Paul Arentsen
Board chair
Paul Arentsen, Owner and Lead Guide of Winding Waters River Expeditions, has been guiding (backpacking, river, backcountry skiing and troubled youth) since graduating from Indiana University in 1995. He was introduced to “The River” in ’95 and has not been able to leave it since. Paul resides in Joseph, Oregon with his wife, Penny, and children Linden and Britton. He’s passionate about skiing, fishing for steelhead and looking forward to the next river season.
In addition to being on Wallowa Resources’ Board, Paul volunteers with Ferguson Ridge Ski Patrol as a Director and Patroller, he’s the President of the Mount Joseph Water Association, he’s a board member for Wallowa Avalanche Center and Eagle Cap Ski Club, and is a member of the Enterprise-Joseph Lion’s Club.
Larry Nall
Board Member
Larry and Sharon moved their family and forest management business to Wallowa County in 1990. Because their business activity was all over the Northwest, they opted to live in the finest community they’d found in their travels. When Wallowa Resources was born in ’95 in the back room of Cloud Nine Bakery, Larry agreed to be part of the founding Board.
After graduating from Washington State University, Larry took a forester position in Sisters and four years later started his forest management business, doing tree thinning, tree planting, and pre-sale preparation contracts on both sides of the Cascades. After the move to Wallowa County, the business focused on forest inventory on public and private forests in the tri-state region of the Pacific Northwest. When the woods recession turned forest management upside-down, Larry found a niche providing Forest Stewardship Council certification services through Wallowa Resources’ Community Solutions, Inc., the North American representative of Soil Association Woodmark, an FSC certifying body based in Great Britain.
Kelly Birkmaier
Board Member
Kelly Birkmaier is a mother and rancher's wife. Kelly joined the board because Wallowa Resources focuses on land conservation and significantly contributes to county employment. She truly supports the Wallowa Resources mission. Because her husband is a fourth generation rancher, and because she worked as a Range Specialist, Kelly connects with Wallowa County. She loves its beauty- its gorgeous mountain peaks, breathtaking canyons, and passionate people working to conserve the land.
Gail Hammack
Board Member
Gail volunteers for the board because of her concerns with the health and well-being of both land and the people who make a living from it. Wallowa Resources work greatly impacts both in very positive ways.
Gail has extensive corporate business experience and brings a wealth of knowledge to the board. She currently lives on a ranch in Lostine, OR.
Natashya Hays
Board Member
Natashya Hays came to Wallowa County as a child in 1977 and moved into her great grandparents’ house on Alder Slope. As her great, great grandparents settled here, she and her family have always had a connection to Wallowa County.
For the past 30 years, Natashya has pursued and developed a passion for education, teaching in different places around the world, including; Oregon, Ghana, Switzerland, and Indonesia. Living and working in many different places has presented her with many opportunities to see different perspectives and ways of living - of which she is extremely grateful. From sharing a campsite with Hyenas, hiking the Swiss Alps, snorkeling coral reefs and hiking with komodo dragons, the adventures have been enriching.
In 2017, Natashya moved home, to Wallowa County, with her husband and two daughters. Seeing the way that Wallowa Resources supports the community and brings people together to develop creative solutions for sustaining rural communities, Natashya felt compelled to be a part of this organization and to be a helpful participant on the board. When she is not abroad consulting in International Schools sharing her passion for literacy, she is raising her two daughters, enjoying the outdoors, and rediscovering Wallowa County again.
Caio DeMelo
Board Member
A real estate professional that entered the affordable housing industry in 2008, Caio has extensive knowledge in financing, development, and management of multifamily affordable housing properties. After becoming a CPA in 2014, Caio provided tax, assurance, and consulting services to partnerships and LLCs, developing a robust knowledge of entity structure and partnership taxation of affordable housing entities. A native of Brazil, Caio traveled to Oregon for college, where he met his wife who is a native of Wallowa County. Caio and his family enjoy the peaceful rural lifestyle in the Wallowa Mountains, where they help promote youth soccer in Oregon.
Mike Hayward
Board Member
Mike Hayward previously worked for Wallowa County Grain Growers. He was Chairman of the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners, a position he has held for 15 of the 19 years he served on the County Commission. Prior to taking public office, Mike served as the Executive Director of the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce, owned and managed the Eagle Cap Chalets at Wallowa Lake, and was Acting Manager for Les Schwab Tire Center in Enterprise. Mike is originally from Pullman, WA and received a forestry degree from Washington State University. Despite significant reductions in forest revenue, the Wallowa County economy remains dependent on natural resources. Wallowa Resources attracted Mike because it addresses the challenges of a resource-based economy.
Mike’s wife Beverly worked for the Wallowa Health Care District and is now retired. They have two kids, one of whom lives and works in the county.
Maureen Krebs
Board Member
In 2011, Maureen Krebs and her husband Clint returned to Wallowa County after having lived in Wallowa almost thirty years earlier. Together with their son and daughter-in-law, they operate Krebs Livestock in Wallowa and Morrow counties. This fifth generation family operation is proud to produce food and fiber from renewable natural resources. Maureen is a graduate of Oregon State University.
Maureen feels the land is a working landscape and is passionate about preserving and improving the land for future generations. She feels it is important to have a cooperative approach to sustaining the rural lifestyle through education, resource management and stewardship. Maureen considers it a true privilege to serve on the Wallowa Resources Board.
Beth McClaran
Board Member
Beth currently manages McClaran Ranch alongside her two sisters Jill and Maggie. The three sisters are the fourth generation to McClaran Ranch which celebrates 100 years in business in 2019. She was born and raised on the ranch in Joseph, Oregon. Beth attended Oregon State University and received her degree in Rangeland Ecology and Management. She is excited to be a part of the proactive and sustainable land management practices Wallowa Resources brings to Wallowa County.
Joe McCormack
Board Member
Joseph Otto McCormack lives in Wallowa County on a small tree farm near Fergi Ski Park where he enjoys helping to manage the ski hill. Joe is a Lions club member and he has worked for the Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Resource Management research division for 25 years mostly on the lower Imnaha River smolt monitoring site near Cow Creek. Joe is a Tribal member and exercises reserved Treaty rights as a hunter, fisher and grazes a small number of cattle on ancestral land in the Hells Canyon and summer range on the higher country at the place of thorns (Chisnimpua). Joe studied aquaculture, fish health, nutrition and hatchery management at the Collage of Southern Idaho, served on the GRMW board, Nez Perce Homeland board, ICAPS, and is a returning WR board member.
Brad Stephens
Board member
In 1975, when his family moved to La Grande, Brad came to Eastern Oregon to start his practice of Orthopedic Surgery. Although Brad grew up and studied in New England, he always wanted to live in the West. During those busy years in La Grande, Brad treated many patients from Wallowa County and went to Wallowa Memorial Hospital each month for a clinic and to do minor surgery. In 1993, after his sons went to college, he moved to Lake Placid, New York, to become the Medical Director and Orthopedic Consultant of the United States Olympic Training Center, where he enjoyed caring for and traveling with many Olympic athletes. He also started the Lake Placid Sports Medicine Center.
In 2007, Anne and Brad followed their hearts and returned to Eastern Oregon, settling in Joseph. Brad maintained a part-time orthopedics practice at the Wallowa Memorial Hospital. Over the years, Brad got to know and appreciate the wonderful hardworking people of Wallowa County. He also enjoys the outdoor opportunity found in this beautiful natural landscape. Brad feels privileged to be a board member and to help with its mission of maintaining our working community in this special natural setting.
Tara Porter
Board Member
Tara Porter grew up on her family farm in Burley, Idaho. She worked in the research department at Boise State University while receiving her degree in Botany. After receiving her degree, Tara spent her next few years in Idaho managing an agriculture seed laboratory. Passionate about natural resources and eager to always live in Eastern Oregon, she ended up in La Grande as the Director of Tri-County CWMA. She fulfilled her long-time goal of moving to Wallowa County in 2014 and now runs TRP Creative Resources, her own natural resource service and creative design business. Growing up in an agricultural and rural community connects Tara with Wallowa County and its working landscapes. She loves to be active and in the outdoors, and to grow and create great food.
Jim Zacharias
Board Member
Jim runs a small sawmill business (JayZee Lumber) in Joseph, Oregon. His family first settled in Wallowa County in 1896 to work as farmers and loggers. After graduating from Joseph High School, Jim worked for his father for a couple of years and then started his own logging company that grew to 30 employees and subcontractors. He was one of the first to introduce mechanical logging to Northeast Oregon.
When the major local mills closed, he downsized and sold his business to his sons Tom and Seth. Three generations of the Zacharias family, as well as many relations, are still working in the woods of Wallowa County.
Jim and his wife Julie live just outside of Joseph. In their spare time, they hike, ride horses, hunt and fish in the neighboring mountains and canyons.
Kelsey Juve
Board Member
Born and raised in Enterprise, Oregon, Kelsey has always been deeply connected to the community and land of Wallowa County. Returning home from Oregon State University, she knew she wanted to act in service to her community. After seven years on the Wallowa County Farmers Market Board, she was ready to step into a larger role in the community. When Wallowa Resources approached her to join the board, she was honored. The workforce housing crisis is a passion of Kelsey’s, and she looks forward to taking a larger role by working directly with Working Homes.
Adele Schott
Board Member
Adele was born and raised in Wallowa County and manages her family ranch, making her the 5th generation to carry on that work. She has lived and worked all over the West, from Wyoming to California, honing her culinary and cowboy arts skills. When it came time to start a family, she knew there was nowhere else in the world she would rather raise kids than in Wallowa County.
Adele chose to serve on the Wallowa Resources to support their mission, which reflects her own, and to take care of her community and the landscape that sustains us all.