Staff & Board
The Staff and Board of the Copper River Watershed Project
Board of directors
Molly Mulvaney
President, Cordova
Attorney
Raised in the Finger Lakes of western New York State, Molly spent her summers commercial fishing in Kodiak and the Bering Sea from 1983-1993. She stopped fishing after getting her law degree and began working for a mediation firm in Portland, Oregon. Missing Alaska, she hit the road in 1997 and traveled through the state stopping when she discovered Cordova. She happily hiked, skied and explored Cordova and the Copper River Delta. She found work as a highway engineer technician for the Alaska Department of Transportation and then at the City of Cordova where she wore several hats-construction manager, FEMA grant administrator and legal consultant. After a hiatus from Cordova in 2001, she returned in 2005 with her partner, Eric Manzer a commercial fisherman, and their adored son, Sullivan Thor Mulvaney. She continues to operate the legal and mediation practice she opened in Cordova in 2005.
Gloria Stickwan
Vice President, Tazlina
C&T Environmental Coordinator, Ahtna Inc.
Brad Reynolds
Secretary, Cordova
Commercial Fisherman
Brad began his relationship with the Copper River in 2004 as a research assistant conducting studies of juvenile salmon, invertebrate communites, and shorebird migration along the Copper River Delta. Shortly thereafter, he completed his Master's thesis in Marine Science and focused his attention to fish habitat in Prince William Sound. Currently, Brad is rounding out his education as a rookie gillnetter in Cordova's commercial fishing fleet.
Tamara Hamby
Treasurer, Glennallen
Small business owner, land use planner
Tamara calls the Copper Basin, Glennallen home. She is a full time mom and a part time small business owner. Tamara came to Alaska (from Upstate New York) in 2002 to work for the BLM on the Delta and Gulkana Wild and Scenic Rivers. She has a background in land use planning and resource management. She enjoys the outdoors particularly rafting, camping, and gardening.
Beth Poole
Cordova
Executive Director, CR/PWS Marketing Association
Beth grew up in Maine and left her east coast roots for what was supposed to be a summer internship at the Copper River Watershed Project in 2003. Nearly a decade later, she still calls Cordova home, is mom to two young boys and is the Executive Director of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association. She loves being part of a community that cares about its residents and resources and loves skiing, hiking and adventuring with her boys.
Pam Moe
Cordova
Alternative Education Teacher, Cordova School District
Pam grew up in the Prairie Pothole Region and Driftless Area of northern Iowa. She spent twenty years living and working in headwaters of the Monongahela National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia; living just a wee bit west of the Eastern Continental Divide along the banks of the Shavers Fork River. She enjoys staying at her cabin there whenever she can go Outside to play. She moved to Alaska in January 2001 and has lived and worked beside the Kwigillingok and Naknek Rivers. Currently, she lives in Eccles Lagoon along Eccles Creek, where the waters flow in and out of the Orca Inlet of Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. She works for the Cordova School District as the Innovative Learning Program teacher.
Denny Patnode
Gakona
Assistant Manager, Gulkana Hatchery
Denny moved to Alaska (from Minnesota) in 1995 and has lived here ever since. He started working with Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. at that point and has been with PWSAC ever since. Denny went to a Tech school in Minnesota and graduated with a AAS in Aquaculture. Denny says he simply liked to fish and like fish, this is where that led him. He is currently the Assistant Manager at the Gulkana Hatchery located in Paxson and have been here since 2003 with two other years in Paxson (1996 & 97). Before Gulkana Hatchery he worked in PWS for eight years and worked at the various other PWSAC hatcheries in the Sound. Denny currently lives in Gakona with his wife (Jane Flygstad) and daughter (Marin Patnode). Denny loves to bowhunt, fish, pick berries, cut wood, trap, snowmachine and spend time out doors with his wife and daughter.
Staff
Riki Ott
Founding Director
Kristin Carpenter
Executive Director
Kate Alexander
Project and Membership Coordinator
Jessyka Dart-Mclean
Operations Manager
Kristen Pope
Citizen Oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Campaign Coordinator
Be a voice for our community:
A message from a former Board President
"I came to the Copper River Valley in 1975 and was one of those 'newcomers.' Over the years I have seen changes in the communities and have watched many more newcomers arrive harboring the same feelings I have...a love for the beautiful mountains and country, rural community atmosphere, friendly neighbors, few people, clean environment, a 'country life.'"
"Over the years there have been changes. Some were gradual, and some happened all of a sudden. The construction of the Alyeska pipeline; the designation of the Wrangell Mountains as a National Park and Preserve; the Park Service acquiring Kennicott Mining District; the Gulkana River becoming the king salmon capitol of Southcentral Alaska, to name a few. More recently, I have seen 11 new residences on the short 12-mile stretch of road I live on; development of a Princess Tours lodge on the bluffs of the Klutina River; residents having to use a bike path along the Edgerton Highway because of increased tourist traffic; plans to pave the McCarthy road; talk of paving the Denali Highway; talk of constructing a road and/or trail from Chitina to Cordova; and increased commercial events such as extreme skiing and snow machine races."
"I am not sure if all these changes are good or bad. But in light of them more changes will follow. I would like to have a voice in our destiny. Growth is inevitable. I cherish this sacred place we call the Copper River Valley and want to see it grow in a healthy way. That is why I am a member of the Copper River Watershed Project. I believe that if we all work together, we can grow together in a way that will maintain our cherished values that attracted us here in the first place."
"The Copper River Watershed Project gives us that forum to work from. The CRWP is willing to help with projects that the community determines are important to keep our lifestyles. Join me in becoming a member of the CRWP and be a voice for our community."
Janelle Eklund, Kenny Lake
former CRWP President
