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President
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Beverly Major
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Vice-President
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Nancy Franklin
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Secretary
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George Watkins
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Treasurer
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Peter Gregory
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Past
presidents
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Commissioners
Connecticut River Commissioners are
volunteers appointed for four year terms by the
governors of each state, except for designated
positions as noted below.
New
Hampshire's Connecticut River Valley Resource
Commission
Robert Christie, Hanover
(representing statewide conservation
organizations) - Dr. Christie
is a retired pathologist, laboratory director,
Adjunct Professor of Pathology at Dartmouth Medical
School, and a writer. A member of the Lancaster
Conservation Commission, he is also active in a
number of regional conservation organizations, as
well as the Weeks State Park Association and North
Country Chamber Players. Dr. Christie served for 15
years on the White Mountains Regional School Board
and is a former member of the Board of Trustees at
Norwich University, which awarded him an honorary
degree. During World War II, he served as a tank
company commander in Europe where he received the
Bronze Star. Members of his family own Christie's
Maple Farm in Lancaster.
Glenn English, Haverhill
(member at large) -
Mr. English has served as the
Town Manager of Haverhill, New Hampshire, since
1995. He is a member of the Board of Directors of
North Country Council and a member of its
Transportation Committee, and represents municipal
interests on the Connecticut River Byway Council's
Steering Committee. His professional interests
include economic development, tourism,
transportation, regional and local planning,
community building, and reasonable environmental
protection. Mr. English has served as chair of the
NH River Commission and President of the
Connecticut River Joint Commissions.
Robert Harcke,
Westmoreland
(designated by Southwest Region Planning
Commission) - Mr. Harcke, a
riverfront landowner, is the chief executive
officer of Continental Cable Company in Hinsdale, a
business that he founded in 1969. He has served as
president of the Hinsdale Commercial and Industrial
Development Corporation since 1999. He is a board
member of the Southwest Region Planning Commission,
and serves on its economic development and
brownfields advisory committees. He has served on
the Westmoreland Budget Committee and is a member
of the town's planning board.
Nancy Franklin, Plainfield
(member at large) -
Mrs. Franklin owns and manages
Riverview Farm, where her family offers tours of
the apple orchard, manages a lively pick-your-own
apple and raspberry operation, and produces cider,
pumpkins, jams and jellies, and dried flowers. She
has represented Plainfield on CRJC's Mt. Ascutney
Region River Subcommittee and helped write Volume V
of the Connecticut River Corridor Management Plan.
She represents agricultural interests as a member
of the Connecticut River Scenic Byway Council
Steering Committee, and has advised on the
development of this heritage and eco-tourism
promotion and preservation program. She is also a
former trustee of the Plainfield Library.
Cleve Kapala, Hopkinton
(representing hydroelectric interests)
- Mr. Kapala is
Director of Government Affairs and Relicensing for
TransCanada Hydro, the present owner of the hydro
generating dams on the Connecticut and Deerfield
Rivers. He previously served as Director of
Relicensing for the company's predecessors, New
England Power Company and USGen New England. Mr.
Kapala has also been a director of the New England
Salmon Association, a member of the board of
trustees of the New Hampshire chapter of The Nature
Conservancy, and former Director of Education &
Policy for the Society for the Protection of New
Hampshire Forests.
Robert Kline, Plainfield
(designated by the Connecticut River
Flood Control Commission) -
Mr. Kline is the former
City Engineer for Lebanon, New Hampshire. A
Registered Professional Engineer licensed in New
Hampshire (active) and California (retired), Mr.
Kline has worked in the private and public sectors
of the engineering field since 1960. He is a member
of the the Connecticut River Valley Flood Control
Commission, the American Society of Civil
Engineers, and the American Public Works
Association.
Cheston Newbold, Cornish
(designated by Upper Valley Lake Sunapee
Regional Planning Commission) -
A former selectman of Cornish,
Mr. Newbold is Chairman of the Cornish Planning
Board. He is a member of the Western Region
Development Corporation and the board of the Upper
Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission,
and is a former member of the board of the
Runnemede School in Lebanon. A retired teacher,
administrator, and coach, he raises apples, cider,
and maple syrup in Cornish. Mr. Newbold has served
as chair of the NH River Commission and President
of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions.
Robert Ritchie, Piermont
(representing agricultural interests)
- Mr. Ritchie
operates Glen Farm, a third-generation dairy farm
on the Connecticut River in Piermont. He has served
as chair of the Grafton County Conservation
District.
William Roberts, Hinsdale
(member at large) - A resident
of Hinsdale for 50 years, Mr. Roberts has served
two terms in the New Hampshire Legislature as
Representative of Cheshire County District 4, where
he was a member of the Resources, Recreation and
Development Committee. He has also served his town
for two terms as selectman, as chairman of the
Zoning Board of Adjustment, a member of the
Hinsdale Conservation Commission for more than ten
years, and of the Hinsdale Historical Society. He
represented Hinsdale when both the Ashuelot and
Connecticut Rivers were nominated for protection,
and has since served on CRJC's Wantastiquet Region
River Subcommittee for a number of years. Mr.
Roberts has been a council member of the Friends of
Pisgah State Park for 18 years and is currently its
president.
John Severance, Whitefield
(member at large) - A
professional natural resource ecologist, Mr.
Severance is a partner/owner of Watershed to
Wildlife, Inc., a consulting firm that assists New
Hampshire towns and landowners as they strive to
maintain the quality of their environment while
developing and growing as working, sustainable
communities. He holds a master's degree in
environmental education and science from Plymouth
State University. Mr. Severance is a former logger
and a public works coordinator, and has served as
Coos County Commissioner.
Mary Sloat, Northumberland
(designated by North Country Council) -
Mrs. Sloat is chair of the
planning boards of both Northumberland and the Coos
County Unincorporated Places, and serves on the
Board of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and on the
Citizen's Advisory Committee for Nash Stream.
Formerly vice-president of the board of directors
of the North Country Council and chair of its
Northern Forest Lands Committee, she has taken
leadership roles in the North Country League of
Women Voters and 4-H, and participated on the
STA-North Economic Development Commission and the
Heritage Trail Advisory Committee. Mrs. Sloat has
served as chair of the NH River Commission and
President of the Connecticut River Joint
Commissions.
Henry Swan, Lyme (representing
the forest products industry) -
Mr. Swan is Chairman of the
Board of Wagner Forest Management Ltd., a large
regional timberland investment and forest
management firm. He is currently vice-chair of the
New Hampshire Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and
former chair of the Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests and the Ad Hoc White Mountain
National Forest Advisory Committee. He has also
served on the boards of directors of the New
England Forestry Foundation, the Forest Society of
Maine, and the Henry's Fork Foundation. Mr. Swan
has also been a vice-chair of the NH River
Commission.
John Tucker, New London (member
at large) -
Former Speaker of the New
Hampshire House of Representatives and author of
the legislation creating the Connecticut River
Valley Resource Commission, Mr. Tucker has
extensive experience in state government. He is a
public relations consultant, a former CEO of the
New Hampshire Education Association, and former
educator. Mr. Tucker is a member of the Connecticut
River Scenic Byway Council Steering Committee and
advocate of the economic benefits of cultural and
natural heritage tourism. He is on the board of the
New London Hospital and the NH Technical College,
commissioner of the New England Association of
Secondary Schools and Colleges, and treasurer of
Valley Regional Health Care.
George Watkins, Walpole
(designated by the Connecticut River
Watershed Council) -
Mr. Watkins, a retired
chemical engineer, was chairman of the board of the
Connecticut River Watershed Council when it was
instrumental in creation of the NH Connecticut
River Commission. After 25 years with Standard Oil
Company of Ohio, he became Executive Director of
the Lake Erie Watershed Conservation Foundation,
and later managed the first watershed oriented
water resource planning agency in Ohio. He moved to
Walpole in 1980, and helped start Walpole's
recycling program. He presently chairs the town's
solid waste committee.
Vacant (representing tourism interests)
Vermont
's Connecticut River Watershed Advisory
Commission
Peter Gregory, Woodstock
(designated by Two Rivers-Ottauquechee
Regional Planning Commission) -
Executive Director of the Two
Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission
since 1997, Mr. Gregory is also a former treasurer
of the Greater Upper Valley Solid Waste Management
District. Gregory serves on the Vermont
Transportation Operations Council, an advisory
panel to the Vermont DOT Secretary, and is a Board
member on the Vermont State Infrastructure Bank
serving as Chairman for the past 4 years. He helped
develop the Vermont Byways Program, provides staff
support for the Vermont Scenery Preservation
Council, and is active on the Connecticut River
Byway Council Steering Committee. He was presented
with the Regional Leadership award by the New
England Association of Regional Councils in
2003.
Thomas Kennedy, Hartland
(designated by Southern Windsor County
Regional Planning Commission) -
Mr. Kennedy is Executive
Director of the Southern Windsor County Regional
Planning Commission, chairman of the Vermont
Association of Planning and Development
Association, and active on the Vermont Scenery
Preservation Council and Connecticut River Byway
Council Steering Committee. He lectures students in
elementary and middle schools on the history, life
and culture of people in southern Africa, and is
active in youth soccer in Hartland and in the Upper
Valley. He and his wife own a small farm in
Hartland, Vermont where they raise livestock breeds
that are considered to be endangered.
John Lawe, Norwich (designated
by the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning
Commission) - Dr. Lawe is a
member of the board of the Upper Valley Lake
Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, and former
Norwich Selectman and town health officer. A
designer of medical education software, he is also
a medical doctor, and a former professor of
pathology. He is active on CRJC's Atlas advisory
committee, and has served as vice-chair of the
Vermont Connecticut River Watershed Advisory
Commission.
Stephen Long, Corinth (member
at large) - Mr. Long is
co-founder of Northern Woodlands Magazine
and serves as publisher and co-editor. Before
Vermont Woodlands, the precursor to
Northern Woodlands, was born in 1994, he
worked as a script writer, technical writer, and
journalist. He serves on the board of Vermont
Coverts and Oxbow Senior Independence Program, and
the steering committee for Orange County Headwaters
Project, which is helping landowners in his home
town of Corinth and adjacent Washington to conserve
their land.
Beverly Major, Westminster
(representing agricultural interests) -
Currently Town Librarian in
Westminster West, Mrs. Major is a retired teacher.
She is also a former chair of the Westminster
School Board and chair and founding member of the
Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association. She serves on
the local Board of Civil Authority and has served
on the State School Directors' Board and the boards
of the Extension Service and Brattleboro Community
House. Her family owns the dairy sheep
cheese-producing Major Farm in Westminster. For 17
years she led a large and very active 4-H club in
her area. In 2008 Mrs. Major was honored by EPA
with the President's Volunteer Service Award and by
Gov. Douglas with an Outstanding Community Service
Award.
James Matteau, Westminster
(designated by Windham Regional
Commission) - Mr. Matteau holds
a Master of Regional Planning degree from the
University of Massachusetts, and has served as
Executive Director of the Windham Regional
Commission since 1989. He also has been associate
director at the WRC, and prior to that served for
several years as director of an Area Agency on
Aging. Past lives have included work as an
experimental machinist at Pratt & Whitney
Aircraft Corp. and operating paper and textile
processing machines.
Alison Meaders, St. Johnsbury
(designated by
Northeastern Vermont Development
Association) - Ms. Meaders is a
planner at Northeastern Vermont Development
Association (NVDA), and is an active member of the
Connecticut River Scenic Byway Steering Committee.
As the regional planning commission for Vermont's
Northeast Kingdom, NVDA works with 55 communities
to improve quality of life and protect the region's
uniquely rural assets. Previously, she was the
downtown coordinator for St. Johnsbury, where she
helped to found St. Johnsbury Works!, a "Main
Street" program modeled on the National Trust for
Historic Preservation's comprehensive approach to
downtown revitalization.
Gary Moore, Bradford (member at
large) - The emergency
management director for his native Bradford, VT,
Mr. Moore is a consultant in homeland security,
teaching a variety of terrorism and bomb related
courses to fire, police and emergency management
officials around the country. He is a member of the
VT State Police Search and Rescue Team and the VT
Hazardous Materials Response Team. He has served on
all three of the government commissions focused on
New England's largest river, currently including
the four-state CT River Flood Control Commission,
and, formerly, the CT River Atlantic Salmon
Commission. Moore has also served as commissioner
of VT's Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, chair of the
VT Water Resources Board, and is vice chair of the
VT State Colleges System board He writes a regular
column, "Thoughts on the Out of Doors," for several
valley newspapers.
Gayle Ottmann, Hartford (member
at large) - Executive Director
of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce and Vice
Chair of the Hartford Select Board, Mrs. Ottmann is
an active member of the Scenic Byway Council
Steering Committee. She is involved in an array of
area non-profit organizations with emphasis on
tourism and economic issues., including Upper
Valley Housing Coalition Public Outreach and
Education Sub-Committee, member of the State of
Vermont's Cultural Heritage Tourism Council, member
of the Upper Valley Transportation Committee,
Vermont's Rail Advisory Council, member of the
Executive Board of Vermont Association of Chamber
of Commerce Executives, and Program Director for
the White River Rotary Club.
Joseph Sampson, Bradford
(member at large) - Mr. Sampson
brings years of experience in municipal affairs to
the commissions, having served for 17 years as a
member of the Bradford Board of Selectmen. He is an
assistant scout master with Boy Scout Troop 978,
and is a member of the Masons, Charity Lodge No.
43.
Michaela Stickney, Waterbury
(designated by the Vermont Agency of
Natural Resources) - Michaela
Stickney is Coordinator of Vermont's Lake Champlain
Basin Program, a large, bi-state and multi-national
watershed program. Her twenty years of experience
in watershed planning and aquatic biology include
work in twenty Vermont towns, four states, and
seven countries. Ms. Stickney is working on
Governor Douglas' Clean and Clear Action Plan, a
new statewide water quality improvement initiative.
She and her husband sell hay and framing lumber
from their 150 acre hilltop farm.
Nathaniel Tripp, Barnet (member
at large) - Chairman of the
Barnet Planning Commission, Mr. Tripp is an author
and former television producer who tends a hill
farm in the Northeast Kingdom when he is not
canoeing on the river. A railroad enthusiast, he
has been closely involved with the renovation of
the historic St. Johnsbury railroad station as a
Connecticut River Byway visitor center, and is an
active member of the Byway Council's Steering
Committee, a former member of the board of the
Fairbanks Museum, and volunteer for the Caledonia
County Conservation District. He assisted in the
founding of the Passumpsic Valley Land Trust. Mr.
Tripp has served as chair of the VT River
Commission and President of the Connecticut River
Joint Commissions.
Stephen Walasewicz, Weathersfield
(member at large) -
Mr. Walasewicz has a degree in
Wildlife Biology and has been the Natural Resource
Manager for the Saint-Gaudens National Historic
Site in Cornish, New Hampshire since 1994. Previous
employment included positions with the University
of Vermont, the US Forest Service, and NH Fish
& Game Department. He has represented
Weathersfield on CRJC's Mt. Ascutney Region River
Subcommittee and is an active member of the
Connecticut River Byway Council and Connecticut
River Birding Trail. As a dedicated civic volunteer
in Weathersfield, Mr. Walasewicz is Chair of the
town's School Board, former chair of its Planning
Commission, and coaches elementary school sports.
He and his family have a small maple sugaring
operation.
Brendan Whittaker, Brunswick
(member at large) -
The Reverend Mr. Whittaker, who
holds degrees in forestry and divinity, began his
career in Vermont state government as Essex County
Forester, and was appointed by Governor Davis to
serve as First Chairman of the Act 250 District 1
Environmental Commission. Governor Snelling
appointed him as Director of the State Energy
Office in 1977, and in 1978 as Secretary of the
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. In 1991 he was
appointed by Governor Snelling to the Northern
Forest Lands Council. He later joined the Vermont
Natural Resources Council as Northern Forest
Project Manager. A selectman of Brunswick, Mr.
Whittaker and his wife operate a market garden from
their farm. Though retired, he continues to fill in
at Episcopal churches in NH. He is a founding
member of the nation-wide "Forest Stewards
Guild."
Norman Wright
, Westminster (member at
large) - A former
Vermont State Representative and Commissioner of
the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Mr.
Wright has 26 years experience in government in
Montpelier and in Washington D.C. He served until
2002 as chief executive officer of the Vermont
Hospital Association and on a number of American
Hospital Association work groups on Medicaid and
Medicare. He is a member of the executive committee
of Windham Regional Planning Commission and chair
of its Community Development and Housing Committee.
He has served as town meeting moderator for
Westminster and was principal of an appraisal
business in Putney.
Staff
Executive Director - Sharon
Francis
Conservation Director - Adair
Mulligan
Communications Director - Rebecca
Brown
Office Manager - Barbara
Harris
Past
Presidents
1989 - 1996 - George Moulton, Charlestown
NH
1996 - 1997 - Peter Richardson, Norwich
VT
1998 - 1999 - Cheston Newbold, Cornish
NH
2000 - Mary Sloat, Northumberland NH
2001 - Nathaniel Tripp, Barnet VT
2002 - Mary Sloat, Northumberland NH
2003 - 2004 - Gary Moore, Bradford VT
2005 - 2006 - Glenn English, Haverhill,
NH
2006 - 2007 - Gayle Ottmann, Hartford,
VT
2007 - 2008 - Cleve Kapala, Hopkinton, NH
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