Board
Rick Bass, Board Member: As a nationally prominent nature and environmental writer who is a twenty-year resident of the Yaak Valley and one of the founders of the YVFC, Rick could be considered the backbone of the organization. His experience as board member and trustee of the Montana Wilderness Association, the Cabinet Resources Group and Round River Conservation Studies has been invaluable towards the development of YVFC. Rick’s numerous books and articles on Yaak’s wildlands and the need to protect the remaining roadless cores have brought national attention to the organization. In addition to Rick’s work as secretary for the YVFC, his accomplishments for our group include overseeing our annual community presentations, and supervising two anthology book projects. Rick offers countless hours of volunteer field support to our Forest Watch program, as well as writes numerous articles and op-ed pieces yearly, which bring national media attention to the need to protect the Yaak's wildlands.
Andrew Duffin, Board Member: A relative newcomer to the Yaak, Andrew Duffin brings an academic background to the YVFC. Andrew holds a Ph.D. from Washington State University, specializing in environmental history—a field that examines the dynamic relationships between humans and the physical world over time. His doctoral dissertation has been turned into a book, recently published by the University of Washington Press: Plowed Under: Agriculture and Environment in the Palouse. One of Andrew’s first tasks as a board member for the Forest Council will be to assist in the development of an environmental education program for Troy schools.
David Henderson, Ed.D., Board Member: David is currently an Assistant Professor in the graduate school at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, OK, where he teaches leadership classes. He is a Courage To Teach/Lead facilitator and was co-founder of Montana Courage To Teach, a professional development program for educators and leaders which focuses on helping educators/leaders reconnect who they are with what they do. He was an adjunct professor at The University of Montana in Missoula where he taught leadership classes. He has taught college and high school English and the sciences as well as having served as the high school principal in Troy, MT. For four years he taught 5th-8th grade in the K-8 school in the Yaak Valley of Northwest Montana, the last “one room” school in Montana which still meets in its original log cabin. During the 1980s he was a manager and software developer in Dallas, TX, for twelve years. His family’s spiritual home is their A-frame in the Yaak Valley of Montana.
Andrew Duffin, Board Member: A relative newcomer to the Yaak, Andrew Duffin brings an academic background to the YVFC. Andrew holds a Ph.D. from Washington State University, specializing in environmental history—a field that examines the dynamic relationships between humans and the physical world over time. His doctoral dissertation has been turned into a book, recently published by the University of Washington Press: Plowed Under: Agriculture and Environment in the Palouse. One of Andrew’s first tasks as a board member for the Forest Council will be to assist in the development of an environmental education program for Troy schools.
David Henderson, Ed.D., Board Member: David is currently an Assistant Professor in the graduate school at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, OK, where he teaches leadership classes. He is a Courage To Teach/Lead facilitator and was co-founder of Montana Courage To Teach, a professional development program for educators and leaders which focuses on helping educators/leaders reconnect who they are with what they do. He was an adjunct professor at The University of Montana in Missoula where he taught leadership classes. He has taught college and high school English and the sciences as well as having served as the high school principal in Troy, MT. For four years he taught 5th-8th grade in the K-8 school in the Yaak Valley of Northwest Montana, the last “one room” school in Montana which still meets in its original log cabin. During the 1980s he was a manager and software developer in Dallas, TX, for twelve years. His family’s spiritual home is their A-frame in the Yaak Valley of Montana.
