FAW Announces New Board President

The Warren-based non-profit organization Friends of Allegheny Wilderness (FAW) is announcing a new President for their Board of Directors.

Bob Stoudt has been involved with FAW since January of 2002, not long after the organization¹s establishment. His ties to the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) region go back to the time of his grandparents.

FAW seeks to ensure that increased wilderness protection is a priority of the stewardship of the ANF. Currently only about 9,000 acres ­ less than two percent ­ of the forest¹s 513,300 acres are designated wilderness.

During the Forest Service¹s recently completed Forest Plan revision, more than 6,800 of 8,200 respondents provided public comment specifically in support of FAW and their Citizens¹ Wilderness Proposal for Pennsylvania¹s Allegheny National Forest.

Four generations of Stoudt¹s family have spent time at their Elk County cabin hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing, camping, mountain biking and simply enjoying the beauty of the national forest.

Stoudt spent the summer of 1995 as a cartographic intern for the ANF Forest Supervisor¹s office in Warren. He earned his B.A. in Geography/Environmental Planning from Bloomsburg University in 1995 and his M.A. in Geography from Indiana State University in 1999. His master¹s thesis focused on the impact of the Kinzua Dam upon the vegetation of Crull¹s Island, one of the Allegheny River wilderness islands.

Stoudt is employed as the Deputy Director of the Montour Area Recreation Commission in Montour County. He volunteers as the Chairman of the Warrior Run Pathways Committee and is a member of the steering committee for the West Branch Susquehanna River Water Trail.

Stoudt is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and is a life member of the National Rifle Association. He and his wife Becky live near Danville, Pennsylvania with their three children.

(Photo courtesy of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness)