Board of Directors
Tom Allender
President
Senior Director of Mountain Planning, Vail Resorts; SE Group (retired); MS of Urban & Regional Planning, UC Denver; BA University of Denver; former board member of Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority, Eagle Park Reservoir Company, and Clinton Ditch and Reservoir Company. Likes to fly fish, kayak, raft, paddle board, ski, and golf.
Tom Boyd
Vice President
Tom Boyd was born and raised in Eagle County, learning to fish and kayak at a young age. He was editor of the Vail Trail Newspaper before entering into media services at Olympic and other international sporting events worldwide. He is now Director of PR and Communications for the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation.
Tania Landauer
Treasurer
Mental health counselor specializing in wilderness therapy (retired); BA in Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University. Has worked as a retail and restaurant manager, construction office instructor, and various volunteer roles providing support for young people in the Eagle Valley. Loves to sail, raft, canoe, swim, ski, hike and adventure in the outdoors.
Kristin Yantis
Secretary
Principal and founder of Malin Yantis Public Relations, a boutique marketing communications firm, in-house pr director for Keystone and Vail ski resort, she opened The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch and was the assistant vice president of corporate communications for Destination Hotels & Resorts. She was a founding board member of First Descents, a kayak camp for young adults with cancer started by pro kayaker Brad Ludden. Graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in journalism and lives in Edwards, Colorado. Kristin is an avid hiker, loves to camp and but is happiest on a river.
Claudia Bryan
Director
Moved to the United States from Argentina in 1997 and opened The Boardroom, a Skateboard and Snowboard shop in Avon, with her husband, in 2003-2008, which gave them the opportunity to help young kids and local athletes. The Colorado and Eagle rivers have been very important to her as she loves to paddle board, fly fish, and raft during the summer and lives near both.
Kate Burchenal
Director
Kate grew up in Denver but spent weekends skiing and hiking with her family in Vail. After venturing to Vermont for college, she made her way back to Colorado where she began her working with the Watershed Council as Education & Outreach Coordinator. Then after two stints in California (first ski patrolling, then grad school), Kate found her way back to Minturn. She is a Program Officer at Catena Foundation and a Director for the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District.
Allison Ebbets
Director
Fritz Ganz
Director
Managing Member, Ganz Legal Counsel Ltd.; environmental and natural resources attorney with expertise in abandoned mine sites, Superfund litigation and water quality compliance; he is a volunteer adaptive sit-ski instructor with the National Sports Center for the Disabled and avid backcountry skier; BE, Civil & Environmental Engineering (Water Resources) from Vanderbilt University; JD from Vermont Law School.
Bret Hooper
Director
Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments; B.S. in Business Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; former President & Treasurer of Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley; former President, Treasurer, and Campaign Chairperson for United Way of Eagle River Valley; former board member of Eagle Valley Chamber of Commerce; past consultant for Junior Achievement; favorite activities include telemark skiing, mountain biking, camping, and rafting with his wife and three children.
Joe Robinson
Director
Club Director, Passport Clubhouse at Golden Peak; co-owner of Barre Forte VV fitness studio in Edwards (along with wife Beth); former golf professional, Red Sky Golf Club and mini tours; loves to fish, hike, backpack, camp, ski, bike, golf, and enjoy everything outdoors with Beth and dogs Wyo and Olive; BS, Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Penn State University.
Josh Stepanek
Director
Pete Wadden
Director
Pete is the Watershed Education Coordinator for Town of Vail. Previously, he was Stewardship Coordinator at Walking Mountains Science Center and an Environmental Science instructor at Colorado Mountain College. Pete is a graduate of Prescott College (MA) and Bowdoin College (BA). He’s an avid rafter, kayaker, angler, hunter, backcountry skier, dog dad and lover of water in all its forms.
Woody Woodruff
Director
Contact
STAFF
Holly Loff
Executive Director
Holly has served as the executive director of the Watershed Council since 2013. Holly earned a Bachelor of Science in resource conservation from the University of Montana and has twenty years of nonprofit experience in volunteer and personnel management, grants and development, program and organizational administration, finance and more. Holly is a native Coloradan that loves to hike, trail run, ski and play in the water (atop a SUP, raft or anything else) – or sit beside it with a good book. Holly lives in Gypsum with her husband and two kids
Seth Mason
Water Resources Program Director
Hydrologist; Environmental Data Manager; Principal, Lotic Hydrological, LLC; M.S. in Land Resources & Environmental Sciences. Expertise in physical hydrology, hydrologic modeling, solute transport, GIS, environmental data management, remote environmental data collection system deployment and maintenance.
Kate Issacson
Projects Manager
B.S. Business Administration, University of Colorado; Marketing Coordinator, Swift Communications; Design Supervisor, CMNM Classifieds; loves to snowboard, backpack, camp, bike, and travel, garden, and greatly enjoys living in Colorado with her husband.
James Dilzell
Education & Outreach Coordinator
James grew up in Cleveland, OH – a city nestled along a Great Lake. He spent much of his time exploring the local parks, and took a Field Ecology class his freshman year of high school that impacted the course of his life more than he thought. Fast forward a few years, he received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from The University of Alabama and spent summers working in Montana. Rather than attending graduation, he packed up his station wagon and drove west to Colorado. After an internship turned full-time job at another Eagle County nonprofit, James got his early 20s dream job at the Watershed Council. He currently lives in Gypsum, and while not talking about water, he can be found cooking, biking, hiking, skiing, camping and drinking as much coffee as he possibly can.
Melanie Smith
Development & Communications Coordinator
BA Political Science, Environmental Studies Policy, Luther College; Copy Editor, Swift Communications; Administrative Coordinator, Apex Mountain School; loves to go backpacking, read, write, travel throughout Colorado, garden, and hunt with her husband.
Sue Nikolai
Land & Rivers Fund Program Director
Natural Resources and Psychology, University of WI Stevens Point; Colorado Outward Bound School; Director of Ski Patrol at Eldora Resort and Hidden Valley Ski Area near Estes Park; part time ski patroller at Beaver Creek; likes to raft and take river trips, mountain bike, hike, work in her garden, practice yoga, ski, cook, read and have adventures with her husband and 2 almost grown daughters.
Kate Berg
Eagle River Fund Manager
Kate is a land use and environmental planning consultant based in Frisco, CO. She has been contracted to help facilitate the development and implementation of an Eagle River Fund through summer/fall 2022. Kate has a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from University of Vermont and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from CU Denver. She has 18 years of experience working on a full spectrum of local land use planning activities for Summit County Government, and now splits her time working as the Eagle River Fund Manager and as a part-time Planner for Norris Design in Frisco, CO. She is passionate about facilitating collaborative community projects to protect our natural resources and make communities healthier, more sustainable and more enjoyable places to be.
Contact
Emeritus Board Members
Cliff Simonton
Gary Brooks
Pete Denise
Kathy Chandler-Henry
Arlene S. Quenon
Josiah “Joe” Macy
Susan G. Pollack
In memory and appreciation of Dr. Thomas “Tom” Steinberg (1924-2017)
Larissa Read
Advisory Board
Keith Kepler
Dr. Joseph “Joe” E. LeBeau
Melissa Macdonald
Greg Espegren
Timm Paxson
Carlos Garcia
Subscribe to our newsletter below and never miss the latest news.