The California Trail: Conserving the Lands, Sharing the History and Developing Recreation

Leah Brady (Elko Western Shoshone) – Great Basin Native Basketweavers Association
Leah Brady was born August 1955 in Elko and graduated from Owyhee High School in 1973. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, earning her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in education in 1977. For 23 years she taught in Fallon and Schurz. Wanting to continue the tradition of basketweaving, Leah learned from elders Elaine Christensen, Sylvia Dick and Minnie Dick and specialized in Western Shoshone twined baskets and cradleboards. Leah became a Master Weaver for the Nevada Folk Arts Program and teaches at workshops around the country and at Great Basin Native Basketweavers Association gatherings. She was also invited to the Smithsonian’s Folk Life Festival in 2006. Leah co-authored “Celebrating Nevada Indians,” a teaching curriculum distributed to elementary schools around the state. Today, Leah continues to demonstrate traditional basketry, foods, and arts and crafts, and travels to promote the Great Basin Native Basketweavers Association. Leah often demonstrates at the California Trails Visitor Center in Elko.

Carin L. Farley – Directorate of NLCS and Community Partnerships – Division of National Conservation Lands
Carin served for more than twenty-one years as a Visitor and Resource Protection Ranger with the National Park Service. Some of her duty stations include Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, Sitka National Historic Park and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska and several parks in the Southwest. Much of that time was spent in the field working on trails and wilderness issues. Prior to becoming the BLM National Scenic and Historic Trails lead, she served as the Senior Visitor and Resource Protection Ranger for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. She understands the complexities of the National Trails System, as well as the extraordinary opportunity that exists to connect all people to public lands through trails and the diverse stories/perspectives they hold. Carin has a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management with a minor in Native American Studies from Humboldt State University. She’s a single mom to her nine-year-old daughter, together they celebrate life through their love of adventure.​

Nicole Orsua – Chief Industry Development Officer – Nevada Division of Tourism (Travel Nevada)
Nicole Orsua is the Chief Industry Development Officer for Travel Nevada. The team has three primary pillars: to support the development of tourism destinations in rural Nevada, to support existing tourism businesses in rural Nevada, and to sell rural Nevada to both domestic and international audiences through travel and trade market development. Her career has spanned both the private and public sectors, having worked for hotels, tourism attractions, tour guide companies, and local governments. These roles have taken place in urban, regional, and rural locations, in both the United States and Australia; giving her a global point of view on prospective problems and the unique challenges in global tourism. She has a Master of International Sustainable Tourism Management, which she completed at Monash University in 2020, during which she learned the potential positive (and negative) impacts tourism can have on the local community, economy, and environment. Her research interests include sustainable tourism development, female entrepreneurship, and Indigenous tourism which culminated in a qualitative study of indigenous female bungalow hosts in Vanuatu. A chapter based on her thesis research is now featured in the Routledge Handbook on Tourism and Small Island States in the Pacific, published in December 2022.​

Moderator: Bruce Rettig – Partner Program Coordinator – AIANTA 
Bruce Rettig is an award-winning author, charged with scoping out exciting tribal tourism opportunities throughout the United States. He earned a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Colorado, and his published works and biography can be found at BruceRettig.com. Rettig earned a Professional Certificate in Cultural Heritage Tourism offered by AIANTA in partnership with the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies, and he also provides marketing and web management support for the organization. Rettig has served as president and creative director for Charter Advertising/Design, Inc. for more than thirty-two years, providing copy writing, photography, and graphic design services. He has worked with the Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Ely Shoshone Tribe, Washoe Tribe of California & Nevada, Stewart Indian School, the Nevada Indian Commission and Nevada’s Indian Territory.