Wallowa Resources Staff
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.
Holly Akenson
Holly Akenson is the Director of the Wallowa Mountain Institute. She coordinates research and education programs for Wallowa Resources. Holly graduated with honors from Eastern Oregon University with a BS in Biology and a BS in Education. She received a Masters in Wildlife Resources from University of Idaho. Holly previously worked for University of Idaho for 13 years as Manager/Scientist of Taylor Wilderness Research Station where she developed and coordinated field programs for university students and conducted carnivore and bighorn sheep research and long term monitoring in the Idaho wilderness. Prior to that, Holly had a wildlife consulting business in Northeast Oregon working with state and federal agencies and private landowners on wildlife and natural resources projects. Holly is a Certified Wildlife Biologist. Holly’s personal interests are oriented toward wild places: nature photography, mule pack trips & backpacking, wilderness big game hunting, and international adventures.
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.
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 currenly serves on the Oregon Invasive Species Council. In his free time, Mark coaches a local youth soccer team.
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).
Penny Arentsen
Penny is the Youth Stewardship Education Coordinator for Wallowa Resources - Wallowa Mountain Institute (WR-WMI). She designs and implements WR-WMI’s outdoor science programs for students ages kindergarten through 12th grade in Wallowa County. She has a B.A. in Geology from Colorado College and a 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 is also a graduate of the Professional Residency in Environmental Education program (2001) at the Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyoming. She cut her teeth in education at Echo Hill Outdoor School on Maryland's Eastern Shore. She also led backpacking, sea-kayaking, and canoeing trips for Wilderness Ventures from 1996-1998 with young adults ages 13-18 in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a geologist for an Environmental Consulting firm in Denver, Colorado.
In addition to her work with WR-WMI, she and her husband Paul own a whitewater rafting company, Winding Waters River Expeditions. She is passionate about playing outdoors, including backcountry skiing and fiddling with horses. Penny is an active volunteer in the community.
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.
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 moved to Alaska in 1992, where he worked as a trip leader, guide, and program manager for an ecotour company that conducts 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 took 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.
Wallowa Resources Consultants
Andrew Larson
Andrew J. Larson is Wallowa Resources' Research Assistant. He is a Teaching Associate and PhD Candidate in Forest Ecosystem Analysis at the University of Washington. His research interests span several forest ecology and management topics: disturbance ecology and forest succession; causes and ecological consequences of tree mortality; spatial ecology; effects of wild and domestic ungulate herbivory on forest ecosystems; and ecological silviculture and forest restoration. Andrew has taught forest ecology at the undergraduate and graduate level, and firmly believes that the best place to learn forest ecology is in the field. Andrew has a B.S. in Forest Management from the University of Washington (2003). His professional forest management experience includes conservation planning and forest restoration projects for the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of Seattle, The Nature Conservancy and the Pinchot Partners.
Don Harker
Don Harker 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.
Jesse Abrams
Jesse Abrams is a doctoral candidate in Oregon State University’s Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society. His current research project is a case study of changing land ownership and land use patterns in Wallowa County. This project was designed and carried out in close collaboration with Wallowa Resources and other local community members. Jesse’s past experience includes three years working on community-based forest restoration projects in Arizona and New Mexico with the Ecological Restoration Institute and interning with Wallowa Resources in 2003. He holds a Master of Science in Forest Resources from Oregon State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from New College of Florida.
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
Kelly Birkmaier, USFS Range/Rancher, Enterprise, Oregon
Gail Hammack, Retired Corporate Manager/Landowner, Lostine, Oregon
Harold Hartley, Business Owner/Landowner, Enterprise, 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
David Schmidt, Bussiness Owner, Joseph, Oregon
Brad Stephens, Physician/Landowner, Joseph, Oregon
Ken Wick, Real Estate Broker/Landowner, Joseph, Oregon
Jim Zacharias, Sawmill Owner/Logger, Joseph, Oregon