Wallowa Resources Staff

Nils Christoffersen

Nils currently serves as Executive Director for Wallowa Resources. He has a Bachelors in Economics from Williams College (honors in Environmental Economics), and a Masters in Forestry from Oxford University. His work experience includes 6 years in Eastern and Southern Africa on forestry and wildlife management issues, with an emphasis on community based natural resource management. Previously, Mr. Christoffersen has served as Executive Director for the US Office of Africa Resources Trust, Regional program Coordinator for the IUCN Regional Office in Southern Africa (Zimbabwe), Training Officer for Wildlife Division in Tanzania, and Field Supervisor for Forestry Department in Botswana. Other work includes policy work with the European Commission on matters related to CITES and natural resource management, and short term field work in Australia (livestock), UK (forestry), Norway (forestry and fishing), and Israel (agriculture).

Brinda Stanley

Brinda Stanley manages the office, acts as Board secretary, meets and greets the public and supports staff in a broad variety of ways. She is a fourth generation Wallowa Countian. Brinda brings to Wallowa Resources her strong ties to and knowledge of the community and the land. She was raised on a working farm/ranch in the County and has developed close ties to people from all walks of life in Wallowa County. Brinda is active in the community: serving on the Joseph School Board, teaching horsemanship to Wallowa County youth through the 4-H program, and serving as a leader of the local Grange.

Erin Melville

Erin is a fifth generation resident of Wallowa County. She coordinates technical aspects of Wallowa Resources field projects, where a majority of her time is spent on the Upper Joseph Creek Watershed assessment and project implementation. Erin s work with Wallowa Resources' is a natural extension of her desire for the sixth generation to live and work here (her son) and her love of ranching, which was born and nurtured on her parents ranch near Wallowa. Erin earned a B.S. in range livestock management from the University of Idaho. She is involved in the local 4-H horse program, serves as the 4-H Leaders Association Treasurer, and is a member of Liberty Grange.

Mark Porter

Mark Porter coordinates Wallowa Resources Lower Grande Ronde Noxious Weed Program -- a cooperative effort of Wallowa Resources, the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, several state agencies and numerous private landowners in the Lower Grande Ronde River corridor. The program treats weeds across public property and private ownership boundaries. Mark earned a B.S. in wildlife biology from Oregon State University. He has extensive field experience in northeast Oregon ranging from cattle ranching to backcountry trail work to stream surveying. Mark coaches a local youth soccer team.

Kathy Reynolds

Kathy is the Finance/Human Resource Manager for Wallowa Resources and also serves as the Treasurer to the Corporation. Kathy is responsible for all financial records for the Corporation and its subsidiary companies. Kathy moved to Wallowa County in 1999 from Salem, Oregon. She has vast experience in the accounting/payroll field. She worked for Payless NW Corporate offices for 15 years as Payroll Manager, worked for Morrow Snowboards as their Human Resource Director and has worked for Manufacturing Companies, and Construction companies as Finance Controller. Kathy is a member of the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce and served as that Board’s Secretary/Treasurer for 2 years. She was the parade chairman for the Hells Canyon Mule Days Parade for 3 years and she is involved in the community. Kathy loves the outdoors and Wallowa County…she is passionate about the organization and her role in blending the needs of the land and the community.

Penny Arentsen

Penny is the Youth Stewardship Education Coordinator for Wallowa Resources - Wallowa Mountain Institute (WR-WMI). She designs and implements WR-WMI’s classroom and outdoor science-based programs for students ages kindergarten through 12th grade in Wallowa County. She has her Bachelors in Geology from Colorado College and her Masters in Watershed Science (2005) from Utah State University. For her master’s research, she designed a water quality study to determine stormwater runoff effects on aquatic health in urban areas. She also completed a year of graduate work in 2001 in the Professional Residency in Environmental Education program at the Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyoming. She has worked on Maryland's Eastern Shore, teaching watershed science at Echo Hill Outdoor School, led backpacking, sea-kayaking, and canoeing trips for young adults ages 15-18 in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and as a geologist for an Environmental Consulting firm in Denver, Colorado.

In 2004, she began working with Wallowa Resources. In addition to her position as Youth Stewardship Education Coordinator, she and her husband Paul own a whitewater rafting and fishing company called Winding Waters River Expeditions. She is passionate about the outdoors, as well as backcountry skiing, Morgan horses, and water. Penny is active in the community as a SMART reader, a Ferguson Ridge Ski Patroller (auxiliary), and a volunteer with the AFS foreign exchange program.

Sarah Ketchum

Sarah is Wallowa Resource’s Weed Programs Specialist. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Anderson University in Indiana. While in college, she took courses at the Au Sable Institute’s Great Lakes campus. Following graduation, she returned to Au Sable as Program Assistant. In 2004 Sarah entered graduate school at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana where she researched the response of sulfur cinquefoil to grazing at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in northeast Oregon. In 2007 she received her Master’s Degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science and returned to Oregon to manage noxious weeds. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys hiking/camping, volleyball and reading.

Don Harker

Don Harker is the WRCSI Managing Director. He has a Bachelors degree in biology from Austin Peay State University and Masters in biology from the University of Notre Dame. He has 30 years of experience in the private, government and nonprofit sectors and has a national reputation for innovative leadership. He worked in Kentucky state government for more than 10 years as director of the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, director of the Kentucky Division of Water and director of the Kentucky Division of Waste Management. He initiated the Kentucky Water Watch program which is now 20 years old (www.state.ky.us/nrepc/water/wwhomepg.htm). Don co-founded and served as board treasurer of the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust and is active with local groups in Oregon working on forest issues. He consults with Sustainable Northwest and communities throughout the US on sustainable development. He has coauthored several books, including the Landscape Restoration Handbook and Where We Live: A Citizen’s Guide to Conducting a Community Environmental Inventory.

Troy Nave

Troy is the Field Trips and Heritage Program Coordinator for Wallowa Resources-Wallowa Mountain Institute. He graduated with a degree in Natural Resource Management from University of California at Santa Barbara (1990). Troy recently moved to Wallowa County from Alaska, where he managed the guide staff and coordinated day trip programs for a renowned eco-tour company. Throughout most of the 1990’s, Troy worked as trip leader and guide for natural history backcountry trips in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. His interest in public land use led to work in the Alaska Regional Office of National Parks Conservation Association, where he served as a Program Assistant for two years. Troy’s love of travel and remote landscapes brought him to Antarctica, where he worked in science support for the United States Antarctic Program. He enjoys a number of outdoor pursuits, including trekking, river rafting, backcountry skiing, and surfing. Troy also serves on the Ferguson Ridge Auxiliary Ski Patrol.

Nancy Knoble

Nancy Knoble is assisting with special projects for Wallowa Resources. She brings more than 25 years executive and management experience with GE, Pacific Telesis and two small high technology companies. Her broad industry experience spans a number of industries where she provided human resources, corporate communications, real estate/facilities and marketing leadership. Nancy has served on a number of non-profit boards and provided leadership, as a volunteer, for open space acquisition in Tiburon, CA and breast cancer awareness and research funding. Nancy and her partner, Don Harker, are principals in BLITS Consulting which provides management consulting services to Wallowa Resources and other non-profit organizations.

Wallowa Resources Board of Directors

CHAIR
James Henson, Rancher/Retired University Professor, Enterprise, Oregon

VICE-CHAIR
Joe McCormack, Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Biologist, Joseph, Oregon

BOARD
Cory Carman, Rancher/Consultant, Wallowa, Oregon

Larry Davis, Carpenter/Ranch Hand, Lostine, Oregon

Gail Hammack, Retired Corporate Manager/Landowner, Lostine, Oregon

Mike Hayward, County Commissioner/Forester, Joseph, Oregon

Doug McDaniel, Rancher/Landowner, Lostine, Oregon

Ed Millar, Partner Terminal Gravity Brewery, Wallowa, Oregon

Liza Nichols, Rancher/Landowner, Enterprise, Oregon

Larry Nall, Forester/Stewardship Contractor, Joseph, Oregon

Ken Wick, Real Estate Broker/Landowner, Joseph, Oregon