I have worked on land, agriculture and resource management issues my entire career. I worked in Congress for both political parties and have extensive leadership experience running businesses, working on boards, and participating in collaborative groups. I have also managed budgets for large nonprofit organizations.

 

My political experience started in Washington D.C., a place where things used to function better and people could get work done. I was the senior advisor to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York until he retired in 2001. I advised Senator Moynihan on agricultural and land use issues, and represented him on the Environment and Public Works Committee, on which he was the most senior member. I also helped Moynihan manage budgetary decisions in the millions of dollars regarding authorizing legislation and appropriations for various projects across the country.

 

Senator Moynihan was, above all else, a statesman. He was the advisor to four Presidents (Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford) and believed that good public policy, not politics, should lead decision-making. Above his desk he framed two national magazine covers – one that proclaimed him to be a neo-conservative; the other a neo-liberal. Moynihan loved being apolitical, fighting for the best policy for the greatest good, and yet he still won his elections with huge margins. He made us staff members read the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post every morning and quizzed us on the best solutions to the hardest public policy dilemmas of the day. He is my role model as an elected official.

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(See video statement about my experience with Senator Moynihan)

 

After Senator Moynihan, I worked for the only bipartisan regional coalition in the country. It is called the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition and it still exists! This is a large working coalition of Republican, Democratic, and Independent members in the Senate and House who work side-by-side to get things done. They focus on “rust belt” economic issues like infrastructure and brownfields development, and on conservation issues important to the Great Lakes and Northeast, like water quality and wildlife habitat. I was an advisor to the Coalition and enjoyed every minute of it, helping members of three political parties get along and make good things happen. It is another model for my leadership.

 

I was also the first U.S. government representative to work on an international treaty focused on wetlands. In 1998, the U.S. State Department sent me to Switzerland to work at the headquarters of the Ramsar International Convention on Wetlands. There, I was able to provide U.S. leadership and support to over 100 countries (now 172) that signed the treaty to promote wetlands of international significance. I attended the international Conference of Parties, where I saw nations that otherwise fought each other come together to conserve valuable habitat and ecosystem services. Again, a role model for me to follow.

 

Early on, I was recognized as being able to bridge divides and connect with people from a wide variety of beliefs and perspectives. This has led me to serve on many nonpartisan international, regional, and local collaborative groups. I have served on the United Nations Global Mercury Assessment Working Group, focused on finding economically-viable solutions to reducing mercury emissions world-wide. After being a Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park and working for a desert group in Oregon, I was appointed by the Secretary of Interior to serve on the Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council. This group of ranchers, County Commissioners, and local land use representatives met regularly to advise federal land managers on how to move forward on complex land management issues. I also served on Governor Kitzhaber’s Working Group on Sage Grouse and on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge’s Comprehensive Planning Group, which successfully worked with ranchers, politicians, and local citizens to find solutions on natural resource issues. The Malheur Refuge effort was so successful that it created a strong sense of community and unity among uncommon allies when outside forces came in and took over the refuge in 2016.

 

I currently serve on a collaborative group in Southwest Washington called the South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative (SGPC). SGPC is focused on land use management issues in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Voting members of the collaboratives include the logging industry, County Commissioners, local businesses, habitat and fisheries managers, the Tribes, and local citizens who use and recreate in the forest. I represent hunters and anglers on this group.

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For seven years, I worked closely with sportsmen and conservation groups in the Pacific region to restore wildlife and habitat with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). At NWF, I had the opportunity to work directly with the leaders of nonprofit businesses and help them grow their organizations and become more effective. This led to our coalition having significant influence on the priorities of both Republican and Democratic members of Congress.

 

For five years, I worked as the Executive Director of the local nonprofit business Cascade Forest Conservancy, which is focused on sustainable timber harvests and healthy wildlife and rural communities. During my time, I doubled the size of the organization and managed our $600,000 annual budget.

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I also have focused on youth leadership through volunteering as a Big Brother, with at-risk youth, and as a Scout leader. As Director of Investor Partnerships at Social Venture Partners (SVP) from 2019-2022, I worked with investors to support local nonprofits that provide culturally-relevant preschool educational experiences for underserved youth and families.

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Currently, I serve as the Director of another nonprofit business called the World Salmon Council. Our business recently celebrated 30 years of providing underserved youth in our community the opportunity to experience wild salmon spawning in our streams and learn science through hands-on, culturally-relevant educational experiences. The program is call Salmon Watch and you can read more at worldsalmon.org.

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My current full-time leadership role is at Ducks Unlimited where I have the honor to serve as Policy Director for the western region. Ducks Unlimited is North America's leader in wetlands conservation and I work closely with our state and federal legislators, and our volunteers, to ensure positive outcomes for migratory birds and other wildlife. Passing a strong Farm Bill for farmers and conservation is currently our top priority.

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Through my leadership at Ducks Unlimited, I was recently elected as co-chair of a new hunter and angler coalition we created called the Washington Fish & Wildlife Conservation Partnership. This coalition of 22 groups exists to promote conservation and our hunting and fishing heritage. Please read more at wa-conservation.org.

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Finally, I serve on the Board of Directors of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA), where I am the Conservation Policy Chair. BHA defends public lands, hunting and fishing opportunities, and healthy fish and wildlife populations. Our Washington Chapter recently won the award for 2024 Chapter of the Year.

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Please see ENDORSEMENTS listed here