It’s been a fantastic winter for skiing in Missoula, making it hard for many of us to get into the office at regular hours. That said, we’ve still accomplished a great deal this winter, and have lots on tap for 2008.
So sad to see you go
We wish it weren’t so, but strategist extraordinaire Jason Kiely moved on from Wildlands CPR to a new adventure in February. The opportunity to join his dad in starting a new green company was too much to pass up. There’s no way we can capture all of Jason’s contributions to Wildlands CPR in one short paragraph, but we’ll try…
Jason began working with us in 2003 as an intern in our restoration program. One of his first tasks was to promote the economic benefits of investing in watershed restoration through road removal. In the four and a half years since then, he held a variety of other positions, from Transportation Program Coordinator, to National Forest Campaign Director for the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, to Communications Coordinator. Jason excelled in every role, and he brought a level of professionalism to Wildlands CPR that helped us mature as an organization. He’s a brilliant strategic thinker who shared his insights, energy and enthusiasm not only with those of us in the office, but with hundreds of grassroots activists across the country, helping them address off-road vehicle and restoration issues more effectively. He leaves some big shoes to fill – and in the interim, we’ll be more than a little short-handed around the office. Thanks for everything Jason – it’s been a fun and wild ride. We know your new venture will be successful and we wish you and the company all the best!
We have another fond farewell to make, to outgoing Board President Dave Havlick. Dave has been involved with Wildlands CPR since our inception in 1994, and was one of the first people to conduct field surveys of impacts following Keith Hammer’s model. He was our first newsletter editor, and his wife was co-director of Wildlands CPR in 1995. He attended many of our board meetings before he was an official board member – in part because he was always doing projects for us.
Finally, he joined the board in 2001 and most recently served as our President. While on the board, Dave published the book, No Place Distant: Roads and Motorized Recreation on America’s Public Lands. This book is an extraordinary history and compendium of transportation management and impacts on public lands. He also published several other articles and essays about restoration and off-road vehicle issues. Dave is an amazing thinker and writer and he’s done an extraordinary amount to promote our issues. We’ll really miss having him on the board.
Welcome
Actually, term limits for board members are both a good and bad thing. While we’ll certainly miss Dave, we’re delighted to welcome two new board members: Cassandra Mosely and Brett Paben. We’ve worked with Cassandra for many years now in our efforts to build a restoration economy in the west and nationwide. Cassandra is the Director of the Ecosystem Workforce Program (EWP) and a Research Associate in the Institute for a Sustainable Environment at University of Oregon. At the EWP, she has developed applied and participatory research and policy education programs, focusing on the restoration workforce. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Yale University, where she studied collaborative natural resource management and American political development.
Brett is an attorney with Wildlaw in St. Petersburg, Florida. We’ve worked with Brett on several off-road vehicle issues over the past few years and we’ll engage him more on our Big Cypress work and other projects related to ORVs and restoration in the southeast. Brett received his JD at University of Oregon School of Law with a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. He works on public lands, endangered species and anti-pollution related issues, with a particular focus on national forests.
And a big thank you to...
... all of you who contributed to our fall annual gifts campaign. We have raised more than $30,000 so far, and we are hoping to increase that even more over the next several months. In addition, we’d like to thank the Bullitt, Horizons, and New Land Foundations for generous grants to support our work.