PALM SPRINGS, CA (March 6, 2024) Jeff Ohlfs, retired park ranger, has been elected 2024 Chairperson of the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority, governing body of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Ohlfs was originally appointed to the Authority by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2018 and reappointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023.
Ohlfs, of Twenty-Nine Palms, has been a Division Supervisor (Reservist) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Operations Division Response Directorate since 2017. Since 2021, he has served as Vice Commander of the San Bernardino County Sheriff Morongo Basin Search and Rescue Team. He has spent 45 years in the park profession. He held several positions at Joshua Tree National Park from 1990 to 2016, including Chief Park Ranger, District Park Ranger, and Park Ranger. He was a park ranger at Hot Springs National Park from 1987 to 1990 and at C&O Canal National Historical Park from 1985 to 1987. Ohlfs earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource Planning from Cal Poly Humboldt.
“Serving as 2024 Chair of the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority is a great honor,” says Ohlfs. “I hope that my background in natural resource planning and management brings a beneficial perspective to my tenure as chair.”
Also elected for 2024 offices are Vice Chair Sandra Magana-Cuellar, Secretary Nancy Stuart, and Treasurer Brian Nestande.
In addition to Ohlfs, the current Authority members are Jerry Ogburn and Nancy Stuart appointed by the Palm Springs City Council; Bary Freet and Brian Nestande appointed by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors; and Sandra Magana-Cuellar and Brian Conley appointed by the Governor.