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Nonhighway
and Off-Road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) Program Advisory Committee
This page last updated June 27, 2008 |
Charter
Membership
Application
The Advisory Committee
is made up of 15 members that meets several times each year
to advise the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Director on Nonhighway and Off-Road Vehicle
Activities (NOVA) Program issues.
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Citizen
Members
Click on a committee member's name to see their profile. |
| Arlene
Brooks |
Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association |
Ms. Brooks is one
of three off-road vehicle representatives on the NOVA
Advisory Committee. She has been associated with the
Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association since
1968, holding various offices since 1980, including
those involving land use issues. In 1980, she participated
in the Governor's Conference on Recreation and the
Public Land Users Society, a group of organizations
favoring more recreational opportunities. That year
also marked the start of her participation in the
state NOVA program. Since then she has represented
the four-wheel drive community in various capacities.
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| Mike Blankenship |
Ridge Runners ORV Club |
Mr. Blankenship represents the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) recreation point of view on the NOVA Advisory Committee. He has lived in Ferry County for the past 28 years and is an advocate of outdoor recreation. Among his many affiliations, Mr. Blankenship is a member of the Tree Benders Snowmobile Club. As a county commissioner he has had the privilege of representing the Washington State Association of Counties on the Washington State Parks Winter Recreation Motorized and Non-Motorized Advisory Committees. Also on behalf of the association, Mr. Blankenship participated in the 2005 Legislative Off-Road Vehicle Noise Task Force.
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| Jeremy Blasdel |
Hunting-Fishing |
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| Rick Burk |
Eastern Washington Dirt Riders Association |
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| Louise Caywood |
Backcountry Horsemen of Washington |
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Bill Eller |
State Conservation Commission |
Mr. Eller is one of three nonhighway road representatives on the NOVA Advisory Committee. He joined the Washington State Conservation Commission as technical coordinator of the Columbia River Basin Water Management Program in 2007.
Bill was born in North Dakota, but moved to Alaska when he was 3 years old. Growing up in Alaska gave him an appreciation of the outdoors and the conservation of natural resources. He attended the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1990. In 1997, he graduated from the Gonzaga University School of Law with a juris doctorate degree and practiced both criminal and civil law while at the Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for nine years, taking a special interest in hunting and fishing violations and off-road criminal law cases. He is an adjunct professor at Central Washington University in the Law and Justice Department and a judge pro-tem for the Selah Municipal Court.
He is an outdoors enthusiast who enjoys traveling, hiking, beachcombing, downhill and cross-country skiing, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiling, mountain biking, and inline skating.
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| Jonathan
Guzzo |
Washington Trails Association |
Mr. Guzzo is one
of four nonmotorized members of the NOVA Advisory
Committee, representing hikers. He is director of
advocacy for the Washington Trails Association , having
started policy work with the state Public Interest
Research Groups. After moving to Washington in 2000-for
the mountains-he began working at the trails association,
combining his twin interests in politics and hiking.
In addition to the association, Mr. Guzzo serves on
the steering committees of The Cascades Conservation
Partnership and the Wild Washington Campaign.
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| Kenneth
Irwin |
Yakima County Sheriff’s
Office |
Mr. Irwin is the local government representative on the NOVA Advisory Committee. He has 32 years of experience in law enforcement, 6 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. and 26 years with the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.
One of his early career highlights was being the first off-road vehicle education and enforcement deputy in Yakima County from 1979 - 1983. The opportunity to work with the ORV community, mitigate problems, write newspaper articles, etc. was exhilarating. His career highlights include being appointed as sheriff in 2001, elected in 2001, and again in 2002, graduating from the FBI National Academy and from Yakima Valley College. He also has attended the NW Law Enforcement Executive Command College.
Mr. Irwin is the treasurer for the Washington State Sheriff's Association, serves on the executive board of the NWHIDTA State Interoperability Executive Committee. Mr. Irwin thoroughly enjoys the many unique challenges of the Office of Sheriff. His emphasis has been on making Yakima County a safer place to live and visit through crime prevention and good hard-nosed police work. His department takes pride in taking care of victims, empowering neighborhoods, and tracking down criminals.
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| Jeff
Lambert |
The Mountaineers (Spokane
Branch) |
Mr. Lambert is one of four non-motorized members on the NOVA Advisory Committee, representing hikers. As the Conservation Chair of the Spokane Branch of The Mountaineers, he has often reported on NOVA issues to its 900 members and other user groups in Eastern Washington. In addition, he participates in the Wild Washington Coalition, Spokane Bike Club, Friends of Mt. Spokane, and the Washington Trails Association. Apart from hiking, Mr. Lambert regularly enjoys bicycling, canoeing, fishing, skiing, and photography.
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| John
Spring |
Spring Family Trust |
Mr. Spring is one of three non-highway road representatives on the NOVA Advisory Committee. He was awarded a degree in outdoor recreation from the University of Washington where he heavily emphasized promoting opportunity for ALL people. He manages a machinery company by day and promotes volunteerism the rest of the time. He is a successful moderator with training from the prestigious instructors with the Young President's Organization.
Through the years, Mr. Spring has made presentations covering his 50 years of involvement in trails and the legacy of his father, the late Ira Spring, which endures today through the Spring Family Trust for Trails. A partial list of organizations in which Mr. Spring is active includes: International Mountain Biking Association, The Mountaineers, Student Conservation Association, Volunteer Trails Association, Washington State Trails Association, Washington Trails Association, Boy Scouts of America, Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, Sierra Club and National Audubon Society. On the personal side, John is an Eagle Scout and regularly gets out to hike, climb mountains, walk for health, mountain bike, kayak and canoe, sail, ski (both water and snow), snow shoe, volunteer on trail maintenance crews, car camp, participate in photography, and watch wildlife.
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Art
Tuftee |
Backcountry Bicycle Trails
Club |
Mr. Tuftee is one of four non-motorized members of the NOVA Advisory Committee, representing mountain bicyclists. He has been a trail advocate since 1992 when he became alarmed at the rapid decrease of riding opportunities available to mountain bikes. Since then he has worked to ensure that bicyclists remain responsible members of the trails community and stay active in trail maintenance, education, and advocacy. Mr. Tuftee has served on a number of trail related committees and task forces including the Nonhighway and Off-Road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) Program, the NOVA Fuel Use Study, VTC, Moran Trails Advisory group, and State Parks Statewide Trails Policy committee. He is the western Washington representative of the International Mountain Bicycling Association , a past president and current board member of the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club, and a member of the Professional Trail Builders Association.
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| State and
Federal Agency Members |
| Paul
Dahmer |
Department of
Fish and Wildlife |
As the Wildlife Area section manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mr. Dahmer is one of three state agency representatives on the NOVA Advisory Committee. Scattered across the state, Washington's Wildlife Areas comprise about 800,000 acres managed to protect, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats while providing sustainable fish- and wildlife-related recreation. During his 16-year career with the department, Mr. Dahmer has been a mapped agency lands, developed land management plans, and addressed land policy and budget issues that impact agency Wildlife Areas. Paul is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources. His bachelor's and master's degrees are in wildlife biology and management. Paul enjoys kayaking, hiking backcountry skiing and other outdoor activities.
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| James
Horan |
Washington State
Parks and Recreation Commission |
Mr. Horan is one of three state agency representatives on the NOVA Advisory Committee. He is also an administrator with Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, overseeing several statewide recreation programs including boating safety, boat sewage disposal facilities, non-motorized winter recreation facilities, snowmobile facilities, and trails. He is also the agency's American's with Disabilities Act coordinator. Mr. Horan is the boating law administrator for Washington, president of the Western States Boating Administrators Association, and executive board member of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.
At the request of Washington State Office of Financial Management he also helped manage the Natural Resources Agencies ADA Task Force for several years. This culminated in the distribution of several million dollars to the state departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife and to State Parks for accessibility improvements for their facilities.
At a large resort in New York, Mr. Horan has given nature and historical talks to the public and school children; taught cross-country skiing; and supervised trail, road, tennis court, and putting green facilities. He developed and implemented the boating and snowmobile safety education programs for youths in Iowa while working for the Iowa Conservation Commission.
He is an active recreationist and especially enjoys fishing, hunting, downhill and cross-country skiing, hiking, backpacking, ATV riding, inline skating, and snowmobiling. This winter, he plans to try snowboarding for the first time. In 1971, he received a bachelor's degree in outdoor recreation from Utah State University.
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| Pene
Speaks |
Department of
Natural Resources |
Ms. Speaks is one of three state agency representatives on the NOVA Advisory Committee. She has been with the DNR since 1997, after working as an environmental planner with Thurston County for several years. She is the assistant manager of the Asset Management and Planning Division. Her section includes the department's Recreation, Natural Areas, Natural Heritage and Washington Conservation Corps programs. Ms. Speaks has lived in Olympia for the past 35 years and likes to stay active in the community. She is the president of the Capitol Land Trust and on the national board of the Natural Areas Association. She is an avid bird watcher and enjoys hiking, gardening, and driving around in the woods to look at plants, rocks, and whatever critters cross her path. She also serves on the Land and Water Conservation and Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program evaluation committees for the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB).
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| Amy Tinderholt
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Okanogan and
Wenatchee national forests |
Ms. Tinderholt is the federal agency representative on the NOVA Advisory Committee. For the past six years she has served as an outdoor recreation planner on the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. She also serves on the Region 6 recreation fee board of directors. Prior to her Forest Service career, she enjoyed working as a recreation research assistant for the University of Arizona and as an interpreter and naturalist for Idaho State Parks. She enjoys a wide variety of outdoor activities, from backpacking and mountain biking to trying to keep up with her nephews on an ATV.
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| Committee
Staff |
| Greg
Lovelady |
Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) |
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