Member

Dave was born on October 28, 1945, in Goffstown, New Hampshire. He grew up in a military family that moved frequently around the country and the world. His father introduced him early to fishing and hunting, and frequent visits to his grandmother’s rural New Hampshire home developed his early interest in the outdoors, especially aquatic resources. He received BS and MS degrees in Fisheries Management from Humboldt State University before entering the Navy for four years. At the end of his Naval enlistment Dave went to work for the Bureau of Land Management as a District fisheries scientist in Redding, California, and then in Medford, Oregon, working on assessments of timber sales, mining operation, and hydrology projects. In 1980, Dave left federal employment to become the Fisheries Program Director for the Confederated Salish and Kootenia Tribes in Pablo, Montana. As principal investigator for a Lower Flathead Lake/River System study, he led a multi-cultural team of biologists and technicians in a five-year project to identify and remedy the impacts of hydroelectric and agricultural water development to Tribal aquatic resources. In 1987, Dave became the senior fisheries scientist for Ott Water Engineers, a consulting firm in Redding, California, and later worked with Thomas Payne and Associates, a consulting firm in Arcata, California. For both firms, he managed projects to establish fish passage and instream flows to protect aquatic resources as part of developing hydroelectric facilities on rivers and streams throughout the country including New Hampshire, Kentucky, California, and Alaska. In 1989, Dave accepted a zone fisheries biologist position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service on the Shasta Trinity National Forest in Weaverville, California. He accepted an offer to be the fisheries program leader on the Panhandle National Forest in 1991, and returned to the Shasta Trinity National Forest as fisheries program leader in 1996. In 1999, Dave accepted an offer as assistant national fisheries program leader for the Forest Service in Washington, D.C., and in 2002 he became the national fisheries program leader for the Forest Service. As national fisheries program leader Dave was responsible for coordinating the first comprehensive national review of the fisheries and watershed in 16 years. He was the editor of the weekly electronic newsletter “Fish Tales,” which was designed to keep Forest Service line and technical staff and Forest Service partners informed on developments of national significance in the Forest Service fisheries and watershed programs. As a legislative fellow with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Dave gained first hand experience in coalition building and external relations in the legislative arena. Dave was responsible for building coalitions and managing diverse and charged political issues for Senator Baucus, Ranking Member of the Committee. Issues he worked on included the highly contentious oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, grizzly bear re-introductions in Idaho and Montana, and proposed ocean jetties off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina . Recognizing the need for diversity in the Forest Service workforce, Dave led the Forest Service’s participation in the Hutton Scholarship program of the American Fisheries Society. This program introduces minority high school students to aquatic resource management with Forest Service personnel acting as mentors. This is a national effort to encourage minorities to pursue college-level training and careers in the aquatic field. Forest Service mentors have mentored numerous students through this program. For this effort, Dave received a Chief’s Award for Civil Rights and a Distinguished Service Award from the American Fisheries Society. Dave is a life member of the American Fisheries Society, joining the Society in 1968 while at Humboldt State University. The American Fisheries Society certified him as a fisheries scientist in 1982. He served as vice president (1993), president-elect (1994) and president (1995) of the Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Dave also has served on numerous national committees for the Society; most recently the Hutton Scholarship Committee. Dave retired from the Forest Service in May of 2006. He relocated to Scotland, Connecticut, where he enjoys hunting, fly fishing, fly tying, bird dogs, and wildlife photography. He has a grown son, Michael, in Santa Cruz, California, and a daughter, Heather, in a doctoral program in evolutionary ecology at the University of Connecticut. Dave was elected to the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 2004.