Dorinda Thompson
Board Member
Dorinda joined the Board in 2018, and has serves now as Vice-President.
She has been fortunate to have lived much of her life in rural settings. She grew up in San Mateo County, California, with horses, dogs and cats. Now in her 70’s, she feels lucky to be living in Siskiyou County, again with horses, dogs and cats. Being a caring steward of the land which nurtures us is very important to Dorinda. She hopes to be able to place a conservation easement on her Gazelle ranch in future to preserve its beauty and privacy for generations to come. Dorinda’s daughter and grandchildren are also very supportive of this goal.
Dorinda enjoyed a thirty-five year career as a kindergarten teacher, and worked concurrently as a realtor for fifteen to twenty years. During those working years, her vacations were spent hiking, camping and horse-packing in the mountains of California, Idaho and Oregon with her husband. They spent several years looking for an appropriate ranch setting, and in 1998, purchased 280 acres of beautiful land along Gazelle Callahan Road. In 2000, they were able to purchase an adjoining parcel of 160 acres. After her 2004 retirement and their subsequent move to Gazelle in 2006, they had their retirement home built, and Dorinda then had time to look for ways to become more involved with her new community.
In addition to joining two book clubs, Dorinda trained to become a CASA volunteer and was sworn in as an officer of the court in 2007. Since then she has volunteered with foster youth as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with the goal of helping each child find placement in a loving and permanent home. She also joined the Siskiyou Humane Society Board of Directors and served as Vice President and fundraiser.
When she joined the Siskiyou Land Trust Board in 2018, Dorinda was enthusiastic about working together with the excellent SLT staff and volunteer board members to help protect the unspoiled and beautiful environment of Siskiyou county. During her time serving as Vice President of the board, Dorinda has been pleased and encouraged to see SLT’s outreach and influence move gradually from being centered in Mt. Shasta to representing more and more of Siskiyou county. It is important to Dorinda that Siskiyou County not be artificially split between south county, north county and the valley, and she is proud that SLT has been showing the leadership and representation which reflects our entire community as SLT helps to preserve and protect both small and large tracts of local land from development.
