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April 23-27,
2007
Hyatt Regency
Crown Center
Kansas City,
Missouri |
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Plenary Session Speakers
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Opening Plenary Session
Speakers
 Richard
L. Hughes is
President & CEO at the Kansas City CVA. Prior to joining KCCVA, Rick
held positions at the Indianapolis CVA, Marriott Corporation and
Lodge of the Four Seasons. Rick is the Founder and Co-Chair of the
Kansas City Regional Destination Alliance. He serves on the Board of
the Kansas City Downtown Council and is a member of ASAE, PCMA and
MPI. Rick received his B.A. from Southwest Missouri State
University.
 Colonel
Michael A. Rossi,
a native of northern California, was commissioned an Engineer
officer from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1982.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military
Academy, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from M.I.T., a
Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National
Defense University and is a registered Professional
Engineer.
Lieutenant General Carl A. Strock,
was born in Georgia and grew up in an Army Family. He enlisted in
the Army and received his commission as an infantry second
lieutenant following graduation from Officer Candidate School in
1972. After completing Ranger and Special Forces training, he served
primarily with infantry units before transferring to the Engineer
Branch in 1983. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil
engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and a master's
degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State University. He is
a Registered Professional Engineer.
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Mark
Myers
is a past president and board member of the Alaska Geological
Society; a certified professional geologist with the American
Institute of Professional Geologists; a certified petroleum
geologist with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; and
a licensed geologist with the State of Alaska. Mark received his
doctorate in geology from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and his
B.S. and M.S. degrees in geology from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
 Alan
Wentz has been
Senior Group Manager for Conservation Programs for Ducks Unlimited,
Inc., a private, nonprofit, international organization headquartered
in Memphis, Tennessee, since July, 1994. Alan received his Ph.D. in
Wildlife Management from the University of Michigan in 1976, M.S. in
Wildlife Science from Oregon State University in 1971, and B.S. in
Agriculture (major in Biological Conservation and minor in
Economics) from Ohio State University in 1969.
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 John
B. Askew,
a sixth generation family farmer, lives on the family’s
Century Farm near Thurman, Iowa. Mr. Askew is currently serving as
Regional Administrator for EPA Region 7, where he leads the
oversight of federal environmental programs throughout Missouri,
Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Before his appointment as Regional
Administrator, he was President of the Iowa Soybean Association.
John
holds a BS in Agronomy from Iowa State University.
John D. Hoskins
is the
seventh director of the Missouri Department of Conservation since
its formation in 1937. Mr. Hoskins has been with the Department
since 1977, having served as Conservation Agent, Regional Protection
Supervisor, Chief of General Services and Protection Division
Administrator. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State University
in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with biology
major, and completed his Master of Public Administration degree at
the University of Missouri – Columbia.
 Tom
Christensen
is the
Deputy Chief for Programs for the Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS). Mr. Christensen is responsible for developing
national policies and establishing and promulgating programmatic
rules, guidelines, and procedures for the Agency’s conservation
programs.
Mr.
Christensen graduated from Rutgers University with a B.S. in Forest
Management. He received a M.S. in Renewable Natural Resources
Conservation from the
University of Connecticut.
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Farm Bill
Plenary Session Speakers
Vince
Shay is The Nature
Conservancy’s (TNC) Program Director for Upper Mississippi River. (UMR)
In his previous position as TNC’s Nebraska State Director, Shay was
instrumental in growing the program from three to thirty employees
and increasing its assets to more than $20 million. In his current
position, Shay works with a collaboration of TNC’s Midwestern
states to
develop
conservation strategies that link state programs in collaborative
fundraising, policy, and partner development.
Shay
is a graduate of Wright State University.
Robin E. Heard,
a native of Louisiana, received her B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Phi Kappa
Phi, from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1976 and joined
the then Soil Conservation Service in Louisiana. She moved to
Georgia in 1977 and held the positions of Budget Officer, Personnel
Director, and Resource Conservationist. She held the position of EWP
Coordinator during the 2 years of cleanup from Hurricane Alnerto
which devastated much of Georgia in 1994. While in Georgia, Heard
attended graduate school in Forest Resources at the University of
Georgia.
In 1995, Heard moved to Utah to become
Assistant State Conservationist. In 1997, she accepted the Deputy
State Conservationist position and moved to Pennsylvania where in
June 2001 she accepted the State Conservationist position. In April
2006, she accepted the position as Division Director for Easement
Programs Division in Washington, D.C.
Heard has received special recognition
and numerous awards including 2 USDA Honor Awards. She is a member
of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD),
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), Soil and
Water Conservation Society (SWCS), Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the
Nature Conservancy.
Heard lives in the Washington, D.C.
area where she spends her spare time hiking, kayaking, traveling,
and caring for her 3 dogs and a blue and gold macaw.
 Roger
Wolf is directly
responsible for the design, development and administration of
environmental programs and projects. He works to build successful
collaborations with allied partnerships and provides assistance with
educational and policy efforts on conservation and the environment.
Roger is most well known for his leadership in a program called
Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture (CEMSA).
Initiated in 2001, CEMSA is a voluntary program that
provides farmers with metrics for monitoring, measuring, and
validating a farm’s environmental performance.
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Partnering for
Sustainable Success Plenary Speakers
 Larry
Gerry is currently Director of the CERP Planning Department at
the South Florida Water Management District. CERP is the
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program, a $10.5 billion
ecosystem restoration effort that includes Lake Okeechobee, the
coastal estuaries, and the greater Everglades ecosystem. The South
Florida Water Management District is a 50/50 partner with the US
Army Corps of Engineers in implementing the restoration program. Mr.
Gerry has over thirty years of experience in environmental
consulting and state government, with an emphasis on coastal
systems, wetland restoration and project management. He is currently
responsible for managing project planning efforts, pilot studies,
and the long-term monitoring and assessment activities for the
Everglades Restoration Program. Mr. Gerry has a bachelor’s degree in
Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a master’s
degree in Marine Science from North Carolina State University.
 Robert
J. Johnson is the President of the Wildlife Habitat Council, an
international organization that works with private landowners,
primarily corporations, to manage the unused land on their property
for wildlife habitat. Since 1995, Mr. Johnson had served as the
Executive Vice President of WHC. For the past ten years under his
direction, WHC has established ground-breaking programs that focus
on public participation and community education, migratory bird and
pollinator habitat, watershed protection and riparian restoration,
revitalization of green spaces and urban lands and ecological reuse
of contaminated properties. He has helped the organization form key
initiatives through partnerships with agencies and conservation
groups.
Mr.
Johnson began his career as an oceanographer for the U.S. Naval Ship
R&D Center. Next, he worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency holding various positions, including Aquatic Branch Chief,
where he was responsible for managing the development and
implementation of programs to protect and improve the quality of
lake, coastal and wetland resources. There he produced the first
report required by Congress under the 1972 Clean Water Act on the
status of the nation’s estuaries. Afterwards, Mr. Johnson worked for
over ten years for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates
nuclear, fossil and hydroelectric power production facilities and
manages a major river system for economic development. From his
position, Mr. Johnson helped shape major public policy statements on
national environmental laws and other programs, such as watershed
stewardship, pollution control and wetlands restoration.
Mr.
Johnson holds a B.S. in physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute
& State University and a M.S. in oceanography from New York
University. His civic leadership spans over 40 years of service and
various honors, such as President of the North American Lake
Management Society, Board Member of the Center for Watershed
Protection and Member by Appointment of the County Executive to
Montgomery County (MD) Water Quality Advisory Panel. He was
presented with an Outstanding U.S. EPA Service Award and was the
recipient of a Secchi Disk award by the North American Lake
Management Society, the highest honor that the society bestows on an
individual member for outstanding service.
 John
Flicker has been President of National Audubon Society since
1995. During that time he has more than doubled the size of the
organization, primarily by expanding programs at the state and local
level. Prior to Audubon, John Flicker worked at The Nature
Conservancy for 21 years. During his tenure at the Conservancy, he
held various positions around the country such as Great Plains
Director, Florida State Director, General Counsel, and Chief
Operating Officer. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of
Minnesota and law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
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Priorities and Measures for Restoration Plenary Speakers
 John
Paul Woodley, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil
Works), is responsible for the supervision of the Army’s Civil Works
program, including programs for conservation and development of the
nation's water and wetland resources, flood control, navigation, and
shore protection. Mr. Woodley received a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Washington & Lee in 1974. Mr. Woodley also attended the Law
School at Washington & Lee, where he received his Juris Doctor
degree cum laude in 1977.
Les Ramirez is a principal in KRT
Consultants, LLC a company that assists the federal government,
Native American governments, and traditionally under-represented
communities in economic development and impacts analyses,
governmental program operations and assessments, and legal,
financial, market, regulatory, natural resources and environmental
issues. In a separate capacity he is also an attorney engaged in
private legal practice representing Native American governments and
organizations as general counsel and as special counsel for natural
resource, land use, environmental compliance, constitutional
development, governmental affairs, clean energy, facilities and
infrastructure construction and economic development matters.
He also works with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict
Resolution (the Udall Center) on a Task Force for the design,
establishment, and training of a network of Native American
Environmental Dispute Resolution Practitioners, and with the
Hazardous Substances Research Centers for the South and Southwest,
(a consortium of the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Louisiana
State University, Rice University, the University of Texas, and
Texas A&M University) assisting and promoting the environmental
remediation of contaminated waters, river and groundwater sediments,
and reclaimed industrial “brown-fields” sites.
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Plenary Session Coffee Restoration House Introductory Session
 Dale
Hall is the director of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A career Fish and Wildlife Service
employee, Hall previously served as Regional Director for the
Service's Southwest Region, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In that
capacity, he was responsible for directing the Service's fish,
wildlife, and habitat conservation, protection, and enhancement
activities in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Hall
received a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from
Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and a master's degree
in fisheries science from Louisiana State University.
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