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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Harold Phillips: Chair

Harold Phillips is the global general manager for BFGoodrich, a Michelin brand. Before being appointed to the role in 2017, he had held a variety of other leadership roles in Group Michelin in the U.S., the U.K. and France during his 31 years with the company. Most recently he served as the chief operating officer for Michelin Canada, Inc.

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Harold is an avid outdoorsman and a two-time All-American collegiate football player. He received a double B.A. in business and psychology from Coe College and an Executive MBA from HEC in Paris.

He has served on several boards including Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada as chairman.

Under Harold’s leadership, BFGoodrich has increased its support of off-road trail preservation across North America. Programs like BFGoodrich Outstanding Trails have provided more than $180,000 for education and protection for 48 public-access trails. Harold can often be found as an executive representative of the BFGoodrich brand at off-road events such as the Baja 1000, Easter Jeep Safari, King of the Hammers and the MINT 400.

A native of Chicago, Harold now lives in Greenville, S.C., with his wife and daughter.

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Tyler Ruby: Vice Chair

As Senior Director of Customer and Technical Service & LATAM for Webasto, Tyler Ruby is responsible for internal business support and process improvement for the Americas as well as developing LATAM sales distribution.

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Previously, Tyler was responsible for all automotive, commercial vehicle, heavy truck, agricultural, bus and specialty vehicle OEM business, and B2C off-road products.

Prior to Webasto, Tyler was employed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as Jeep Wrangler Brand Manager responsible for the U.S. market. In that role, Tyler worked with the enterprise-wide team to develop new products, increase profitability, and grow sales.

Tyler earned an MBA in Marketing from Marriott School of Management and a B.A. in Advertising from Brigham Young University. Originally from Southern California, Tyler now resides in Michigan where he enjoys camping, off-roading, and a myriad of sports with his family. Tyler is an Eagle Scout, an avid outdoorsman, he summited Mt. Whitney–the highest mountain peak in the continental United States, drove the 1st and only 4-door Wrangler up the iconic Lion’s Back, wheeled the relentless Baja 500 terrain, and enjoys wheeling at all speeds regardless of 2 or 4 wheels, wakeboarding and traveling to unique destinations.

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Kristin Golliher: Treasurer

Kristin Golliher is the CEO and founder of WildRock PR & Marketing, a company she launched in 2012. Based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, WildRock has an impressive portfolio of clients in the outdoor industry, with year-over-year award winning campaigns.

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Before Kristin started WildRock, she was at OtterBox building the public relations and marketing department from the ground up, as well as re-strategizing the brand into the powerhouse it is today. She has been recognized as a Top 25 Most Influential Young Professional, a Colorado Superwoman, as well as a recipient of 40 Under Forty.

Working on her family’s ranch, Kristin knows how to take advantage of every opportunity to get into the great outdoors including hiking, camping, off-roading, fishing at her family’s cabin and running half-marathons. Kristin is always on the move and ready for the next adventure with a “work hard, play harder” mentality.

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Tom Zielinski: Secretary

Tom’s career began after college in auto sales and continued on to leadership roles and ownership of two powersports dealerships.

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That led to action-packed pure industry experience planning countless successful large-scale motorsports events for both two and four wheels.

As the founder and President of Z Performance, Tom executes automotive and powersports media events handling creation, marketing, and on-site execution. Tom is also the creator of the Detroit, Minnesota, and Texas 4Fest events and the Director of Business Development for RevDigital providing unique digital marketing tools and insight to powersports OEMs and dealers across the United States and Canada. Tom is fueled by 40+ years of motocross, off-road racing and outdoor fun.

Tom was born and bred in the Detroit area and continues to spend most of his time in the Motor City with his wife and two wonderful kids that all share the passion for motorsports and the outdoor lifestyle.

Tom currently splits his time between many locations around the country working with fantastic clients like Jeep, Ford, Fox, RedBull and many others to bring the adventure lifestyle to life.

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Jan Rintamaki: Chair Emeritus

As Vice President and General Manager of Polaris Adventures, Jan Rintamaki inspires people to get outdoors and create memorable life experiences utilizing Polaris® products.

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He has spent the last 15 years innovating at Polaris Industries Inc., leading and developing major brand, product, business and government partnerships. Previously Jan served as chair of the board of trustees for the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA). Jan has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master’s of Science in Industrial & Operations Engineering, and a B.A. in Economics, both from the University of Michigan. Since 2009, Jan has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America in a variety of roles. As an avid outdoorsman, he led the creation of the 10-year partnership between Polaris and the Boy Scouts to promote ATV youth safety. As a true Eagle Scout, his motto is to always “be prepared.”

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Nena Barlow

Nena Barlow grew up in the Southwest, exploring the back roads by Jeep, horse, and hiking boots.

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She has been in the Jeep business since 1996, providing tours, 4wd instruction, location scouting, offroad event planning, trail mapping & photography, and recovery. Nena has logged thousands of hours in the backcountry behind the wheel of a Jeep, with additional off-road experience in Hummers, Unimogs, Fords, Toyotas, and Nissans. Nena is a certified Master Trainer by the International 4wd Trainer Association.

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Dave Logan

Dave Logan’s experience managing the Rugged Ridge Trail Access grant program and experience in Education and Stewardship will greatly benefit Tread Lightly!

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Dave also co-founded the CoTrails — a Collaborative Trails organization and is a certified sawyer for the US Forest Service.

Prior experience includes raising funds for outdoor recreation, operating the 4WD School, and video production for Coca Cola and HP. Dave has produced several training videos for the SFWDA and included one on the Tread Lightly! principles. And, he is a Lifetime member of Tread Lightly! and a Master Tread Trainer.

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Jeff Nasi

Jeff Nasi has over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, and business development in the automotive industry.

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Jeff is currently the Senior Vice President at MotoAmerica, where they are responsible for sales and marketing strategies. Previously, they worked as the Director of Marketing at 4 Wheel Parts, managing a large marketing department and overseeing various marketing initiatives. Prior to that, they served as the Senior Director of Digital Media Sales at TEN: The Enthusiast Network, where they achieved significant revenue growth in digital advertising. Jeff also worked as the General Manager at Source Interlink Media and as the Sales Manager at PRIMEDIA, where they delivered substantial ad revenue from truck aftermarket accounts. In addition, they held the position of Senior Account Manager at Petersen Publishing, where they successfully sold advertising and sponsorship programs for various automotive brands. Overall, Jeff Nasi has a proven track record of driving sales and generating revenue in the automotive industry.

Jeff Nasi attended New Mexico State University, where they pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Marketing. During their time at the university, they focused on studying Marketing and Economics as their primary fields of study. No specific start or end years for their education were provided.

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Brad Franklin

Brad Franklin has been involved with the motorsports industry for over 30 years, most currently with Yamaha Motor Corporation USA in numerous and diversified positions within Yamaha’s service group.

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For the last 13 years he has served as Government Relations Manager, directly involved with vehicle compliance and regulatory issues as well as Land and Water access issues. Prior to his involvement with Yamaha, Franklin worked for American Suzuki Motors.

Franklin’s first experience with OHV recreation started early and took him to Southern California where he and his family make their home. He is an avid motorcyclist and rides as often as possible, including an everyday commute, rain or shine, and at least a few holiday rides. Franklin is an avid outdoorsman. From ATV riding in the desert, and snowmobiling in the mountains, to offshore fishing and hunting with his sons and close friends or backpacking the high Sierra, Franklin is very much at home in the outdoors.

Franklin has previously served as the Chairman of the American Watercraft Association and also as Chairman of Tread Lightly!’s Board of Directors for five years. He is an active member on many committees of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and board member for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the Off-Road Business Association.

Franklin’s extensive experience with the power sports industry, his wide ranging outdoor interests, along with his proven ability to work with diverse individuals and groups, gives him the tools to be an effective champion of outdoor recreation.

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Jon Lee

Jon is currently the Brand Communications manager with BP. He has served on the Tread Lightly! Board since 2009.

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His extensive background in the outdoor retail industry makes him a valuable asset to Tread Lightly! This role also allowed him to be close to the outdoor industry, where he was a regular at events such as Moab Easter Jeep Safari, Jeep Jamboree, Off-Road Expo and King of the Hammers. Jon played a big part in creating incentive programs with Tread Lightly! that increase Tread Lightly!’s base of individual members. In addition to Jon’s career that brought him closer to the outdoor industry, his hobbies include activities that get him into the mountains to ski or camp. He enjoys spending time on the slopes or in the woods with his family.

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Tomi Lutz

Tomi is a 16-year powersports veteran, having held a wide variety of roles within the industry from race teams and race tracks to dealerships to having worked at Honda, Polaris, and now his current employer, Kawasaki.

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He currently holds the position of 4-Wheel Product Manager there, where he oversees the product development and product launches of their ATV and SxS products.

Tomi holds a B.S. in Automotive Engineering Technology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and an MBA from Augsburg University with an emphasis in leadership.

A born-and-raised Minnesota native, he now resides in Southern California where he enjoys all the year-round outdoor activities that the location has to offer. This includes everything from dirt bikes, to SxS’s to mountain bikes. He also enjoys getting outdoors and hiking. His favorite spots so far have been his trips to Yosemite National Park and Vail, Colorado.

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Bethany Dudley

Bethany works in Product Strategy at Apple where she focuses on bringing surprise and delight to users of Apple’s internal systems and technology.

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Prior, she led a User Experience Research and Design team at Apple and started her career in UX Research at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. Bethany holds bachelors and graduate degrees from San Jose State University, where she specialized in Experimental Psychology and Research and paved the way for a career that emphasizes the importance of empathy, respect, and improving lives.

Bethany’s passion for adventure travel has taken her all over the world, but usually the Western US, to responsibly experience all the beauty, wonder, and enchantment of this place we call Earth. She’s an avid camper and hiker whose favorite outdoor activity is simply enjoying a campfire with her family. She’s also an enthusiastic offroad navigator, sometimes a spotter, but rarely a driver who loves traveling the high mountain passes of Colorado, the canyonlands of Utah, and the deserts of the Southwest. Fun fact: Bethany is just a handful of parks away from completing her goal to visit and thoroughly enjoy all of the US National Parks.

She resides in the SF Bay Area with her husband, Cole, and dog, Judy where she is always looking forward to her next adventure.

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Matt Martelli

Matt is Founder of Mad Media, a multidisciplinary creative and marketing firm and CEO of Off-Road Racer and The Mint 400.

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Matt is one of the biggest influences in Off-Road Racing Today.

Matt Martelli and his brother, Josh, known together professionally as The Martelli Brothers, are American filmmakers and commercial producers and directors.

The Martelli Brothers maybe best known for their work directing and producing the most successful viral automotive video franchise in history, Ken Block’s Gymkhana series. The wildly popular trilogy of Gymkhana clips, as well as the over twenty ancillary supporting videos created for professional rally racer and former DC Shoes owner Ken Block, have been viewed collectively over 100 million times.

The Martelli Brothers also handled the operations and sanctioning of The Mint 400 and the UTV World Championship.

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Christine Jourdain

Christine Jourdain is employed by American Council of Snowmobile Associations as Executive Director. ACSA works with state snowmobile associations across the country and provides leadership and coordination on national snowmobile issues.

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In her current role, Christine has the responsibility to act as the national coordinator and spokesperson for state snowmobile associations and snowmobile clubs throughout the U.S. to educate and inform the public about snowmobiling to increase awareness, understanding and appreciation of the sport.

Christine has been very effective at building partnerships between the snowmobilers and the federal land agencies where snowmobiles are utilized. ACSA coordinates an annual Legislative Visit to Washington, DC and snowmobile rides with representatives from the federal land agencies across the country.

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Amy Granat

In 2000 as a newly-single mother with a 4WD truck, Amy returned to off-roading to spend quality time with her young son.

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Disability had taken away her ability to travel easily on 2 legs, but enhanced her ability to drive with 4 tires. Off-roading soon became her family’s passion. When the Forest Service began analysis of forests in California to comply with the Travel Management Rule, it became clear that recreation enthusiasts needed help submitting comments. In 2005, Amy started the CORVA Comments Project with 2 colleagues, which has taught over 800 off-roaders, equestrians, mountain bikers, rockhounds and agency personnel how to write substantive comments on NEPA documents for federal agencies and CEQA documents for California projects.

From 2009 to 2011 Amy served as the Northern Natural Resources Consultant for the California 4 Wheel Drive Association, and since 2011 she has been the Managing Director of CORVA, the California Off-Road Vehicle Association. Additionally, in 2015 she founded the CORVA Foundation, a division of the California Trail Users Coalition a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and serves as Executive Director.

Amy served as OHV representative on the Off Highway Motorized Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission committee for Education and Awareness from 2008 – 2012, and continue to serve on a number of different committees for the State of California including the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Advisory Board as vice-chair from 2010 – present, recreation representative on the Department of Parks and Recreation Path Forward 2026, and the OHMVR Commission Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.

Amy also represent recreation enthusiasts on the Forest Service’s Sustainable Outdoor Recreation Coalition and is a member of the Forest Service Northwest Forest Plan Revision Partnership Working Group for upcoming forest plan revisions in California, Oregon and Washington. In 2010 she was the recipient of the CORVA Edward H Waldheim ABA Political Activism Award and in 2017 she was awarded the George Thomas Award for Off Roader of the Year. In 2019 she received the Impact Award for Advocacy from the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.

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Lance Clifford

Lance Clifford is a pioneer in bringing live coverage to off-road competitions and events.

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Years before YouTube offered live-streaming video, Lance and his team brought live coverage of off-road motorsports events and competitions to a quickly expanding audience through his work on Pirate4x4.com. Along with his pioneering media presence, Lance is also a competitive rock crawler, recreational off-roader and avid mountain biker. Lance was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2022.

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Ron Frazier

Ron is a Founder of Camp Yoshi, an adventure travel company with a focus on introducing people of color to the outdoors by teaching them outdoor skills and building confidence.

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Ron is a strong advocate for stewardship of our trails and public lands and works to inspire beginner adventurers to learn best practices and trail etiquette so that as new communities learn to enjoy our public spaces, there is also an understanding of how to preserve them.

Ron is from Charlotte, NC, where he grew up and developed his love for the outdoors by playing in the woods and spending most of his childhood swimming and fishing on Lake Norman.  He then spent his late teens and 20s in Atlanta, GA (undergrad at Morehouse) and Washington, DC (law school at American University).  In his 30s, Ron returned to his roots in Charlotte to raise his sons where he began camping and traveling for adventure. While constantly reassuring those concerned for his safety while out in the wilderness, Ron has always felt the available space for himself in nature, and decided that others needed to feel it for themselves, too.  While on a visit to Glacier National Park, the idea for Camp Yoshi was born with the idea to create an adventure travel company with a focus on introducing people of color to the outdoors by teaching them outdoor skills and building confidence and removing generational fears and anxiety.

Honed by his years of legal and advisory experience and zest for sustainable outdoor adventuring, Ron can offer a wealth of diverse knowledge to Tread Lightly!

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Charlene Bower

Charlene Bower’s first job was changing dirt bike tires at a motorcycle shop in Northern California.  She worked upper retail management at multi-line Powersports dealerships for 11 years and in magazine media for 4 years before founding Bower Motorsports Media in 2009.

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She built a media group using trending media and communication platforms supplying the backdrop for some of the most successful racers, events and companies in the 4×4 offroad market.

Today she utilizes all of her experiences to give back through the Ladies Offroad Network program that delivers thousands of ladies proper knowledge base and confidence for offroading.

Charlene doesn’t spend all of her time behind a desk, she’s actually a dirt bike rider and hard core wheeler. In 2014 and 2015, she earned the title of “Fastest Girl Up Backdoor” at the King of the Hammers Backdoor Shootout.  With different contest winners in her co-driver seat, her team took 2nd in 2015 RallyVenture and in 2016 they placed 1st in the Rebelle Rally and 2nd in the Pro Class at 36 Hours of Uwharrie.

Charlene has been recognized by BFGoodrich Tires as one of their Performance Team Members, and was voted by peers as an Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Industry Rising Star in 2016 and ORMHOF Advocate Award winner in 2018. In 2017, Charlene obtained her training certification from the International 4-Wheel Drive Trainers’ Association.  In 2018 and 2020, Charlene continued her education path earning her Wilderness First Aid certification.

Charlene champions for women in offroad under her latest project Ladies Offroad Network. In the last five years Charlene has crossed the country multiple times hosting offroad educational classes impacting thousands of ladies, and men. Online she offers programs to learn in a fun and encouraging environment.

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Nick Willette

As the Performance Channel Sales Manager, at Dana Incorporated’s Aftermarket Division, Nick Willette oversees business development, event activation and major accounts, focused in the performance off-road market. Nick has been with Dana since 2020.

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 Nick’s automotive background comes from a privately owned Subaru performance facility in Orange County, CA where he spent 5 years as the Sales and Service Manager.  

Nick’s primary professional background focused in luxury hospitality working in some of the worlds finest Forbes properties including Pelican Hill Resort, Balboa Bay Club and Montage. Nick has 12 years of service, holding leadership positions in Sale, Conference services, Food+ Beverage and Operations. 

 Nick served as an Ambassador to the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, and was a Chair member of the NAVIGATE Young Professionals group from 2018- 2020 and is a member of the AutoCare Association’s Young Auto Care Association Group (YANG) 2021- Present.

Nick grew up in North Lake Tahoe, CA as a three time USSA Junior Olympic Freestyle skier for the Alpine Meadows Freestyle Team 2004-2007. As a Sierra Nevada mountain native, Nick grew up in a culture of protecting the environment, and preserving the areas where our passions lay.

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Nick Pinizzotto

Nick Pinizzotto is President and CEO of the National Deer Association (NDA). He was the first and only President and CEO of the National Deer Alliance upon its creation in 2014 and led the merger with the former Quality Deer Management Association to create NDA in 2020.

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Before shifting his professional focus to deer, Pinizzotto was President and CEO of Sportsmen’s Alliance working on broad sportsmen’s issues, many of which focused on threats to hunting by special interest groups with anti-hunting agendas. Earlier in his career he served as CEO of Delta Waterfowl Foundation and was Associate Vice President of Watershed Conservation at Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for 11 years.

Pinizzotto has served as an international advocate for the hunting industry and has appeared on CNN, CBS Morning News, Fox News, The Today Show, and Sportsmen’s Channel. He is a member of the U.S. Delegation of the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation and is a Professional Member of the Boone and Crockett Club. He is a lifelong outdoorsman and conservationist with a fondness for archery hunting white-tailed deer, habitat management, and fly fishing. He is also a published outdoor writer, photographer, and videographer. Pinizzotto holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental geography, and a master’s degree in psychology. He lives in his native state of Pennsylvania with his wife, Angela, and son, Will.

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Jackie Smith

Jackie is the Customer Experience Owner of Recreation at Ford Motor Company where she focuses on inspiring customers to pursue exciting lifestyles with their vehicles.

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She has recently worked on developing an overlanding experience where she had the opportunity to engage with the Tread Lightly! team. She was inspired by the organizations approach to stewardship and education and avidly enjoyed her experiences volunteering with the team.

Prior to her time within customer experience at Ford, she was the Truck Strategy Lead for North America and also held various roles within the autonomous vehicles organization. She has an MBA and engineering bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and has also spent time as a management consultant which sparked her passion for travel. She has traveled all over the world and is always ready for the next adventure.

Jackie loves being outdoors, camping, hiking and boating and has enjoyed her time off-roading in Utah, Arizona and the Midwest. She is constantly in awe of the beauty this world has to offer and looks forward to opportunities to help preserve it.

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ADVISERS

Heather Burke: Agency Adviser

Heather Burke is the National Partnership Program Manager for Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Natural Resources Management branch. She provides Partnership Program direction and guidance for field staff in the Recreation and Environmental Stewardship business lines throughout the Corps’s 404 lakes and river projects.

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Her 24 years of federal service have been spent entirely with the Corps, beginning as a forestry trainee at John H. Kerr Reservoir in Virginia, then as a park ranger at Lake Kaweah in California and Dworshak Dam in Idaho, followed by a natural resources program manager position in the Jacksonville District Office, Florida and concluding with her current position. Heather has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Science and Forestry from Virginia Tech and studied Forestry abroad for one year at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

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Dave Jeppesen: Agency Adviser

Bureau of Land Management

Don Striker: Agency Adviser

Superintendent, Denali National Park and Preserve
National Park Service