CONTACTS:
Valentin Lopez
President
Amah Mutsun Land Trust
916-743-5833
Kent Lightfoot
Chairman
Amah Mutsun Land Trust Board of Directors
510-236-2294
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2021
AMAH MUTSUN LAND TRUST HIRES NEW LEADER
Raymond C. Hitchcock, former Tribal Chairman and CEO of the Wilton Rancheria Band of Miwok Indians, Selected as Executive Director
New Director promises to protect sacred sites, restore native habitat, and mentor Native youth as future land trust leaders
Berkeley, California – Valentin Lopez, Amah Mutsun Land Trust’s President and Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, announced today that Raymond C. Hitchcock was selected to become the Land Trust’s next Executive Director. After an extensive search, Chairman Lopez said: “We are very excited to have Raymond, our first Native Executive Director, to join AMLT. He successfully led Wilton Rancheria through the federal process to put land into Trust for the Tribe after being landless for almost 60 years, greatly enhanced internal tribal capacity, and led the effort to permit, fund, and start construction of a $600 million gaming facility in Elk Grove, California, while successfully running a local countertop business. He understands firsthand the challenges Native people face every day. His strength has been his ability to build and maintain effective relationships within his community, and we know he will do this here, while carrying out our many programs and projects.”
Raymond Hitchcock will be AMLT’s second Executive Director. EkOngKar Singh Khalsa served an AMLT’s first Executive Director for 4 years.
In his prior capacity as Tribal Chairman and CEO for Wilton Rancheria, Mr. Hitchcock served as both the leader and spokesman for the Tribe and dealt with everything from expanding internal tribal resources and managing 9 departments and a staff of 27 people to lobbying the State Legislature and Congress to award the Tribe 36 acres in 2017; its first property since 1958. Mr. Hitchcock also served on the Executive Board of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, was appointed by Governor Newsom to the Tribal Nations Grant Fund, which disburses funds to non-gaming and limited gaming tribes in California, and served on the California Department of Social Service’s Tribal Advisory Committee that addresses Indian child welfare issues and develops policies and initiatives affecting Indian Tribes and tribal families throughout California
Mr. Hitchcock is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of Indian people and believes through hard work, determination, and persistence we can accomplish this and so much more. He said, “I am humbled and honored to be offered this opportunity to work for AMLT and to create opportunities for tribal youth to protect and restore the places most sacred to the Mutsun people. I will do everything in my power to ensure that these places are protected and accessible to the Mutsun Tribe, and other Tribes, while working hard to expand and enhance AMLT’s flagship program, the Native Stewardship Corps, which employs Native youth. I am also very excited to mentor our Native youth so they become the next generation of land trust leaders.”
The Amah Mutsun Land Trust was established in 2014, and received its tax-exempt status in 2015. AMLT’s purpose is to protect and steward sacred sites within the Mutsun Territory. AMLT is also committed to restoring and stewarding native plants that were abundant prior to contact and working with university scholars and others to better understand Mutsun history, culture, traditions, and ceremonies that were lost starting with the brutal removal from their lands by the Spanish and extending well into the American period. The goal is to rediscover Mutsun history, culture, and identity and to share this information with the Tribe and the general public.
AMLT is an independent land trust, with a majority of its Board of Directors appointed by Amah Mutsun Tribal Council. AMLT currently holds a 96-acre conservation easement near Año Nuevo State Park, a cultural easement at Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District’s Mt. Umunhum and works closely with California Department of Parks and Recreation at Quiroste Valley, which is a designated California State Cultural Preserve. AMLT also manages native plant gardens at San Juan Bautista State Park, Castle Rock State Park, University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden, and at Pie Ranch on the Santa Cruz Coast.
AMLT has worked closely with many partners and friends to achieve its success. These include Kalliopeia Foundation, The Christensen Fund, Satterberg Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, Moore Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz, Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California State Coastal Conservancy, University of California Berkeley, University of California Santa Cruz, Stanford University, Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District, Sempervirens Fund, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Save the Redwoods League, The Nature Conservancy, Pie Ranch, Pinnacles National Park, AMLT donors, and others.
Mr. Hitchcock will start full-time as AMLT’s new Executive Director on April 19, 2021.