Alicia Munoz

About 20 years ago, Alicia moved to East Vancouver and started hiking in 2006. Beacon Rock and Cape Horn became her favorites. She says she hiked them so many times, she can walk them in her mind's eye and imagine herself there, even from her current home in San Diego.

Alicia found joy and meaning in her involvement with Friends. She started with Friends as a volunteer driver using her Toyota Sienna. She loved meeting new friends for the many hikes offered during the season. Her goal was to experience each trail and explore all that they offered.

Friends of the Gorge made the trails and hiking experience safe to explore. Friends offered camaraderie, education, exercise and beauty with every level or type of hike. The gorge became accessible to her and she now thinks about how it could become that way for others who have not had the same experience when she reads about the Gorge Accessibility Project, especially at Cape Horn.

At the same time, Alecia became enamored with Cape Horn, the Rotary Club where she also volunteered, committed to planting trees and shrubs on the Salmon Falls Park and Ride. The work was done on a very rainy day and many slipped on the slopes, but the trees and shrubs took and it gives her great satisfaction to know she was a part of this Gorge stewardship effort.

Alecia has a strong affinity towards stewardship and believes it is the most important work that Friends does, because it requires a wide variety of undertakings that Friends is committed to including like education, outreach and hands-on protection in which she believes encourages the compelling work of stewardship.

Alecia's stewardship ethic is rooted in her belief that conservation is a civic duty. "Once born, we are stewards of the land and of each other. May we leave it better or at best, do no harm."

Alecia's commitment to stewardship will endure into the future. "My legacy gift is a gift of continued stewardship. It takes a confluence of leadership and vision, political advocacy, public partnerships, education, and volunteers to ensure our Gorge continues to showcase its magnificent landscape and be environmentally healthy for future generations. The Gorge is a gift." Indeed it is Alecia! Thank you for your commitment to its stewardship both now and through your legacy.