October 1st, 2011

Mt. Hood Solutions Summit Speaker Bios

To learn more about the 2011 Mt. Hood Solutions Summit click here.

Watershed Council Panel: Discussion of Challenges, Solutions and Implementation of Watershed Restoration

Steve Wise
Steve Wise returned to Oregon in 2010 to lead collaborative restoration efforts as executive director of the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council, following four years directing programs to expand urban water conservation through green infrastructure at Chicago’s Center for Neighborhood Technology. Steve’s work over two decades has focused on community-based regional ecosystem protection, sustainability, policy, education and action at Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center, in the Columbia River Basin, the Great Lakes and elsewhere. He has a BA in History from University of Michigan, an MS in Space Studies from University of North Dakota, and created and taught Salmonomics 101 at University of Oregon’s Environmental Studies program.

Kate Conley
Kate Conley works for Wasco County Soil & Water Conservation District as the Coordinator for five Watershed Councils: Mosier, The Dalles, Fifteenmile, White River, and Bakeoven. These Councils cover territory from orchard land along the Columbia River to rangeland above the Deschutes River, dryland wheat in the north, to National Forest land in the south. The Councils’ water resource concerns include groundwater sustainability as well as stream flow and water quality. Kate has coordinated the Wasco County Watershed Councils for nearly four years, following one year of service with the Hood River Watershed Group. Kate received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Oberlin College in Ohio.

Steve Stampfli
Originally from Colorado, Steve Stampfli has worked as Coordinator of the Hood River Watershed Group for the last six years. Before that, he managed the Underwood Conservation District in White Salmon, WA, and worked to begin watershed councils in the White Salmon River, Wind River, and Jewett Creek basins. He has a masters of environmental management degree from Duke University.


Water Providers Panel: Perspectives on Challenges, Solutions & Implementation for Municipal Water Providers and Irrigation Districts

Richard Robbins
Richard Robbins is the Source Water Protection Manager for the Portland Water Bureau and has worked on watershed-protection policy and technical issues associated with the Bull Run watershed since 1984. He has served as the Water Bureau’s primary liaison with the Mt. Hood National Forest for 26 years and played a significant role in development of the 20-year cooperative agreement between the two agencies that was signed in 2007. Richard holds a B.S. in Forest Management from Humboldt State University and an M.S. in Forest Hydrology from Oregon State University.

Kim Swan
Kim Swan is the Water Resource Manager for the Clackamas River Water Providers, representing the City of Lake Oswego, Clackamas River Water, the North Clackamas County Water Commission, South Fork Water Board, and Sunrise Water Authority. She is responsible for the day to day operations of the organizations as well as overseeing the development and implementation of watershed, water quality, and conservation programs. Previously she worked at South Fork Water Board as their Water Environment Coordinator for four years, and was responsible for implementing South Fork’s Water Conservation Program for the Cities of Oregon City and West Linn. She has also worked for the Cities of Tigard and Gresham.

Pat Davis
Pat is a third generation rancher of a 1,080 acre ranch in southern Wasco County. Pat is President of Rock Creek District Improvement Company, which irrigates 2,800 acres of crop land and pasture. Pat is also chairman of the White River Watershed Council and a past member of the Wasco County Planning Commission and Wamic School Board.

Jerry Bryan
Informed by studies in the Earth sciences, feminist liberation poetry, and applied theology, Jerry has coordinated water and power conservation projects for the past 25 years. He is a native of Hood River, Oregon with an idealistic commitment to sustainable practices, minimalist living, and the common good.


Roads and Rivers: Ecological and Policy Imperatives

Mary Scurlock
Mary Scurlock, JD., is Pacific Rivers Council’s Policy Director and a graduate of Duke University and the Boston University School of Law. For 20 years, Mary has worked to develop policy positions on key forest management issues affecting freshwater ecosystems. She has pushed for federal appropriations to conduct watershed restoration under the Northwest Forest Plan, stronger aquatic conservation policies on federal lands in the interior West, and full implementation of the Endangered Species Act on state and private industrial forestlands. Mary’s current work includes efforts to fund road remediation and removal on federal lands, scrutiny of the legal and ecological rationales for thinning in riparian forests, and a critical analysis of the aquatic policies governing national forests of the Sierra Nevada.


Forest Thinning in Riparian Reserves: When does vegetation management benefit aquatic and riparian resources?

Chris Frissell
Chris Frissell is Senior Scientist and Director of Science and Conservation for the Pacific Rivers Council. His degrees include a Masters and Ph.D. in Fisheries Science from Oregon State University, where he studied the influences of land use and forest management on salmon and other fishes. He has held faculty appointments at Oregon State and The University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station. His research concerns include the cumulative environmental effects of landscape development, climate change, and other natural and human factors on streams and rivers, and the conservation biology and restoration ecology of native fishes and amphibians.


Protecting Freshwater Resources in Mt. Hood National Forest: Draft Recommendations for Policy Change

John Persell
John Persell is Mt. Hood Restoration Policy Coordinator for Pacific Rivers Council and Bark. John earned his J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2008 and completed the Environmental and Natural Resources Law LL.M. program at Lewis and Clark Law School in 2009. Growing up in northern Minnesota, John developed a strong commitment to the conservation of ecosystems. Following a year at the Wyoming-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, John is glad to now be focused on Mt. Hood National Forest. John enjoys frequent visits to the Forest and the Columbia River Gorge and made his first trek to Mt. Hood's summit this past June.


Forest Service Presentation on Water Management Programs and Priorities

Gary Larsen, PhD
Gary is an associate professor of public administration at Portland State University, where he leads a joint research project on public value-based government performance management between PSU and Lanzhou University in China. Gary has a PhD in Public Administration and Policy from the Hatfield School of Government at PSU, and also a MBA and BS in Watershed Sciences. Gary is the recently retired Forest Supervisor of Mt. Hood National Forest, and has held a variety of leadership positions including Chief of Staff for the Undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environment, Senior Policy Advisor for President Clinton’s Council for Sustainable Development, and Technical and Domestic Policy Advisor to the State Department while serving as lead U.S. negotiator for forest issues at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.