Join us in welcoming Stu Smith to our board of directors!

May 31, 2025-

Join us in welcoming Stu Smith to our board of directors! You may recognize Stu as the retired GIS professional who has volunteered his time over the past few years to help create our first of its kind GIS-based inventory of private wilderness inholdings and edgeholdings. Stu has not only brought his professional expertise to implementing the project, his vision and discerning eye has helped shape how we integrate it into our work to protect the wilderness you love. We look forward to the knowledge and experience that Stu will bring to our board of directors from his unique and diverse background.

Born and raised in a small Oregon logging town, the outdoors have always been a part of Stu’s life. His first Wilderness experience was on a backpacking trip as a 12 year-old Boy Scout in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness. Since then, travels through many other Wilderness Areas have helped form his understanding of the intricate perfection found in the wild.

Eight seasons in a variety of wildland fire-fighting positions allowed him to experience everything from harrowing lightning storms on a mountaintop fire lookout tower, to stepping out of a perfectly good airplane as a Forest Service smokejumper.

Following a Doctorate in plant ecology, he began his GIS career with the U.S. Geological Survey, which subsequently led to managing a GIS program for 12 years with Washington State’s Department of Natural Resources. He then spent the following 16 summers as a bush pilot, flying float planes in Washington State and Alaska. The interspersed winters were busy with GIS projects as an independent consultant.

For the last six years, he’s lived in the mountains above Wenatchee, Washington, spending time skiing, mountain biking, and enjoying craft beers with friends. He remains busy doing volunteer GIS work with a variety of non-profits, from Alaska to Rwanda. He adheres to the notion that “data is knowledge and knowledge is power”, wherein mapping technology can be used to help preserve the sublimity of an untrammeled nature.

Welcome Stu!