International Water Trail Presenters
Schedule
Presentations
Speakers, discussion leaders, panelists, and presenters from many water trails, paddling organizations, and agencies will be at the Conference. A partial listing is below.
Doug Alderson
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Doug Alderson is the Florida Paddling Trails Coordinator for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Greenways and Trails. A recipient of three national writing awards, he is the author of Waters Less Traveled: Exploring Florida's Big Bend Coast (University Press of Florida 2005), The Vision Keepers (Quest Books 2007) and The Ghost Orchid Ghost and Other Tales From the Swamp (Pineapple Press 2007). His articles and photographs have been featured in numerous publications such as Sea Kayaker, Wildlife Conservation, American Forests, and Sierra. He is the founder of the Florida Paddling Trails Association and serves on the executive committee.
Terry Bergerson
Oregon Recreation and Parks Department
Terry has a Master of Science Degree in Recreation and Resources Development from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Following graduation, he worked as a Research Support Scientist with the National Park Service Cooperative Park Studies Unit at the University of Idaho. Terry has been an outdoor recreation planner with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) since May 2000. During that time, he was the project manager and primary author of the 2003-2007 Oregon Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP), the 2005-2014 Oregon Statewide Trails Plan, and the 2008-2012 Oregon SCORP plan.
Hank Brooks
Florida Paddling Trails Association
Hank is the president of the Florida Paddling Trails Association. He’s a retired business consultant who now works as a full-time volunteer for the Association.
Rory Calhoun
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Rory Calhoun is starting his 14th year as the Recreation Accessibility Specialist with the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and is the only access person specializing in outdoor recreation among Washington's natural resource agencies. He helped author the first Washington State disabled hunters law in 1987. He helped write the proposed rules now being considered under the ADA for trails, beaches, camping, and picnic areas. He advised the Access Board on recreational
boating and fishing facility guidelines. In his spare time he's out testing the sites he has helped to make more useable and accessible for the public with his wife and family. He enjoys fishing, camping, hunting and boating in Puget Sound and the Columbia River.
Bob Campbell
National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Program Coordinator
Through its Chesapeake Bay Program Office, the National Park Service serves as the coordinator and facilitator of the Gateways Network-a partnership of over 160 sites and trails on Chesapeake Bay. Bob has been involved with the Network from original conceptualization and subsequent to Congressional authorization in 1998.
As one of the Park Service's key liaisons to the Chesapeake Bay Program Bob helps to shape the conservation agenda for the Bay, especially the strategic efforts to foster Chesapeake stewardship. He also lends his twenty year's experience as a park and recreation planner for the Park Service to the planning and development of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
Bob has served as the Chief of Park Planning and Special Studies for the Mid-Atlantic Region and Superintendent at Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Friendship Hill National Historical Site. Bob began his Park Service career at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park leading interpretive paddling tours of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Before the Park Service, he worked for several years with the Nature Conservancy's Louisiana Natural Heritage Program.
Bob has a Masters degree in landscape architecture from Louisiana State University and currently serves on the Board of the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council.
Chris Hathaway
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership
Chris is Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership Director of Stewardship and Technical Programs. He oversees environmental education, volunteer, and community involvement programs as well as the Partnership's restoration and ecosystem monitoring programs. Since 1998, he has worked on a variety of different programs including the Partnership's stormwater management projects, public outreach materials, web site, and as the coordinator of the Estuary Partnership's Lower Columbia River Water Trail. A native of Portland, he holds degrees in English and Political Science from the University of Oregon and a MS in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He grew up swimming, sailing, paddling and water skiing on the lower Columbia River and continues to enjoy those activities today.
Gerry Hodge
GK Hodge Associates
Gerry is a lifelong Washington resident and recreational boater. He has paddled over 6000 miles the last 8 years. He is a retired science/math teacher and started GKHodge Consulting, a Data Analysis/Program Evaluation business. He has done work for several school districts, Washington State Parks, and the Washington Water Trails Association. He is a founding member of the South Sound Area Kayakers based in Olympia, Washington. Gerry serves as a member of the Washington State Parks Boating Safety Advisory Council, as a National Recreational Trails Program Grant Evaluator, as a member of the Washington Boating Alliance, and on the Washington Department of Natural Resources Sustainable Recreation Work Group.
Jan Houck
Oregon Recreation and Parks Department
Jan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Leisure Studies from Arizona State University. Prior to graduation, she interned with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department working with park planning in the Portland Region Office. After completion of her internship and graduating from ASU, Jan moved to the OPRD Bend Region Office and served as the Region Program Coordinator until 2005. As Region Program Coordinator, Jan worked with cities and counties in the development of their comprehensive plans, conducted employee safety training, coordinated field equipment inventories, and assisting landowners in planning their developments within the state scenic waterways. In 2005, Jan transferred to the OPRD headquarters office in Salem where she is involved in hydro relicensing, energy facility siting, scenic waterway programs, and water trail development.
Russ Howison
PacifiCorp Energy
Russ Howison is a Senior Scientist for recreation and cultural resources in the Hydro-Resources Group of PacifiCorp Energy (owner and operator of over 50 Hydroelectric Plants). Russ was born and raised in a farming community in north central Ohio and is a 1988 Graduate of Ohio University, with a BS in Geography. He has been working on Hydro Project-recreation issues in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana for 18 years. During this time his work has been focused on stakeholder relations, technical studies and reporting on recreation and cultural resource issues for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license applications and new license implementation. His work is currently focused in southern Oregon and northern California on the North Umpqua, Upper Rogue and Klamath River Projects. Russ is an avid skier and kayaker and lives in Portland Oregon.
Sarah Krueger
Washington Water Trails Association
Sarah enjoys exploring Washington's waters and sharing her passion for shoreline preservation. With WWTA since the summer of 2004, she handles publications, events, and dabbles in water trail planning, stewardship, and advocacy. A Leave No Trace Master Educator, Sarah co-facilitates WWTA's annual Trainer Course and helps coordinate the Sound Education and Action (SEA) Kayaker Program. If she doesn't have a paddle or a pen in her hand, Sarah might be gardening, hiking, bicycling, or playing naturalist with her binoculars and field guides. She is a graduate of Warren Wilson College near Asheville, North Carolina, where she earned a BA with the self-created major of Environmental Writing.
Michael Linde
National Park Service Rivers & Trails
Michael Linde is a 19-year veteran of the National Park Service (NPS), he
currently serves as the chief of partnership programs with responsibilities
in the western U.S., Alaska, Hawai'i, and the Pacific territories. Prior
to joining NPS, Michael had extensive non-profit experience including
serving as the founding president of both the Deerfield River Watershed
Association (VT/MA) and the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds &
Rivers and as a founding officer of the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
(VT/NH/MA). A Maine native, Michael received his M.S. in resource
management from Antioch University where he also served on the graduate
school faculty; he enjoys camping, hiking, flyfishing, reading, and travel.
Topher Marlatt
Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
Originally from California, Topher grew up in the northeastern United States exploring the deep forests of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, and Massachusetts’s Berkshires. Topher studied Geology and Management at Hartwick College in New York where he became involved with the Challenge Education Program. He’s worked for the Adirondack Mountain Club and Nature Conservancy educating the public about trail maintenance, and environmental stewardship. Topher relocated to Lake Tahoe and managed the Squaw Valley Adventure Center and worked for the Washoe Tribe as Environmental Coordinator. When Topher’s not working he’s hiking, biking, snowboarding and climbing.
Dave Mention
Maine Island Trail Association
A lifelong outdoorsman and guide, Dave lives in Bowdoinham,
Maine, and works as Trail Director for the Maine Island Trail
Association. He became interested in low impact wilderness
travel in the early 1970s as an outdoor instructor in his native
Oregon. Dave’s outdoor life includes mountaineering, with
ascents in the Cascades, the BC Coast range, the St. Elias
range, and Denali. As a kayak guide he led trips in Maine for
LL Bean and various outfitters, and was the founder of the
Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors. He
holds LNT Master Educator and W-EMT certificates, and spends his winters on Ski Patrol at Sugarloaf Ski Resort.
Jamie Mierau
American Rivers
Jamie safeguards and improves river health by reconnecting people to rivers through water trails. She also helps protect the last great rivers through Wild and Scenic designation.
Previously, Jamie was American Rivers Associate Director of Outreach directing River Lobby Day that brings river lovers to the nation's capital to deliver the message of river conservation to Congress. She has done natural resource management research in Costa Rica and studied natural systems agriculture at The Land Institute in Kansas. Jamie received a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Denison University and an M.A. in Environmental and Resource Policy from The George Washington University.
Dan Miller
National Park Service Rivers and Trails
Dan has a Masters degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon. Dan started his career in conservation and outdoor recreation planning with the Bureau of Land Management in Coos Bay, OR. Since then, Dan has worked in the Republic of the Marshall Islands as a nature-based tourism planner and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands as a natural resource planner working on coral reef issues. Dan’s current job is with the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) of the National Park Service. Dan’s work with RTCA has allowed him to assist local conservation and recreation efforts throughout Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Dan has provided planning assistance to the Willamette, Siuslaw, Deschutes, and Nehalem River water trails.
Chris Niewold
National Park Service
Bio coming soon.
Tom O’Keefe
American Whitewater Association
Tom first got his start paddling and playing in the water during early childhood canoe trips to the Adirondacks in upstate New York. Tom began his first serious whitewater while living in Japan and shortly thereafter became a full-fledged fanatic with the University of Wisconsin Hoofers. Tom did a final descent of the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges, before the gates were closed on the world's largest dam. Tom is American Whitewater Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator. Tom’s undergraduate degree is from Cornell University and has a PhD in aquatic ecology from the University of Wisconsin where he received his. In recent years Tom has worked at the University of Washington where his research projects have focused on the dynamics of nutrients returning salmon bring to river ecosystems and the structural development of riparian forests along large floodplain rivers.
Alexis Ollar
Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
Alexis is a Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer and graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a BS degree in Environmental Sciences and Studies. She worked at He'eia State Park for Friends of He’eia, a small environmental non-profit, teaching environmental education, running volunteer restoration projects, and monitoring water quality for the park watershed. Alexis continued her work in environmental education with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association as Director of Trail Programs.
Mike Passo
Elakah Expeditions
Mike Passo is the owner and "Chief Executive Otter" of Elakah Expeditions out of Bellingham, WA. Early in life, Mike became paralyzed in a mountain biking accident. Ever since, Mike has sought to make the outdoors available to people of all abilities. He is known for his calm style and ability to make everyone on a trip welcome. Mike has been guiding since 1988, has presented adaptive paddling workshops throughout the country and is a national expert is designing and building universally designed trails and outdoor programs.
Bruce Ronning
Bend Metro Parks & Recreation
Bruce spent 25 years as an outdoor programs leader and manager and as a professional ski instructor. Since 2000 he has directed the long range planning, land acquisition and park and trail development programs at the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District. During his seven years on the Oregon Recreation Trails Advisory Council he has served on numerous OPRD stakeholder groups and on the Oregon RTP Grant Committee. He assisted with 2005 - 2014 Oregon Trails Plan and the 2008 - 2012 Oregon SCORP. His recreational interests include flat water canoeing and river running, hiking and cross country skiing. He has run most major Oregon rivers in canoes, kayaks, drift boats and rafts and has sea kayaked in the Gulf Islands, Johnstone Strait and Clayquot Sound and in the Sea of Cortez.
Susan Rosebrough
National Park Service Rivers & Trails
Susan is a project manager with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA)/Hydropower Program in Seattle. She has worked with the program since 2001 and focuses on hydro relicensing projects in the northwest. Her other NPS work includes a mix of RTCA community-based planning projects and wild and scenic river studies. Prior to working for NPS, Susan worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their planning department focusing on river restoration and flood protection projects. Susan was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania. She graduated with a bachelor degree in civil engineering from Michigan State University in 1995 and received a master degree in water resources engineering from the University of Washington in 2005.
Paul Sanford
American Canoe Association
Paul Sanford is Director of Stewardship and Public Policy for the American Canoe Association, the largest paddlesports membership organization in the U.S. As Stewardship Director, Paul manages the ACA’s Water Trails Program, an initiative to support the development of water trails throughout the U.S. and Canada. The ACA’s water trails program provides resources to trail developers and recognizes outstanding water trail successes. The ACA also promotes the use of water trails through an on-line database of 400+ trails throughout North America, available at (www.americancanoe.org).
Reed Waite
Washington Water Trails Association
Reed was Washington Water Trails Association Executive Director until he retired in June 2008. Before coming to WWTA, Reed had a varied career in bicycles, parks, and for profit and non-profit food-related industries. Reed is a Washington State Trails Coalition board member and a Leave No Trace Master Educator.
Kate Williams
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
Kate Williams, Executive Director. Kate (B.A. Princeton University,
M.S.
MIT Sloan School of Management) has been Executive Director of NFCT
since
March 2004. Kate has worked in the fields of outdoor recreation,
education
and conservation for fifteen years. As an instructor with the
National
Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and as Chair of Albuquerque Academy's
Experiential Education Department, she guided students in the Rocky
Mountain
West's varied terrain - mountains, rocks, snow and water. With the
Trust
for Public Land, she was program director for an innovative internal
start-up, seeking to expand the conservation community's ability to
connect
land and people in meaningful ways. She served on the board of the
National
Outdoor Leadership School from 1999-2005. Kate and husband Rob are
avid
Nordic skiers, runners and hikers, and they try to keep up with their
two
children, Anneka (8) and Theron (5). Kate lives in Waitsfield,
Vermont.
Travis Williams
Willamette Riverkeeper
Travis has worked in river conservation for over a decade and since 2000 has led Willamette Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that focuses on clean water, habitat restoration, and low-impact river recreation, principally with canoes and kayaks. Earlier he worked for American Rivers and Conservation International in Washington DC. He is an avid canoeist who has traveled many western rivers and photographed their natural beauty. He holds a B.A. in International Studies from Portland State University and an M.S. in Environmental Science from The Johns Hopkins University. A fifth-generation Oregonian who grew up in Milwaukie, Oregon, he was on the Willamette River with friends at a young age. He can often be found paddling the Willamette, as well as other western rivers, frequently with his two daughters and his partner, Sandra. Among his biggest priorities for river restoration is to reconnect side channels and floodplains back to the Willamette River. His book, the Field Guide to the Willamette River, will be published by Timber Press in early 2009.