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 the 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, the ATC staff, agency partners, and the board of directors.

Brian Fitzgerald, of South Duxbury, Vermont, became stewardship council chair in May 2010. He has been a member of the council since 2005. He was elected to the ATC's board in 1991 and chaired it from 2001–2007. Before becoming board chair, he headed the Trail and land management committee (1993-2001) and served as New England regional vice chair from 1997 to 2001. He led the organization during the strategic-planning effort and implementation of the 2003 strategic plan. He was awarded honorary membership to ATC in 2005. Brian holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology and ecology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. He is the streamflow protection coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, where he works to remove dams and protect the natural flow of rivers and streams.

Tom Banks, a native New Englander of Holden, Massachusetts, works summers for the U.S. Forest Service as a lead wilderness ranger and trail crew leader in the High Sierra; he annually hikes long distances on the A.T. during his time off.  He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in outdoor recreation and environmental science from Colorado State University and Western Washington University. A former school teacher, he worked as a National Park Service ranger in interpretation, law enforcement, search and rescue, and wilderness trails management for 22 years. Since 2009, Tom has been developing a Leave No Trace education initiative for the Appalachian Trail. He speaks English and French, and enjoys backpacking, rock climbing, kayaking, photography, and impersonating John Muir in living history performances.

Lenny Bernstein, of Asheville, North Carolina, was a Convening Lead Author for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. He currently chairs the stewardship council’s Land and Resource Protection Committee, which is concerned with threats to the A.T. from all sources. He is an active member and past president of the Carolina Mountain Club. He represents CMC on the Deep South regional partnership committee and is the RPC’s representative on the council. Lenny has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has taught courses on climate change and energy at the University of North Carolina at Asheville’s College for Seniors, a noncredit, life-long learning program. He is an A.T. 2000-miler, has been a Trail maintainer for 20 years, and is a life member of ATC.

Delia Clark, of Taftsville, Vermont, is a trainer, speaker, and facilitator for place-based education, community visioning, and school/community partnerships. Currently principal of Confluence Associates, she cofounded the Antioch New England Institute of Antioch University, cofounded and was executive director of Vital Communities. She also has served on the board of the Appalachian Mountain Club and as director of the Center for Place-based Learning and Community Engagement. Delia is coauthor of publications on place-based learning and civic engagement.

Beth Critton, of West Hartford, Connecticut, is an attorney at Shipman & Goodwin, LLP, where she advises clients on land use, environmental, property taxation, and municipal law. She has recently been a featured speaker on risk and recreational liability. Beth served as assistant corporation counsel for the Town of West Hartford for 12 years, representing the Town, its boards and employees in court, drafting ordinances and negotiating contracts, leases, and easements. She is past chair of the Connecticut Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, where she revived the Chapter's annual "A.T. Day" tradition and promoted its yearly "Give A Day" to A.T. trails volunteer event. The mother of an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker (and three other children), Beth has section-hiked more than 1,500 miles of the Trail since 2004.

Gene Grayson, of Somers, Connecticut, is vice chair of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Connecticut Chapter and treasurer of the Trails Committee, which maintains the A.T. in Connecticut. He is an active hike leader and participates on work parties on the A.T. as well as on blue-blazed trails in state forests and parks. Gene also leads hikes and work parties for inner-city youth and mentally challenged young adults and coaches soccer for mentally and physically challenged children. He is the New England Regional Partnership Committee representative on the stewardship council.

Ned Kuhns, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, represents the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club on the Virginia regional partnership committee and is the RPC representative on the stewardship council. A member of TATC since 1991, he has served as president, vice president, hikemaster, and counselor. He is an active A.T. maintainer and a section leader for the Mau-Har side trail. He has organized and moderated the ATC’s Southern partnership meetings, served as a hike leader at various biennial conferences and is chair of the 2011 ATC biennial conference. An ATC life member, he thru-hiked the Trail in 2003. Ned is a retired U.S. Navy Supply Corps officer and completed a second career in private industry. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and received an MBA from Stanford University.

G. Robert Lee, of Warrenton, Virginia, has served on the ATC board of directors. He is involved in numerous Appalachian Trail activities, including serving on the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) council and as president of the Northern Shenandoah Valley Chapter. He is a life member of PATC and has been an ATC member for 25 years. While serving as Clarke County, Virginia, administrator, Bob was primary author of a Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement among the National Park Service, ATC, and Clarke County for monitoring existing and proposed land uses adjacent to the Appalachian Trail in the county. Bob has served as a shelter overseer, trail maintainer, and corridor monitor over several decades, and he has hiked extensive sections of the A.T. in the Mid-Atlantic states. He is the executive director of Virginia Outdoors Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which holds more conservation easements than any public land trust in the nation.

Judith McGuire, a retired international development expert, is a regular volunteer in the ATC Information Center, a community organizer for climate change, and a science writer. Judy is also an active outdoorswoman and volunteer with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. She thru-hiked the A.T. in 2007 and is a life member of ATC.

Roger Moore, of Raleigh, North Carolina, is an associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at North Carolina State University, where he teaches and conducts research on outdoor recreation behavior and management and the human dimensions of natural resource management. He previously served on the ATC board of directors from 2005–2008, the stewardship council from 2005–2007, and as coordinator of the A.T. MEGA-Transect program during a year-long sabbatical in 2008 and 2009. He has been an ATC member since his 1973 thru-hike.

Don Owen, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, became the executive director of the Land Trust of Virginia in June 2008, following his retirement from the National Park Service. During his NPS career, he worked as a realty specialist for the Appalachian Trail land-acquisition program, spent eight years on special assignment to ATC as resource management coordinator, and served as environmental protection specialist with the NPS-Appalachian Trail Park Office for twelve years before retiring in 2008. Don is an Appalachian Trail maintainer with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.

Philip Royer, of Knoxville, Tennessee, chair of the Deep South regional partnership committee, represents the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club (SMHC) on the committee. A member of SMHC since 1998, he has served as president, vice president, historian, member of the A.T. Maintenance Committee and section leader. He also served as co-chair of the 2005 ATC biennial conference. Phil is a member of the American Institute of Architects, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, and president of Architectural Services Group, Inc. He has led the design and rehabilitation of 16 trail shelters by SMHC.

Bill Van Horn, of Franklin North Carolina, served 29 years with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 2002. Now a full-time volunteer with hiking and environmental organizations, Bill is a life member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the American Hiking Society (AHS), and is an AHS Ambassador and a Leave No Trace Trainer. Former president of the Nantahala Hiking Club, he also has volunteered on the ATC Konnarock Crew, on AHS volunteer vacations, and as an A.T. ridgerunner in the Smokies. Since 2009, he and his wife Sharon have section-hiked more than 1,300 miles of the Trail. 

Barbara Wiemann, of Northampton, Pennsylvania, joined ATC in 1972. She is a life member and an A.T. thru-hiker. A member of the ATC board from 2003–2005, she has served on the stewardship council since 2007 and is the Mid-Atlantic regional partnership committee representative on the council. She serves as RPC secretary and is the Allentown Hiking Club’s alternate representative on the committee. An active member of AHC for more than 35 years, Barb has held several positions in the club, including president and secretary. She has been a member of the Keystone Trails Association for more than 35 years, serving as an officer, statewide trail-guide editor, and as newsletter editor since 2000.

Greg Wright, of Rutland, Vermont, is retired from a 34-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, most recently on the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. During his career, he was involved in recreation, trails and wilderness programs, including managing visitor use, interpretive services, heritage resources, special uses, and National Recreation Areas and other special area designations. He participated in the revision of the Land and Resource Management Plans for the two forests, including development of Appalachian Trail Standards and Guidelines for the Green Mountain National Forests. Greg has a B.S. in resource management and forestry.