John Olivas

Environmental Activist/Organizer
Executive Director, Collaborative Visions
New Mexico

John Olivas is the Executive Director of Collaborative Visions in Mora, New Mexico. He organizes cooperatives to establish local sustainable economic development entrepreneurs in his community. He also spends some of his time as a grassroots organizer/activist working to conserve federally owned public land as Wilderness or other conservation measure. In 2013, he was part of a coalition that led the effort to create the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument which includes the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos County, New Mexico. John is currently working with a coalition to expand the Pecos Wilderness in north central New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests. From January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2014, John sat on the board of the Mora County Commission. As chairman, John championed the first countywide fracking ban in the United States, banning industry from oil gas extraction within its borders. In late 2014, the ordinance was challenged in federal district court and ruled invalid. A new county commission came in and repealed the ordinance in early 2015.