Stewardship Council

The purpose of the Stewardship Council is to oversee policy development and programs related to stewardship of the Appalachian Trail and surrounding lands.  The council advises ATC’s conservation program on overall strategic direction and recommends policy to the Board of Directors for consideration. The council serves as the interface among the Regional Partnership Committees, Trail clubs, ATC staff, agency partners, and the Board of Directors.

ATC Stewardship Council 2007-2009

Chair: Hawk Metheny, of Gorham, New Hampshire, has been appointed to his second term as Stewardship Council chair. Metheny has served on ATC's board since 2003. He is employed as a backcountry management specialist for the Appalachian Mountain Club, and has 15 years of A.T. management experience. Metheny is a Leave No Trace Master Course instructor and former member of the Educational Review Committee of LNT Center for Outdoor Ethics. He has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails and has also completed the Long Trail.

Pete Antos-Ketcham, of Starksboro, Vermont, is employed as education coordinator/facilities manager for the Green Mountain Club. Antos-Ketcham has twelve years experience in visitor education and trail and overnight-site management along the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail in Vermont and New Hampshire. He is a Leave No Trace Master and is the principal author of ATC's comprehensive Backcountry Sanitation Manual.

Brent Bailey, of Morgantown, West Virginia, is director of the Appalachia Program for The Mountain Institute, where he oversees education, environment, and community-development projects designed to sustain mountain environments and cultures. He has more than 20 years' experience in forestry, natural-resource management, environmental education and local community development. Prior to joining TMI in 2004, Bailey was a senior technical director for Conservation International, managing biodiversity projects in Latin America and West Africa.

Tony Barrett, of Harpswell, Maine, is a life member of the American Hiking Society and ATC. He is a founding board member of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust and vice chair of the East Coast Greenway Alliance board of trustees. He volunteers with the Maine Island Trail Association and serves on the conservation committee of the Harpswell Land Trust.  He is an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker.

Walt Daniels, of Mohegan, New York, was a member of ATC's board of managers from 1999–2005, serving on numerous committees. An active volunteer with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, he currently oversees a Trail section and the work of 12 volunteers, serves as Webmaster, chairs the technical committee, is a member of the science advisory and publications committees and is Trail-assessment team leader. He is the alternate NY-NJ TC representative to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership Committee.

Brian Fitzgerald, of South Duxbury, Vermont, was first elected to ATC's board in1991 and chaired it from 2001-2007. Before becoming chair, he headed the trail and land management committee and served as New England vice chair. He led the organization during the strategic-planning effort and implementation of the 2003 strategic plan. Fitzgerald is a hydrologist with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

Van Hill, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, has been an active member of the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club since 1990. He served on the club's board for 11 years in numerous capacities and is the club's representative to the Southern Regional Partnership Committee. He helped plan ATC's 2005 biennial conference, also coordinating the Web site for that conference and chairing the registration committee. Hill is a retired Georgia educator with 33 years as public school teacher and principal.

Ned Kuhns, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, chairs the Virginia Regional Partnership Committee and is serving on an ATC task force examining the volunteer-center concept. A member of the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club since 1991, he has served as president, vice president, hikemaster, and counselor. Kuhns is an active A.T. maintainer and a section leader for Mau-Har side trail. He has organized and moderated Southern Partnership Meetings and served as publicity chair and hike leader for ATC's 1999 biennial conference. He thru-hiked the Trail in 2003. Kuhns is retired from the U.S. Navy.

Ben Lawhon, of Lyons, Colorado, has been the education director of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics since 2005. From 1997–2001, he was an ATC associate regional representative in Asheville, N.C., responsible for open-areas management, volunteer training, and oversight of regional ridgerunner/caretaker programs and Trail crews. He also researched and developed strategies for sanitation at overnight sites.

Jeff Marion, of Blacksburg, Virginia, is a recreation ecologist conducting research to identify, monitor, manage, and rehabilitate recreational impacts on natural areas. He has extensive experience in public land-management planning and policy, with expertise in trail and campsite design. A founding member of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics board of directors, Marion serves on its educational review committee. He is also a board member of the American Hiking Society.

Connie Pirtle, of Bethesda, Maryland, is founder and director of Strategic Nonprofit Resources, Inc., a firm serving nonprofits in all areas related to volunteerism. She has more than 15 years experience working with trustees, volunteers, volunteer-program managers, and executives on effective utilization of volunteer resources. An active volunteer, Pirtle is currently board member and publications director of the American Association for Museum Volunteers, editorial reviewer for the international Journal of Volunteer Administration, and a career counselor for a nonprofit women's center.

Denny Rhodes, of Smyrna, Georgia, has been an ATC member since 1984. He joined the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club in 1989 and is serving his third term as conservation director. He is also the club's representative to the Southern Regional Partnership Committee and represents the club on the state's recreational-trails program advisory committee. He is a member of a number of hiking organizations and has extensive backpacking experience.

Ann Sherwood, of Kent, Connecticut, is an ATC life member who has been involved with the A.T. since 1992. She is currently a member, and was the first chair, of the New England Regional Partnership Committee. From 1999–2005, Sherwood served on ATC's board and on numerous committees. She is an active member and past chair of the AMC-Connecticut Chapter trails committee and past recipient of AMC's distinguished service award.

Steve Smith, of Westwood, Massachusetts, served three terms on ATC's board of managers before the restructuring and continues to serve on the finance committee. He is a member of the AMC-Berkshire Chapter, currently serving as A.T. committee secretary and northern corridor-monitor coordinator.

Barbara Wiemann, of Northampton, Pennsylvania, has been an ATC member since 1972 and is a life member. She served on the board from 2003–2005. She represents the Allentown Hiking Club on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership Committee and is RPC secretary. An active member of AHC for more than 35 years, Wiemann has held several positions in the club, including president and secretary. She has been a member of Keystone Trails Association for more than 30 years, edited a state-wide trail guide, and has been editor of the KTA newsletter since 2000.