Board of Directors and Staff

Doug Burnell

President

Doug Burnell, USVLT’s President, is a land surveyor with work experience on many conservation projects, now retired as co-owner/principal of HEB Engineers in North Conway. With deep family connections in western Maine and the Mount Washington Valley, Doug owns conserved family woodlands himself in four different towns in the USVLT service area. He has served on numerous non-profit boards in the past, most germane as chair of the Conway Conservation Commission and of Tin Mountain Conservation Center’s board of trustees when the latter organization built and relocated to their Nature Center in Albany. Lending technical expertise to most of the Land Trust’s projects completed during his tenure, Doug has been on the USVLT Board and Land Committee since 2010.

Lindsay Kafka

Vice President

Lindsay Kafka has a deep affinity for the lands of the greater Mount Washington Valley, having been first introduced to this landscape as a child during cross-country ski weekends and visits to family friends who called this place home. For most of her life, her professional career was centered to the south, with she and her husband, Steve, raising their family in Lindsay’s hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. Lindsay’s initial career spanned work as an estate planning lawyer and then non-profit fundraiser working in higher education. She has also worked in a volunteer capacity on numerous non-profit boards over the last twenty years and has deep experience in planned giving and non -profit governance. Five years ago, Lindsay decided to return to school to pursue her dream of becoming a hospice nurse. In 2020, she and Steve moved to their new permanent home in South Conway and Lindsay began her career as a hospice nurse. Lindsay and Steve spend their free time outdoors as much as possible, hiking, running, skiing, rock climbing, gardening, and more.

Jim Hastings

Treasurer

Jim Hastings is a retired Chief Financial Officer and a former Certified Public Accountant. He and his wife Linda moved to Bartlett full time in 1998 after being weekend visitors since 1985. He joined the Trust as a conservation easement monitor and is now both a Board member and Treasurer. Jim’s reason for being involved in the Trust is simple: “I think it’s important that we preserve the character of the unique landscape of the upper Saco River valley. One way this can be accomplished is through the work of the USVLT, its supporters and involved landowners.” Jim and Linda have one son, Ryan, who lives with his wife Sinead in Tahoe, California.

Meghan Moody Schwartz

Secretary

Meghan Moody Schwartz is a proud native of the Mount Washington Valley. She attended Elmira College where she took courses in marketing, management, and art. She is now using those skills as the Brand and Marketing Manager at Great Glen Trails Outdoors Center and the Mt. Washington Auto Road in Pinkham Notch. Meghan is a multi-tasker, digital marketing maven, artist, and a wicked good hockey player. In addition to her keen sense of design, she has valuable experience working for several of our local restaurants, including Thompson House Eatery and The Oxford House Inn. She knows how to plan an epic bash, work a crowd, and make everyone comfortable. Meghan and her husband, Dave, live in North Conway with their two pups, Cady-dog and Roux. They all enjoy all things outdoors.

Alex Drummond

Alex Drummond is a Mount Washington Valley native. He has been a climbing guide for the International Mountain Climbing School, a youth ski coach for the Wildcat Mountain Alpine Education Foundation, a landscape gardener with Alpine Gardening, and owned and operated Mountain Sun Yoga Studio. For the past 14 years, he has worked for RE/MAX Presidential in North Conway as a licensed real estate agent (in both ME and NH). Alex lives in East Conway with his wife, Terry Young, and family. An avid outdoors-man, and a self-proclaimed plant lover, Alex enjoys getting out in the woods and the garden whenever possible.

Tucker Gordon

As a child, Tucker spent summers and weekends at his family’s home in Fryeburg. He moved here full time after graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 2016 with a B.A in Earth & Planetary Science. Through college, Tucker worked summers at Weston’s Farm (run by his great-aunt and uncle), where he honed skills that prepared him for the farm manager position at the Thompson House Eatery in Jackson. In 2018, Tucker joined the team at HEB Engineers, Inc. where he works as an Environmental Specialist. Besides his family ties to the region, Tucker was drawn to live here by the ample outdoor recreational opportunities the area provides. He is an avid skier, mountain biker, hiker, and enjoys anything that involves time spent outdoors. He currently lives in Intervale with his wife Maika and their two dogs Emmy and Sawyer. 

Mike Laracy

Mike Laracy moved to the Mt. Washington Valley in 2002 and founded a software company where he was the CEO for almost twenty years until it was acquired by an organization specializing in Education Technology, Services, and Research. Mike is now the Managing Director of that company. Mike received his M.A. in Economics from Rutgers University, and his B.A. in Economics and Finance from Catholic University. He has served on several local non-profit boards including Jen’s Friends and the Conway Budget Committee. He currently serves on the Kennett High School Computer Science Advisory Board and the White Mountains Community College Advisory Board.  He enjoys skiing, mountain biking, trail running, and hiking with his wife and two kid and lives in Conway, NH.

Megan-Mack Nicholson

Megan-Mack Nicholson grew up spending as much time as she could in the woods behind her childhood home in China, Maine. She has worked for Wilderness Therapy Programs, run outings programs, and taught at several universities and colleges including Ithaca College and Cornell. In 2016, Meghan-Mack moved back to Maine to take the position of the Director of The Hyde Wilderness School in Northern Maine. She is currently focusing on Holon Healing: her business that provides Forest Therapy and Shamanic Reiki Practices. She is a Registered Maine Guide, Certified Yoga Teacher, Certified Forest Therapy Guide with the ANFT, and Shamanic-reiki Practitioner. Creating experiences and opportunities for people to connect and heal in nature is why she is also so passionate about protecting and conserving the gorgeous land of the Upper Saco Valley.

Ken Olson

Ken Olson, retired President and CEO of Friends of Acadia, was Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of Connecticut, President of American Rivers, Director of Special Projects at The Conservation Fund and, early in his career, head of the Appalachian Mountain Club Hut System. He is co-author, with Brooks Atkinson, of New England’s White Mountains: At Home in the Wild, edited by David Brower. Ken received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, was named an Honorary Ranger by Acadia National Park, and was given an honorary degree by College of the Atlantic for “outstanding contributions to Human Ecology.” He holds a master’s from Yale and was a faculty lecturer there and at Wesleyan University.

Tim Scott

Tim Scott, a longtime resident of Jackson, New Hampshire, has been serving the fundraising profession continually in a variety of capacities since graduating from the University of Maine in 1977. During his career, Tim has consulted with or been employed by over 90 nonprofit organizations with an emphasis on long-term donor stewardship as well as conducting successful capital campaigns. In addition to his active consulting work with the Country Consulting Group, Inc., Tim also served for fifteen years as the Director of Development at Fryeburg Academy. Locally, he chaired the $1.3 million capital campaign for the North Conway Community Center in 2015, and worked with the MWV Rec Path, USVLT, Jackson Ski Touring, and the New England Ski Museum with their recent capital campaigns.

Jennifer Snell Rullman

Jennifer grew up spending as much time as possible outside, climbing trees, and enjoying wildlife and nature.  She continues to seek out wilderness spaces and has spent the majority of her career alternating between teaching environmental education and leading international conservation efforts. She lived in Tanzania for two years working for The Jane Goodall Institute and has fond memories of sharing a bit of whisky and stories with Jane in the evenings while looking out at the Indian Ocean.  For the last 20 years, Jennifer has worked at the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) to protect snow leopards and the large landscapes where they live. She has traveled to Asia annually for the last 19 years, helping establish conservation initiatives in Mongolia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.  Jennifer currently serves as Senior Philanthropy Manager for SLT and loves partnering with supporters around the globe to make conservation a priority. Jennifer and her husband Stan live in Fryeburg with their daughter, Sierra and Kaiya (our 85-pound dog), and Tali (the tiny cat).  Jen serves on the Fryeburg Conservation Commission and is excited to join the Land Trust.  In her spare time, she can be found hiking local mountains, bowling with the Bowling Stones, rewilding landscapes, and attempting to grow veggies in New England’s short growing season. 

Dan Stepanauskas

Dan Stepanauskas has been a consulting forester in New Hampshire for thirty-five years. He works on the sustainable management of private and municipal forest lands using light-touch management techniques. Simply put, the goal is to achieve the desired results by imitating nature’s design. He has worn out four pairs of Limmer boots, and two pairs of Trefle Bolduc’s snowshoes. He is devoted to wilderness canoe tripping, has played the guitar for fifty-five years, and treasures visits from his two grown sons, whom he and his wife Stephanie raised here in the Valley.

Sean Wadsworth

Sean Wadsworth's childhood years were guided by his parents volunteering at the Beaver Lake Nature Center in Upstate NY, where he later worked on the grounds and trails, and as a youth camp counselor. He attended UNH to study Environmental Conservation and Political Science, and worked for a decade as a technician in air quality research and engineering. Sean and his wife Rachel Hamilton and their two boys moved to Albany NH in 2013, where currently Sean is serving on the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission. He volunteers as the monitor for USVLT's World Fellowship conservation easement, and is grateful to support and serve the mission work of USVLT.

Linda Comeau

Conservation Easement Manager

Linda is a founding member of Upper Saco Valley Trust. While completing her master’s degree at Antioch University New England, her thesis project, "How to Start a Land Trust,” became the groundwork that eventually grew into what USVLT is today. As the former Land Protection Specialist for USVLT for many years, her work has allowed her to do what she loves: work with landowners to permanently protect their land & to have a lasting impact on this landscape that she treasures. Her love of the outdoors began as a child wandering the woods, rocky shores & beaches in her hometown of Gloucester, MA and has continued on throughout her life. Linda has lived in New Hampshire for 30+ years & enjoys hiking, biking, xc skiing & traveling the world with her partner, Al Aldrich. 

Carissa Milliman

Community Steward

Carissa joined the Mount Washington Valley community after falling in love with the lands and the people who make it special. She is an avid outdoors person and whole heartedly believes in the value that nature brings for the betterment of all people. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in communication/print journalism and later went on to obtain a M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction with a focus in secondary education. She enjoys exploring the woods, practicing yoga, rock climbing, mountain biking and taking pictures of pretty places.

Vicki Soletsky

Office Manager

Vicki grew up in Houston, Texas and moved to New Hampshire 25 years ago. She has always gravitated towards nature and wildlife and has fallen in love with New Hampshire and all it offers. She has a B.S. in Psychology and subsequently earned an A.S. in Veterinary Technology. Vicki has a diverse background and finds that she always excels in attention to detail and organization in any job. Looking to move away from veterinary medicine, she decided to pursue an administrative position where she could let her talents shine. Vicki is thrilled to bring her organizational skills to the role of office manager and hopes to enhance the mission of USVLT with her passion for protecting natural lands and wildlife. You'll find Vicki hiking, kayaking, volunteering, skiing, snowshoeing or studying the Finnish language when she's not at work. Vicki is married, has two beautiful dogs and lives in Tuftonboro on the shore of the beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee.