WMC Leadership - Board of Directors

Debra W. Struhsacker

Debra Struhsacker is a hardrock mining policy expert with over 30 years of hands-on expertise with the environmental and public land laws and regulations pertaining to mineral exploration and mine development. 
Ms. Struhsacker provides environmental permitting and government relations consulting services to mineral exploration and mining clients. She has a proven track record of successfully representing clients in legislative and administrative issues on the state and federal levels and in securing project permits for exploration and mining projects.  
Since 1993, she has been an active participant in the legislative dialogue to change the U.S. Mining Law. She has provided testimonies at Congressional hearings on the National Environmental Policy Act, on abandoned mine policies, and the state and federal environmental regulatory framework applicable to modern mines. Most recently, she testified on behalf of the Women's Mining Coalition in July 2021 and May 2022 before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources at hearings on the U.S. Mining Law.

Her legislative work in Nevada includes playing a key role in repealing a special state tax on federal mining claims, helping persuade legislators to abandon a legislative proposal to tax minerals prior to severance, and convincing legislators not to raise the tax rate on mineral, oil and gas, and geothermal energy production. 

Ms. Struhsacker is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wellesley College where she majored in both geology and French. She also has a Master of Science degree in geology from the University of Montana. 

Debra is one of the founders of the Women's Mining Coalition and currently serves on the Coalition's Board of Directors. She is a Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists. Her professional memberships include the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America; the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.; and the Geological Society of Nevada. She has served twice as a trustee of the Northwest Mining Association (now the American Exploration & Mining Association).