressional staffer. Since 2019, she has focused her efforts on issues that impact the west and has worked for national and state focused nonprofits, most recently for o2 Utah. Her focus areas include air quality, renewable energy, public land, transportation, and water issues and she specializes in both government relations and connecting impact-driven donors to high-impact nonprofits.

When she’s not solving policy problem sets, Eliza spends her time exploring the Wasatch by skis, bikes, chacos and running shoes. She lives in Sugarhouse with a rotating set of friends and her sweet kitten, Puck.

Coming soon

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