The FGRR board of directors is a group of volunteers who are accomplished professionals with a wide range of expertise and experience working towards the common goal of protecting the natural and cultural heritage of Green River Reservoir. Members elect the Board members at the FGRR Annual meeting in July.
Board of Directors
Sally Laughlin - FGRR Board President
Sally (Sarah) lives in Cambridge, Vermont, in a house her late husband Peter Krusch built on land he purchased in 1958, which adjoins the state-owned ancient Cambridge Pines. In 2020, she donated 51 acres of that land to the Town of Cambridge, to become the Peter A Krusch Nature Preserve, with hiking trails open to the public. Sally was a member of the Vermont Endangered Species Committee for 32 years (until 2013) serving as Chair or Vice Chair most of that time. She also chaired the ESC’s Scientific Advisory Group on Birds for 22 years. She directed the first Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas and co-edited the book The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Vermont (University Press of New England, 1985). She was one of the founders of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and served as executive director for 18 years. She has served on many boards, including the Association of Field Ornithologists and NORAC (the North American Ornithological Atlas Committee), which she chaired for 20 years. She compiled and edited A Guide to Bird Education Resources: an Annotated Bibliography (published by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the American Birding Association, 1997). She has coordinated the Woodstock Christmas Bird Count since its inception in 1974.
A life-long Vermonter, Sally was born and brought up in Castleton and lived in Woodstock for 25 years. In 1992, she and Peter married and she moved to Lamoille County. She retired as Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Johnson State College in 2011, after 18 years. Paddling, swimming, and camping at Green River Reservoir has been a great joy since the early 1970s, when she visited for the first time, while doing the very first Vermont Loon Survey.
Milford Cushman - FGRR Board Vice President
Milford had been paddling canoes on USA and Canadian lakes and rivers since 1962 and began exploring the Green River Reservoir in 1973 when he first moved to the Morrisville, Hyde Park, and Johnson area.
Milford and Bill Bartlett began discussing the need to form a grass roots Green River Reservoir preservation organization in 1994 as they had become concerned with the uncontrolled annual increase in visitor use of the Reservoir. Along with the unchecked proliferation of new campsites, the high seasonal wear and tear on the existing sites and often 90 - 110 cars parked randomly on a July weekend, it was clear to them that the positive attention and education was required to control the impact of people's interest and discovery of the Reservoir. From the incorporation of the ‘Friends’, Milford served on the Board of Directors first as Vice President for several years, then as President from July 2001 until July 2006 and now again as Vice President.
Since 1981 Milford has been as a designer specializing in site and client specific buildings, landscape design, interior design and master planning. Milford and his wife Terri are often found paddling on the Green River Reservoir just before ice prevents them from making headway and then again just after the ice breaks. The reservoir is supremely quiet at these times of the year and is reminiscent of the early seventies in terms of the quality of the experience.
Emma Marvin - FGRR Board Secretary
Emma has a degree in Natural Resource Management from Cornell University. She spent several years working in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont conducting baseline ecosystem monitoring and environmental education.
Currently, Emma works in her family business, Butternut Mountain Farm, which packages and distributes maple syrup and associated products; manages an 1100 acre tree farm; and operates a retail store in Johnson.
Emma lives in Hyde Park with her husband Nick and two young daughters, who are quickly discovering the joys of paddling at Green River Reservoir.
Ronald Kelley - FGRR Board Treasurer
Ronald Kelley lives with his wife Ann Spearing on Trombley Hill in Hyde Park. Ron’s mother Iola lives with them. Ron and Ann have been paddling on Green River Reservoir since moving to Lamoille County in 1974. Their daughter Sarah developed her love for swimming at the reservoir. She is currently a family medicine doctor in residence at Central Maine Medical center in Lewiston, Maine.
Ron retired from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation in late 2009, after 35 years with them as a forest insect and disease specialist. He is an avid photographer, whose insect and tree pest pictures appear in many state and federal brochures, articles, newsletters and websites. He also enjoys kayaking, fishing and x-c skiing.
Ron continues to do some consulting in tree health problems and pest identification. He is also active in the Vermont Entomological Society and the NH-VT Christmas Tree Association.
Lisa Dimondstein - FGRR Board Member
Lisa has been camping and paddling on the Green River Reservoir since the 70s and loves the peace of being in her kayak surrounded by the early morning mist and the loons calling. Her passion for being in the natural world extends to her fine art photography and her love of being in the mountains. Some of her hiking explorations have taken her to: finish the 4,000 footers in N.H. , the Tour Du Mt Blanc, a week on the Pacific Crest Trail as well as many others adventures. She has also traveled extensively, sometimes as a medical volunteer in Tanzania training local nurses and doctors.
Lisa lives in Hyde Park, close to the GRR with her partner Mary and their furry companions.
She recently has cut back her hours as a nurse practitioner and is happy to join the board to give back to this amazing group of volunteers who have helped preserve and continue to be the stewards of this amazing treasure in Vermont.
Terri Gregory - FGRR Board Member
Terri grew up on a farm in Lamoille County and developed a love and respect for the land. Working with her hands as a potter for over twenty years, she is now employed as an interior design specialist for Cushman Design Group. She enjoys paddling and camping on Green River Reservoir and lakes in the provincial parks of Canada. An avid horseback rider, runner, vegetable gardener, Terri also enjoys spending time at home in the company of her feline companions. Some of her board responsibilities are Forest Bird Monitoring Project, organizing members to help with Green Up Day at GRRSP and merchandise sales.
Tom Kastner - FGRR Board Member
Tom’s paddling career began in 1964 in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Since then, he has canoed in almost every state on the east coast of the US and on all the major rivers in Vermont. When he bought his first house in Vermont in 1983, he also bought a used canoe. He knew paddling would help him unwind between projects on his “fixer-upper”. That’s when he discovered the Green River Reservoir and has been a regular visitor in all seasons ever since.
After a 25-year career as a land surveyor, he switched professions and led guided hikes for 26 years in 12 states and 8 countries. Nowadays, he stays closer to home in Stowe with his wife Charlotte and practices carpentry in Lamoille and Washington Counties.
Besides visiting grandkids in Georgia & Colorado, Tom & Charlotte hike, bike, paddle, snowshoe, ski & bird mostly in northern Vermont. Once a week, you can find him playing music with friends. As a way of giving back, Tom has served on several non-profit boards, done volunteer work for the Green Mountain Club, Lost Nation Theater and others. He has also set up and organized recycling programs at several festivals and communities.
Eric Nuse - FGRR Board Member
Eric joins the FGRR board with 30+ years of background in the Fish and Wildlife field. During that time he’s served as Game Warden for Vermont Fish and Wildlife in Lamoille County, Hunting Education Coordinator, and outdoor educator. He is the former Executive Director with the International Hunter Education Association and Orion – The Hunters’ Institute, and is currently a member of the Johnson Conservation Commission, the steering committee for the Lamoille River Paddlers Trail, and the state leadership team for the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine an associate degree in criminal justice and is a certified public manager.
When he’s not working to keep the outdoor scene safe or boots on the ground volunteering, he enjoys canoeing, fishing, hunting, camping, wildlife viewing, and reading.
Mike Wickenden - FGRR Board Member
Michael moved to Hyde Park in 1977, where he and wife #1 built Tenney Hill Farm, raised 2 children, beef cattle, bees and much of their own organic food. He taught at Stowe Middle-High School for 15 years. He then worked in Vermont’s electrical energy efficiency field as a consultant to the Public Utility Commission and ultimately as the Regulatory Director of Efficiency Vermont. He retired in 2016. He still resides on the same farm, aging well with wife #2 and still raising bees and vegetables.
Sheila Goss-FGRR Board Member
Sheila Goss is retired from long careers in law enforcement and education, having worked primarily in Lamoille County. She lives in Stowe with her husband Duncan, and their two lab mutts, know as the Vermont Paddle Pups! Their children Corinne and Connor have left the nest, so Sheila and Duncan are out daily, paddling ,hiking, or bicycling betweenMay to November, and snowshoeing, skijoring, and kicksledding in the winter months.
Sheila paddles nearly 100 days per season, and though she goes canoe camping all over northern New England, the Adirondacks, and Quebec, she considers the Green River Reservoir a very special place.
She is a member of the Catamount Trail Association, Green Mountain Club, and is a board member for Friends of Waterbury Reservoir. She has volunteered with the National Safe Boating Council to encourage PFD use, and has also given presentations at the New England Paddle Sports show on the topic of safe paddling with dogs.
She is an aspiring wildlife photographer and a very amateur birder, who appreciates the chance to get out on the Green River Reservoir for sunrise loon watching.
She is honored to begin her service on the Friends of Green River Reservoir Board as of Fall, 2016
Tom Roger - FGRR Board Member
Tom has worked as an outdoor guide and instructor across North America, guiding whitewater rafting trips in Wyoming, West Virginia and the Adirondacks, ski instructing at Jackson Hole and Stowe, and guiding wilderness leadership trips in Montana, Hawaii, and Costa Rica. For the past nine years, Tom has served as a member of Stowe Mountain Rescue, participating in search and rescue missions for lost or injured hikers, paddlers, climbers, and skiers in Stowe and beyond.
Tom currently lives in Stowe with his wife and their two young daughters. The whole family enjoys camping at Green River Reservoir. Tom also enjoys quiet solo morning paddles before work and evening picnics shared with friends on the reservoir.
Tom is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and works in conservation fundraising for The Nature Conservancy in Vermont (which helped conserve Green River Reservoir to create the state park, long before his time there). He enjoys wildlife and nature photography and occasionally instructs workshops. Tom is also an avid birder, although he is happy to defer to Sally when they differ on bird identification, as he has not written any comprehensive guides to the breeding birds of Vermont (…yet!).
