Josie Quintrell has a BA in Biology and a Master’s in environmental planning. Her work experience has focused on coastal and ocean issues, first with the Maine Coastal Program and now as the Director of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). She’s been involved in the Harpswell Land Trust, Conservation Commission, and the Holbrook Community Foundation. While her professional life has focused on the coast, she is passionate about the Maine woods and preserving Governor Baxter’s legacy. She has lived in Cundy’s Harbor for over 30 years.

Hope Rowan is a GIS Specialist at Community Geographics, where she creates maps of all kinds but particularly of trails, assisting trail managers across the state publicize and map their trail networks, including management of the online resource Maine Trail Finder. She has also published two hiking guides for children, Ten Days in Acadia and Ten Days in the North Woods. Hope received a B.A. in Music from Colby College, and an M.Phil. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic, and has since focused her work on land preservation and providing and encouraging access to the outdoors. When not making maps, writing, or teaching piano, Hope spends as much time as possible out in the woods and ascending summits, making many trips between her beloved Maine coast and the equally loved Maine mountains, both for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. Hope resides along the down east coast with her dog Tess, in Southwest Harbor for much of the year, and in Steuben during the summer.

Steuart Thomsen spent his legal career at Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP in Washington, DC, and is now retired. Steuart and his wife Linda live in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and have a house in Sullivan, Maine, that has been in Steuart’s family since it was built in 1799. Steuart grew up coming to Sullivan in the summer, and he and Linda have been spending more time there in retirement. Steuart first climbed Katahdin in 1965 with his father (who had first climbed it in the 1940s) and has led numerous friends and family members up the mountain in the decades since then. Steuart has been a Friends of Baxter State Park member since 2002 and has become increasingly active in Friends since then. Steuart currently serves on the Development Committee and Finance Committee. He and Linda were involved in the 2016-17 Friends project to have new mountain models created for Baxter State Park. They are also active with the Frenchman Bay Conservancy.

Peter Millard is a family physician and epidemiologist. He grew up in Windham and spent many years as a faculty member in the Family Medicine Residency Program in Bangor. He worked for 8 years in Zimbabwe and Mozambique and is currently the medical director of Seaport Community Health Center in Belfast. He was educated at Amherst College, the University of Vermont, and the University of North Carolina. He lives with his wife Emily in Belfast, and they have 3 grown children who live in Colorado. He enjoys gardening, hiking, biking, swimming, and cross country skiing. He is currently on the boards of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Anna Bastidas is an outdoor enthusiast who finds joy and community when spending time outside with others. She is the Associate Director of the Outing Club at Bowdoin College, and in this role trains student trip leaders, oversees the Orientation Trip program and works to increase access, opportunity, and sense of belonging in the outdoors for all students. Anna graduated from Hamilton College in 2013, earned her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2021, and also instructs for NOLS.

Jensen Bissell retired in 2017 from Baxter State Park after a 30-year career; 12 years as the Director and 18 years managing the forest on the north end of the park. In his retirement, Jensen works very part-time for his sons in their business, Bissell Brothers Brewing Company, which has locations in Portland and Milo. Jensen serves on the Board of Trustees for two local hospitals and as a regional representative on the NLH Finance Committee. He also is a board member of the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District. Jensen also serves on the Advisory Board for the Forest Society of Maine. Jensen resides in Milo and in his spare time enjoys traveling and hiking with his wife Breena, as well as fishing, reading, and gardening.

Since 1990, Jerry Bley has owned and operated Creative Conservation, LLC, a land use and environmental consulting business that works with landowners, non-profit organizations, and government agencies to create positive land use models in Maine and beyond. Jerry has played a principal role in a wide variety of public and private land conservation initiatives including many in Maine’s North Woods. Prior to establishing his business, Jerry worked for ten years at the Natural Resources Council of Maine where he directed the Council’s land use programs. Jerry has served on a variety of governmental boards and special commissions including the Northern Forest Lands Council, Land Acquisition Priorities Advisory Committee, Maine Board of Licensure for Professional Foresters, and Baxter Park’s Scientific Forestry Advisory Committee. He lives in Readfield and is an avid hiker, biker, and cross-country skier.

Liz is a faculty member at Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki. She has combined her passions for mathematics, the outdoors, ecology, and teaching high school students. Having earned master’s degrees in Forestry and Environmental Management from Duke University’s School of the Environment, she worked in forestland conservation for a statewide land trust based in Bangor. However, she missed working with young people and felt a pull towards teaching. So, she earned another master’s degree in Math and Science Education at the University of Maine. Liz lives in the small town of Bowdoinham on the Cathance River, where they have a swimming pool in the summer and a skating rink in the winter. She keeps bees here, both for the honey and her passion for the natural world.

Diana Furukawa is the Director of Millinocket Memorial Library. She believes in the power of social infrastructure like libraries and parks to build stronger communities rooted in place. Originally from Seattle, Washington, she moved to Maine in 2014 to attend Bowdoin College, and she is currently pursuing a master’s of Library Science at the University of North Texas. Since moving to the Katahdin Region in 2018, Baxter State Park has become a very special place for Diana, and she’s spent countless hours there completing every trail in the park in 2021. In her free time, she enjoys running, drawing, and birding with her partner, Ross.

Alec Giffen is a Fellow with The Clean Air Task Force, focused on the role that forests can play to mitigate global warming. He is also the New England Forestry Foundation’s representative in Maine. As Maine Forest Service Director Alec served on the Baxter State Park Authority. He also served as Director of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, with the Natural Resource Planning Division of the Maine State Planning Office, and founded the consulting firm Land & Water Associates that resolved disputes over land management and facility licensing. He has a Master of Science in ecology and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Science. Alec is an avid outdoorsman, a licensed professional forester, and a registered Maine guide. After years of stories of family trips to Baxter, Alec got to the Park in the early ‘60s on a family backpack from Katahdin Stream to South Branch and has continued trips to the Park since. In speeches, he often cites Governor Baxter’s achievement in creating the Park and finds it particularly remarkable that Baxter included both wildlands and scientific forestry.

Bill Green is Executive Director of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame having retired from his 47-year television career in November 2019. For 19 years, Bill was host and executive producer of “Bill Green’s Maine” which became appointment TV on Saturday nights for thousands of Mainers. Beginning in 2014, he began entering regional awards competition and was nominated for 11 Emmys and won two as well as an Edward R. Murrow Award for his feature reporting. A lifelong Mainer, Bill was born in Bangor, educated in Bangor schools and the University of Maine and is holder of its prestigious Black Bear Award. He holds three honorary degrees including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Maine at Farmington. He is an inductee into the Maine Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame, Maine Sports Hall of Fame, and the Silver Circle of the New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is a Registered Maine Guide, Senior Warden at Trinity Episcopal Church of Portland, and Spokesperson for the Freedom Boat Club. Bill and his wife Pam reside in Cumberland. They have two grown children, Sam and Emily.

Ryan M. Linehan is the Director of Outdoor Education at Colby College, where he takes on multiple responsibilities, including overseeing the Colby Outdoor Orientation program, Outing Club and Mountaineering Club. These clubs and organizations provide students with opportunities to develop social connections while being challenged at an appropriate level through a wide range of experiences throughout Maine. Prior to joining the Colby staff, Ryan was the Summer Wilderness Programs Director at Chewonki Foundation, during which he supported Friends of Baxter’s Maine Youth Wilderness Leadership Program for five years. He has been a registered Maine guide for 20 years and is passionate about introducing others to the wilderness areas of the state. Ryan lives on Westport Island with his wife Stacy and children Sawyer and Kestrel.

James (Jim) Page is a retired academic and businessperson with a long history of engagement with Baxter State Park. Born and raised in Caribou, he spent much of his outdoor time growing up on the Allagash, and in Canada, his father was not interested in “going south” to Millinocket or elsewhere. Jim was CEO of the James W. Sewall Company and is Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Maine System. He now serves on many boards and consults nationally on higher education matters. He is a graduate of UMFK, St. Andrews, Scotland (where he spent too much time bagging Monros), and holds a PhD from MIT. He and his wife, Liane Judd, live in Old Town and maintain a deepwoods camp in T3R8. They have a grown daughter, Maddy, who lives in the UK.

Carla Ritchie grew up in central Maine and made her first journey to Baxter State Park with her father in 1974. Their failed attempt to climb Katahdin instilled a love and respect for the area that has lasted over 40 years. Carla has been a frequent visitor to the Park and has summited Katahdin, and many other peaks, multiple times. Carla served on the BSP advisory board including the role of Chair for three years. She enjoys many activities in the park during all seasons. Carla is a graduate of the University of Maine and received her MBA from Husson University. She is a certified project manager and works for L.L.Bean.

Jym St. Pierre earned BA and MPS degrees at the University of Maine. He has held senior positions in Maine in the Department of Conservation, The Wilderness Society, and Sierra Club. Jym has been involved in many organizations and was a founding director or chair of several, including Citizens to Protect the Allagash, Maine Conservation Voters, Maine Forest Biodiversity Project, Kennebec Land Trust, and Capital Area Camera Club. Since 1995, he has been Maine Director of RESTORE: The North Woods. A Maine native, Jym is a published author, an award-winning photographer, and a poet. He has visited Baxter Park since the 1960s and is a founding member of Friends of Baxter State Park. He has been on the Board since 2009.

Aaron grew up in the Bangor area, in a family that loved Baxter State Park and introduced him to it at an early age. He first climbed Katahdin, via the Saddle Trail, at age six, and started making annual trips into the Russell Pond area with his family two years later. Backpacking, fly fishing, nature observation, canoeing, and the occasional bushwhack were staples of his early experiences in the park. Baxter State Park quickly became his favorite place to be, and that’s still true three decades later. Aaron graduated from Colby College with a degree in biology and then earned a master’s degree in conservation biology and sustainable development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent eight years working in the Maine land trust community. Aaron enjoys helping people connect with nature, and has a particular love for introducing children to the outdoors. He is a Registered Maine Guide, with licenses in recreation and sea kayaking. Aaron and his wife Ashley live in Belmont with their two daughters.

Rachel joined the FBSP staff in September of 2021. Her collected life experiences include being an exchange student, a museum educator, a musician, a disability rights educator, a non-profit director, a farmworker, a gardener, a small business owner, and a homeschooling parent. In each and every one of her life’s endeavors she seeks to remain curious, eager, and open and is always looking to learn more. She’s equally at home in the great outdoors as she is curled up with a good book on the couch. She lives in Montville with her family, which consists of an array of humans and animals both wild and domesticated.