The Bitter Root Land Trust is fortunate to have capable and enthusiastic board members who are committed to promoting widespread use of conservation tools available. Staff members are proud to implement the board's priorities of preserving the valley's working farms and ranches, clean water, and quality wildlife habitat.

Board

"Open, healthy land capable of sustaining wildlife populations and people is the most important legacy we can leave future generations of Montanans."

John Ormiston is a wildlife biologist working at the Supervisor's Office for the Bitterroot National Forest. A graduate of the University of North Dakota and the University of Idaho, he worked for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Butte before relocating his family to the Bitterroot Valley in 1974. John is a member of Bitterroot Kiwanis and was on their Board of Directors for two terms. His is Past President and current Secretary of Bitterroot Audubon and a member of the Board of the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association. John was recently elected Chairman of the Ravalli County Parks Board after over 10 years on the Board. He has been a member of the Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society for 25 years and is past President of the state organization. He serves as Chairman of the Bitterroot Banquet Committee of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and is on the board of the Rapp Family Foundation. John serves on the Board Resources and Land Protection Committees.

Kathryn Meeks Good, Vice President

Kathy obtained a BA degree in English Literature in Texas in 1970. She pursued a career of medical practice management and consulting in southern California before retiring with her husband to the Bitterroot in 1993. Having grown up on a farm in Idaho, as well as having begun her support for the Nature Conservancy in 1976, Kathy holds her roots to the land close to her heart. It is her wish to assist the Bitter Root Land Trust in its mission to save and protect the legacy of natures wealth and rural beauty in the Bitterroot Valley which provides the setting for our lifestyle and hopefully for generations to come. Other volunteer positions include: Department Supervisor at the Ravalli County Fair; member of the 2006 Treasure State Art Show Organizing Committee: Bitter Root Humane Association Board of Directors and Secretary; past treasurer and current surveillance committee chair at the Terrasol Condominium Homeowners Association. Kathy currently serves on the BRLT marketing and finance committee.

Gail Goheen, Treasurer

From 1968 through 1972, Karen was employed as Office Manager of Williamson and Schmid, consulting civil engineers and land surveyors in Orange County, California. After marrying her husband, Tom, in 1972, she joined Tom in his industrial real estate development firm, Shaw and Talbot, from 1975 to 1985, specializing in marketing and interior and landscape design and installation.

Having previously attended UCLA and the University of Southern California, Karen was graduated from the University of California, Irvine, in 1986 with a degree in History (19th Century British Imperialism), completing her final two courses at Pembroke College, Cambridge, England.

In 1998, she founded Talbot Farms, a commercial grower of certified organic blackberries, raspberries, and haricots verts and other varieties of green beans.

Karen has served on the boards of various homeowners associations, an architectural review committee for The Irvine Company in Newport Beach, California, and twice served as presiding partner of Twenty-One Partners, an investment group founded in 1987 and of which she is still a partner today. In addition, she volunteered as a teacherâ??s aide for six years at the Pauma Valley Elementary School in California, where she tutored Mexican-American and Native American first and second graders in reading and math, and sponsored golf clinics in cooperation with LPGA Girlsâ?? Golf.

Since arriving in the Bitterroot Valley two years ago, Tom and Karen now farm 100 acres of organic oats and Australian peas on their ranch near Hamilton, with an eye to organic certification in 2007.

Respect for nature, our lands, and the occupants thereof in the Bitterroot Valley led Karen to become a member of the Board of the Bitter Root Land Trust.

Tonia Bloom

Since moving to the valley 35 years ago, I have seen a lot of changes and still bear scars from some of the early battles over land use in the Bitterroot. It is clear to me that it is time for those on all points on the political spectrum to grow up, leave ideological purity and wishful thinking behind, and use all available tools to ensure that we leave behind a healthy natural and human environment. Our children, our communities, and the condition of the natural environment are the true legacies of any group of people.â??

Tonia has lived in the Bitterroot since 1972, with the exception of two years (1975-77) spent in Bethesda, MD. Tonia graduated from Swarthmore College in 1967 with a degree in history. She and her husband Marshall, who is a scientist at and the Associate Director of the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, have two sons, Jesse and Seth, (now in graduate and medical school, respectively), who had to the good fortune to be native Montanans. Tonia is grateful that the circumstances of her life have permitted her to devote a good deal of time to public service and volunteer activities. Tonia has served on the Corvallis School Board since 1987 and was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Montana School Boards Association for 8 years, serving as president in 2001-2002. Other current involvements include: member of the Certification, Standards and Practice Advisory Committee of the Montana Board of Public Education; Volunteer Coordinator of the Corvallis Reading Is Fundamental Program; board member of the Corvallis Schools Foundation; founding member and secretary (for life, apparently) of the Corvallis Civic Club; member of the Trails Committee of the Bitterroot Land Trust; president of the Malone-Kenney Ditch Users Association; member (and past-president) of the Ravalli County League of Women Voters. Tonia is also a former board member of the Montana Environmental Information Center and of the Teller Wildlife Refuge. When she is not attending meetings, Tonia loves to hike, cross-country ski, snowshoe, bike, and cook.

Doug has been active for many years with Trout Unlimited, an organization whose goal is to preserve our beautiful clear streams and lakes for the enjoyment of everyone, including fishermen. He has a long and distinguished resume, with over 26 years of experience as an analytical chemist for the pharmaceutical/bio-tech industry as well as in the fields of environmental, pesticide residue, and food science fields. He moved to the Bitterroot Valley in 1998 to work for Ribi ImmunoChem (later to become Corixa Corporation and currently Glaxo Smith Kline). His enthusiasm for conservation, his access to a network of other conservationists, and his expertise in environmental science are valuable additions to the Land Trust's toolbox.

Ross enjoys all the outdoor activities available in Montana and has a strong belief in creating a balance between conservation values and the free market system.

Ross and his family have called the Bitterroot Valley home for more than seven years. A graduate of Washburn University, Ross earned degrees in Criminal Justice and English Literature, with minors in Kansas Studies and Psychology. Ross is President and CEO of the Maverick Marketing Group, a full-service marketing and business consulting firm located in Hamilton, serving the US and Canada. He is the author of The Point of Difference Sales Training System, which he presents to businesses and organizations coast to coast. Ross is active in several conservation projects across Montana. He served as President of Parents as Teachers and on the School Board in Wabaunsee County, KS. Ross and his wife Cynthia reside in the Corvallis School District where daughters Jessica and Roxy attend school.

Victoria "Tori"  Nobles

Tori grew up in the heart of the valley, attending twelve years at Corvallis schools, to graduate in 1977.  She went out of state to college in Oregon, then California and did not return to Montana to live until 2002.  She and husband Don, built their dream home on her grandfather’s pond, land that she had purchased in the early ‘80s.  Upon return she has become active in her community, motivated by her desire to give back to the community that helped to raise her.  She is active in the Corvallis American Legion Auxiliary and hobbies include raising and riding horses and fishing with her dad, Terry Nobles.

Wayne Hedman

“For the new people coming into the Bitterroot the Good Ol' Days are now” 

Wayne Hedman grew up in Whitefish, MT and attended Pharmacy School at the University of Montana in Missoula.  Wayne spent four years as a Pharmacist in Sandpoint, Idaho and then moved to his "favorite spot" in Montana, the Bitterroot.  Wayne is active in the Ravalli County Resource Advisory Committee Chair, Bitterroot Valley Historical Society, Montana Forest Restoration Working Group,  Ravalli County Elk Working Group, Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement District, and Hamilton Lions Board.

To Wayne "the good old days were before the explosive growth that has occurred everywhere I have lived.   Therefore if I can play a little part in the preservation of the Bitterroot that used to have 100,000 head of cows and 13,000 people I feel compelled to make an effort to retain some semblance of my GOOD OLD DAYS".

Staff

Gavin Ricklefs, Executive Director

Steve Powell, Lands Program Director

Robin Pruitt, Programs Coordinator