Meet the Commission
Tom Bancroft is a Governor's appointee to the Commission. He holds a PhD in ecology and has had a distinguished career as an environmentalist and leader. Before joining People For Puget Sound in April 2011, he was Chief Scientist and Vice President of the National Audubon Society. Prior to that he was Vice President of The Wilderness Society. In 2010, he headed up National Audubon’s scientific evaluations of the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf. He has worked for many years on restoration and management of the Everglades, and he is familiar with Puget Sound and its watersheds from his work with The Wilderness Society.
Ken Carrasco is the Whatcom County MRC representative to the Northwest Straits Commission.
Lenny Corin is the Island County MRC representative to the Commission, and is the current vice chair. of Oak Harbor retired to Whidbey Island in 2008 from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska. “My wife and I have always loved this area,” he said. “Given my 30-plus years in natural resources management I wanted to give back to the community.” Corin received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in wildlife conservation and his master’s from Northern Michigan University focusing on wetlands management. For three years preceding retirement he was the USFWS representative on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which provides oversight for the $1 billion commercial fishing industry in Alaska’s waters out to 200 miles. He is an avid SCUBA diver, kayaker, biker, hiker, bird watcher, cross-country skier, eco-traveler and photographer, and serves also on the board of Whidbey Camano Land Trust.
Shannon Davis holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning with an emphasis on natural resource management from the University of Washington. She received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Shannon spent five years as the owner and operator of a sailing and kayaking charter boat business in the San Juan Islands. She was the first coordinator for the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee and now she is a member of the Jefferson county MRC. Since 2003, she has been employed as the Development Director for Friends of the San Juans, a local environmental group in San Juan County.
Duane Fagergren serves as the alternate and attends meetings of the Commission on behalf of the Puget Sound Partnership. Duane was a member of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority Board of Directors and joined the agency as Deputy Director in 1991 and is now a Marine Specialist for the Puget Sound Partnership. He has an extensive background in water quality, fisheries, aquaculture, engineering, and environmental impacts. He received a BS in Fisheries Science, with a minor in Biological Oceanography, from the University of Washington.
Joe Gaydos is a Governor's appointee to the Commission. He is the Regional Director for the Sea Doc Society. He is a wildlife veterinarian and is interested in diseases of free-ranging wildlife and the science of marine conservation. He lives with his family on Orcas Island.
Tom Hoban represents the Snohomish County MRC as an economic interest. Mr. Hoban and his family have a generational history of living on Puget Sound waterfront on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. His business background includes marketing and management with national corporations and 25 years as the designated broker of Coast Commercial Properties, a corporation specializing in income real estate. He served for 8 years on the Capital Grants Advisory Board for the WA State Historical Society and has been a consultant to a number of non profits in the western states. As a youth he spent his summers working as a deckhand onboard a charter sailboat visiting the San Juan Islands and plying the waters of the Northwest Straits. He has had experience with Alaska’s Fish & Game Dept. and while on active duty with the US Coast Guard was a rescue swimmer. He is also a WSU Beach Watcher.
Terrie Klinger is Associate Professor of Marine Affairs at the University of Washington, and is appointed to the Commission by the Governor. She has performed marine ecological research in the Northwest Straits region since 1991. She currently serves as Chair of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, and formerly served as a member of the San Juan County MRC.
Jerry Masters is a Governor's appointee to the Commission and is the current chair. Jerry was raised on the Skagit River delta on a dairy farm, attended La Conner High School and Stanford University. He's now general manager for a building supply company and has represented economic interests on the Snohomish Marine Resources Committee for the past three years, including serving two terms as chair of the committee. Jerry and his family live in Mukilteo.
Gerry O’Keefe was appointed the Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership in early 2011 after serving as Deputy Director since April of 2010. Previously, he was the Natural Resources Director for the Grant County PUD with responsibility for a $1 billion environmental mitigation program required under the FERC license issued to the electric utility. In 2007, Mr. O’Keefe led the Governor’s effort to establish a water supply program in Eastern Washington, breaking the gridlock between historically-antagonistic interests. In 2008, he negotiated agreements with the federal government, the Colville Tribes and the Spokane Tribe to provide the first new water supplies from the Columbia River in over 30 years. Gerry was raised in Minnesota, relocating to Seattle to attend the University of Washington where he earned his MBA in 1987.
Steve Revella, is the representative from the San Juan MRC. Born in California, Steve has spent a lifetime traveling the world – first as a child in a military family and then as a management consultant working with international companies. Although he’s recently retired, he still spends time in Asia when he can and travels to visit grandchildren in Arizona.What keeps Steve energized are the people involved. While politicians may sometimes be disgruntled with so much citizen involvement, he knows that the work of the MRC is relevant and the issues important to the future of the marine ecosystem.
Connie Thoman is the representative from the Skagit MRC. Connie Thoman joined the MRC in 2006, representing the Port of Anacortes where she’s an environmental administrator. A local Northwesterner, Connie was raised in Portland, Oregon. She spends a lot of time near the water – cycling, hiking, walking and birdwatching. She has settled down near one of the most scenic locations in the state, in the Dewey Beach area near Deception Pass State Park.
Bob Vreeland is the representative from Clallam MRC to the Commission. He represents the conservation/environmental community on the MRC.
Jonathan White is a 13-year resident of the San Juan Islands, and served on the County Planning Commission for 5 years. He was the founder/director of Resource Institute, a non-profit organization that sponsored seminars from Seattle to Alaska aboard a 65' wooden schooner. Jonathan's book, Talking on the Water, was published in 1994 by Sierra Club Books. He is a father, husband, and currently makes his living as a custom home builder. Jonathan also serves as a trustee of the San Juan Preservation Trust.
Terry Williams is the Fisheries Natural Resources Commissioner for Tulalip Tribes and is the Tribal appointee to the Commission. Terry has worked to establish an office with EPA to address environmental issues of Indian Tribes nationwide. He has been an important participant in a vast number of important working groups including the NW Indian Fisheries Commission and the Pacific Salmon Commission, was appointed to the Regional Interagency Executive Committee by President Clinton, and represented tribes on the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority.
The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, authorized by Congress, is nationally recognized as an innovative approach to bring sound science and an ecosystem perspective together with citizen energy and entrepreneurship.