Toner Mitchell's career trajectory has included jobs in the U.S. Senate, environmental and hazardous waste consulting, aesthetic tree pruning and arboriculture, and freelance writing. Since 1992, he has guided fly fishers in Alaska, California, and New Mexico. Mitchell has a bachelor's degree in biology and a masters of fine arts in writing. Toner is a native New Mexican who leads TU's Upper Rio Grande Community Initiative, a program intended to achieve conservation benefits while helping rural communities maintain economic security through the stewardship of thier watersheds and traditional practices. An avid angler, hiker, skier, and armchair ecologist, Toner is committed to restoring Rio Grande cutthroat trout populations in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.