WORC Board of Directors

Dakota Resource Council

Lisa DeVille – An enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation, Lisa holds a Master of Management, MBA, and BS in Management from the University of Mary. Active in her community, Lisa was awarded the North Dakota 2015 Human Rights Award.

Linda Weiss – Linda lives in Belfield, North Dakota, where she is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician. A former Chair of DRC, she is active in DRC’s campaigns on agriculture and oil and gas issues. Linda is WORC’s Secretary/Treasurer.

Dakota Rural Action

Paul Seamans – Paul is a rancher/farmer and life-long resident of Draper, South Dakota, where he mainly puts up hay for sale. Paul joined DRA over five years ago because the Keystone XL tar sand oil pipeline is slated to cross his land. DRA has helped in his negotiations and dealings with TransCanada. Paul is the board Chair of DRA.

Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks – Nancy has been a member of Dakota Rural Action for close to twenty years. She is co-chair of the DRA Small Farms committee. Nancy and her husband live on a small acreage on the edge of Toronto, South Dakota. Nancy is the coordinator of disability services at South Dakota State University. She is a former Chair of WORC.

Idaho Organization of Resource Councils

Linda Leeuwrik, PH.D. – Linda is a cultural and intellectual historian, with bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees from Virginia Tech, Georgia State University, and Bryn Mawr College. Concerned with clean water, air, and energy, Linda joined the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils, Portneuf Resource Council, and WORC in 2014, eager to be more involved in working on Idaho’s water protection, clean energy future, local foods initiatives, and responsible oil and gas development. Linda is a writer and editor and she is politically active, considering another run for elected office.

Christina Stucker-Gassi – Christina received her B.S. in Environmental Studies from the College of Idaho, where she focused in Political Economy and Conservation Biology. Christina advocates science-based policy that sustains economic growth. Her policy interests are agriculture, food, and natural resources.

Northern Plains Resource Council

Beth Kaeding – Beth has been a member of Northern Plains Resource Council since 1991 and served on its Board for many years, including a term as Board Chair. Beth has been an active member of Northern Plains’ Coal, Coal Bed Methane, and Tongue River Railroad task forces (the latter two issues resolved after many years of team effort) as well as the Organization and Finance Task Force. Beth is a member of WORC’s Coal Team. Beth has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Fish and Wildlife Management and worked for many years for the National Park Service in resource management, interpretation, planning and compliance, public affairs, and interpretive planning. Beth and her husband, Lynn, live in Bozeman, Montana. Beth is serving as the WORC Chair.

Steve Charter – Steve Charter is a second-generation leader of Northern Plains. His parents co-founded Northern Plains when Steve was in high school, and he served as Chair in 2013-2015. Coal companies have had their eyes on the Charter Ranch since the early 1970s, and Steve is still fighting them. He and his late wife were sued by the federal government for refusing to pay the Beef Checkoff because those funds were used to promote corporate domination of agriculture. He is a leader in the drive for healthier soil, and uses his ranch as a sort of “laboratory” to try out soil health techniques.

Oregon Rural Action

Mitch Wolgamott – Mitch is a native Oregonian. He has degrees in Zoology (BS OSU) and Biology (MS PSU). He has worked in both the private and public sectors,retiring after serving as Eastern Region Administrator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Mitch and his wife, artist Sue Orlaske, reside on a small woodlot on the eastern slope of the Blue Mountains near Summerville.

Lacy Folden– Bio coming soon

Powder River Basin Resource Council

Bob LeResche – Bob and his wife, Carol, own a ranch near Clearmont, Wyoming, and they produce organic heirloom produce for a Community Supported Agriculture group. Bob spent more than 40 years in Alaska as a wildlife biologist, State Government Policy and Planning Director, Director of Habitat Protection, Commissioner of Natural Resources, Executive Director of the Alaska Energy Authority, and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Coordinator. Bob a former Chair of WORC.

Stacy Page – Stacy is a retired regulator with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Stacy’s expertise is in coal mine permitting and reclamation. She worked for over 20 years as a vegetation and reclamation specialist, overseeing coal mine permitting and  reclamation in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. She lives in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Western Colorado Alliance

Steve Allerton – Steve left the teaching profession in 2014 and has entered “refinement”, a term he coined to use in place of “retirement.” For Steve, refinement is about digging into those things he loves: family and three grandsons, music, backpacking/hiking with his wife and friends, and helping to create healthy soils in which to grow vegetables for the community. He is Chair of Western Colorado Alliance and active in Mesa County’s clean energy program.

Monica Wiitanen– Monica grew up thinking that working to leave the world a better place for “the youth in the distant tomorrows” was what adults did. With her husband, Wayne, Monica runs Small Potatoes Farm near Paonia. Monica is the past Chair of WORC.

Western Native Voice

Johnel Barcus – Johnel is a Native American Studies Professor at Montana State University in Billings, Montana. She is also the owner and lead principle investigator of Sage Quest Consulting, a research, educational, and development firm. She has worked in the development of Indian Country through her business for over 20 years. Johnel was born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation and is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe. Dr. Barcus received a Doctorate of Education from Montana State University in 1997 in adult, community and higher education.

Pat Smith – Pat holds an undergraduate degree in history and political science and a juris doctor degree from the University of Montana. His law practice specialized in Indian law where he represented Indian tribes for 31 years. In 2013, he was appointed by Montana Governor Steve Bullock to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, and also to represent Montana on the Columbia River Treaty’s Sovereign Review Team. He is an enrolled member of the Assiniboine Tribe on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, where his family has operated a wheat farm.  He and his wife Michelle live near Missoula, Montana.