Board of Directors
Officer Positions for FY2015-2016
President: Mike Fiorio
Vice President: Roger Dreher
Secretary: Sue DeNuccio
Treasurer: Bob Durfey

We would also like to welcome Tom Doolittle to the board! He was elected by our membership. Tom received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northland College and a graduate degree from University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire. He began his career as a naturalist at the Cable Natural History Museum. Since then, Tom has been a River Watch Coordinator, an Adjunct Professor at Northland College, a Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Warden Supervisor/Pilot for the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, a Supervisory Wildlife Biologist for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and a Refugee Manager/Deputy Manager for U.S. Forest Service in the Yukon Delta. Tom presently spends his professional time as a District Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Forest Service in the Nicolet National Forest. Tom and his wife reside in Mason. 

When asked why he wanted to join the BRC Board of Director’s Tom replied, to give something back to the region that formed me as a professional and where I’ve had the most fun. To target large contiguous blocks of land managed with the purpose of resource protection for the enjoyment of future generations, and also to protect Wisconsin legacy species through the protection of key lands and their respective connectivity to landscapes.

Highlights from the year:
Through Land Trust Alliance Excellence program grants BRC upgraded the following:

Organization-

• BRC renewed its 3-year organizational strategic plan after a facilitated two day retreat. 
• Successfully completed a comprehensive organizational assessment in preparation for renewal accreditation early in 2017. 
• Hired a professional Land Trust CPA to review all BRC finances. Developed new reports for the board and a budget by month. 

Conservation-

• Purchased two parcels of land through funding by the Knowles Nelson Stewardship program, the USDA Community Forest program and Joint Venture funding. 

1. Headwaters of North Pikes Creek (280 acres)
   
2. Headwaters of the Big Ravine in the Town of Bayfield (40 acres)
   

• Completed two conservation easements:
  

1. Farm and forestland in Ashland County
2. Lakefront forested land in Bayfield Country - provides a key wildlife corridor.

This year BRC will work with the community to develop the master plan, infrastructure and interpretve signs at North Pikes Creek. BRC will work with the Town of Bayfield to develop a conservation easement and then convey the 40 acres of the Big Ravine headwaters to the town. BRC also hopes to create more trails for the community and ultimately connect the existing trail system. 

This spring BRC launched their explore the trails campaign. They are excited to create a trails committee to steward the Brownstone and Big Ravine Trails. 


Keynote Speaker Mike Carlson, External Relations Director for Gathering Waters

Mike Carlson has been with Gathering Waters: Wisconsin's Alliance for Land Trusts since 2007 and serves as the organization's External Relations Director.  In his current role, he acts as an advocate and a liaison for Wisconsin’s land trusts on state and federal public policy issues.  Mike moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2002 to pursue a dual degree in Law and Land Resources at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, completing the program in 2007 with an M.S. and a J.D.  Mike grew up in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine."

Mike gave an inspiring and informative speech on the history of land conservation in Wisconsin and why land preservation remains important today. 

The meeting also marked the official welcome to Justin Johnson, BRC's new summer intern and GIS specialist and also BRC's new Communications Administrator, Jamey Penney-Ritter, and a heart felt farewell to BRC's Digital Communication Coordinator Anya Moucha.