The Oregon Conservation & Recreation Advisory Committee

Dr. Karl Wenner (Chair)

Dr. Wenner has lived and worked in Klamath Falls for 30 years. He is a retired orthopedic surgeon and operates a 380-acre cattle ranch and 400-acre barley farm in Klamath County. In addition to his medical education, Dr. Wenner has a Masters of Science in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida. He also worked as a waterfowl biologist for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission before becoming a medical doctor. He served as a co-chair of the Klamath Basin Working Group, a member of the board of the Oregon Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, founding member of the Klamath Watershed Partnership, member of the board of the Klamath Falls chapter of Trout Unlimited. Karl enjoys birding, natural history, fishing, hunting, rafting, foraging, sailing, camping, and hiking.

Mauricio Valadrian (Vice-Chair)

Mauricio Valadrian has been working as a Bilingual content producer and creative director for almost 19 years, and most recently, as a media consultant and diversity communications expert, in both, the private and governmental sectors. For the last 5 years Mauricio has been an active advocate for diversifying access and usage of public natural areas, particularly for families with young children and underrepresented communities. He has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Urban Refuge Program; with the Intertwine Alliance; and managing content development and community outreach for the Northwest Family Daycation App, a mobile application that uses GPS technology to inspire families to get outside and connect with nature. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Hike It Baby, a non-profit with over 330 chapters across the United States focusing on building community while getting families on trails.

Sristi Kamal

Sristi Kamal is a wildlife conservation practitioner with a special focus on the human dimensions of conservation, that is, making people part of the conservation equation. She grew up in Assam, India, home to tigers, rhinos, elephants, leopards and other megafauna that fueled her love for wildlife and wild places. She has a Ph.D. in Ecology and has spent time in various parts of the world working on complex conservation issues during her academic and professional career including India, Poland, Haiti, Timor Leste, Ethiopia, and the US. She currently works for Western Environmental Law Center as their Deputy Director and is based out of Portland. Over her career, she has worked with native forest dwellers, nomadic yak herders, landowners and rural communities to support conservation and livelihood issues, and on science-based policy advocacy to promote wildlife conservation.

In her spare time, Sristi enjoys Oregon's beautiful outdoors hiking, kayaking and backpacking with her dog, Kropka, but her biggest passion after wildlife is the sport of Muay Thai.

Maret Pajutee

Maret Pajutee has 25 years’ experience in Natural Resource planning for public lands in sustainable forestry, watershed restoration, recreation management, post-fire rehabilitation, and invasive and rare plant species management. She is an experienced team leader of public land partnerships and collaboration addressing controversial issues such as old growth management, name changes to meet Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and recreation management to protect river values. She is also a founding board member of Deschutes Land Trust Non-Profit organization which has conserved over 9000 acres of high value habitat in the Deschutes River basin. She retired as a District Ecologist for the Sisters Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service in 2016.

Jane Hartline

Jane Hartline retired after a 29-year career as Marketing Manager of the Oregon Zoo so that she could do her REAL job --- being more on the front lines of conservation efforts. She brags that since PERS now pays her salary, she can do whatever she wants. “Whatever she wants” includes, among many other things, founding and heading the Sauvie Island Partnership,serving on the Oregon Native Turtle Working Group, the 4-County Weed Management Area and the Oak Prairie working group….AND being a board member for both the West Multnomah Conservation District and the Scappoose Bay Watershed Council.
She is a consummate weed warrior, frog shuttler, volunteer wrangler, and plant, amphibian, pollinator and bird surveyor. And since all that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she also wrangles a flock of sheep and chickens and tries to keep up with her own 3-acre habitat restoration project on her Sauvie Island Farm. In addition, she owns and manages a native plant nursery.

Mark Stern

Mark Stern is currently the Director of Forest Conservation for The Nature Conservancy in Oregon. He has worked on wildlife projects and natural resource issues across much of Oregon over the past 25+ years, including stints in Harney County for the Burns District BLM and the USFWS at Malheur NWR, as well as on wildlife, water and forestry issues with The Nature Conservancy in Oregon. Mark has worked on a wide range of wildlife projects, including fisheries/water birds in the Warner Valley in Lake Co., sandhill cranes, black terns and yellow rails at Sycan Marsh and Lake/Klamath Cos., snowy plovers along the Oregon coast, neotropical migrant song birds in the Willamette Valley, bird banding station on Sauvie Island WMA, western pond turtles in SW OR and more than a dozen different projects involving fisheries, water birds, amphibians & freshwater mollusks in the Klamath Basin and elsewhere. 

Mark has a graduate degree in Wildlife Ecology from Oregon State University and enjoys recreation in Oregon focused on wildlife viewing (birds, elk, sheep, whales, turtles, plants) while hiking, biking, backpacking and camping in Oregon’s vast outdoors.

Kelly Timchak

Kelly Timchak grew up stomping around the creeks of Southeast Missouri and has always had a love for the great outdoors. This love for all things nature drove her to eventually secure a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Southeast Missouri State University and a M.Sc. in Fisheries from the University of New Brunswick (Canada). Kelly has lived in Gold Beach and worked in Curry County since 2005 and has been in her position as the Lower Rogue Watershed Coordinator since May 2012. You might find her coordinating state and federal agencies and other organizations to collaborate on larger projects or building landowner relationships to form restoration and enhancement projects, or working on grant applications, reports and permit applications, or you might find her running smolt traps and monitoring river temperatures. Kelly previously worked for ODFW and the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team before going back to pursue her Master's Degree. She has been serving on the board for the Network of Oregon Watershed Councils since 2013, helping to serve some 60 councils across the state through training, conferences, and networking events, by providing a voice with agencies and funders, by tracking important issues, and by helping councils learn from each other to increase their efficiency and impact. When she is not working, she is busy playing with her family and surfing, skiing, camping, hiking, and gardening.

Liza Jane McAlister

Liza Jane McAlister is the owner of the 6 Ranch; a Wallowa County Century Ranch established in 1884 by her great-grandparents. The ranch is a multi-generational operation involving production of grassfed beef and lamb, conservation, and recreation. In 2016, the 6 Ranch received the State Land Board award for their stream restoration projects on the Wallowa River. Liza enjoys her side-line work as a fly-fishing guide on the ranch during the summer months. Liza Jane worked with her community to build a domestic violence shelter and program, serving as the Director for 14 years. She was honored with a National Peace Award for her work in this field. She worked as the Preserve Steward for the Nature Conservancy Zumwalt Prairie Preserve, which included development of their community-based elk and shed hunting programs. Liza Jane has been a member of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement board since 2018 and is currently serving her second term as Co-Chair. Liza Jane is passionate about her family, taking care of the land and preserving western culture and traditions.

Jim Hammett

Jim Hammett had a 40-year career with the U.S. National Park Service. He worked as a trail maintenance foreman and natural resources specialist at North Cascades NP, a park planner at the NPS Denver Service Center, internationally as a park planner in Tanzania, Uganda, and Slovakia, deputy superintendent at Yosemite NP, and retired in 2012 as superintendent of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon. In retirement, he trains and field trials bird dogs, hunts chukar, and explores the deepest reaches of the Owyhee. He graduated from the University of Montana with a BS in Forestry and an MS in Vegetation Ecology.

Commissioner Mark Labhart

Mark Labhart is a former Tillamook County Commissioner where he served for 12 years. Prior to that he worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry for 34 years with 20 years as the Manager of a majority of the Tillamook State Forest. He was an Incident Commander on one of Oregon Fire Teams for 11 years. He has served terms on the Fish Restoration & Enhancement Board, the STEP Advisory Committee, the Oregon Hatchery Research Center and the ODF&W External Budget Advisory Committee. He chaired the Legislative Task force to find alternate funding sources for ODF&W. Labhart sits on the OSU Sea Grant Advisory Committee as well as the OSU Extension Statewide Advisory Committee. He was a founding member of the Salmon Super Highway Project that looks to restore salmon access to tributaries in Tillamook County. He was chosen as Tillamook County’s Citizen of the Year and volunteer of the year previously and Forester of the Year for Oregon by the Society of American Foresters. His passion is fly fishing in the central Oregon lakes and deer and elk hunting. He and his wife moved to Sisters to be closer to children and especially their grandchildren.

Jenna Marmon

Jenna Marmon is a 23-year resident of Southern Oregon and has worked as the Planning and Design Lead for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department since May of 2022. She is a landscape architect and has worked in parks, trails and transportation for state and local agencies for a combined 25 years. She's an elected board member of the Rogue Valley Transportation District and previously served on the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for seven years, as Chair for four. Jenna is passionate about working to provide opportunities for all people to feel welcome and safely enjoy our streets, trails, and parks.