Brad Ryan is the new executive director of the Takshanuk Watershed Council, replacing Emily Cowles, who held the job about a year.
A former federal fisheries biologist in Oregon studying salmon survival in the Snake and Columbia rivers, Ryan has worked for the Chilkoot Indian Association since February. He starts on his new job in January.
Ryan’s experience at the tribe included writing grants, which should help him in his new position, said Norman Hughes, chairman of the watershed council’s board of directors. “We depend on our executive director to make a lot of this happen.”
The council is managing more than a dozen grants and its current projects include Big Boulder Creek king salmon habitat restoration, a fish-passage culvert on Comstock Road, cataloguing local streams and education programs for students and community members. Its annual budget is about $220,000.
The council also partners with groups such as the American Bald Eagle Foundation.
Hughes said about eight of a dozen candidates stateswide had connections to Haines. “In the past seven years (since the council’s creation), quite a few people have become aware of the council and what we’ve been doing.”
“Brad had a strong interview and brought a good mix of experience to the position. We’re looking for a lot. He kept rising to the top,” Hughes said.
Ryan said this week he was looking forward to working with board members and other groups in towns with similar missions. Ryan has worked as a research scientist 12 years and last spring led a local eulachon project.