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Oregon Wild Announces New Executive Director, Scott Shlaes

State’s leading conservation group hires sixth leader in 36-year history

New head of conservation group enters at time of incredible opportunity and challenge.

The new Executive Director of Oregon Wild, Scott Shlaes.

The Oregon Wild Board of Directors today introduced Scott Shlaes as the next Executive Director of Oregon Wild. Scott Shlaes comes to Oregon Wild with a history of non-profit management experience in Oregon and a diverse set of skills in working with staff and volunteers, strategic planning, and fundraising. Scott’s passion for the outdoors developed at a young age during trips to the Maine backcountry and has grown during 13 years of exploring Oregon’s wild places. Scott succeeds longtime Executive Director Regna Merritt in leading Oregon Wild in protecting and restoring Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters.

“It is with great excitement and a sense of honor I join Oregon Wild as its next leader, and build upon the organization’s many successes in protecting our states wild places,” commented Shlaes. “Oregon has natural treasures that are admired the world over and are significant in both their beauty and rarity. Oregon Wild has been at the center of protecting the wildlands and wildlife that Oregonians cherish and we will continue to act to keep Oregon a special place to live, work, and play.”

Scott comes to Oregon Wild from Impact Northwest, a human services organization that serves over 60,000 people in the Portland metropolitan area. He helped Impact Northwest nearly double in size over the last five years. Scott’s community engagement includes service as a board member and advisor to the Pangaea Project, which works locally and internationally to connect youth with the natural environment, as well as with the donor relations committee of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, a progressive organization promoting grass roots change throughout Oregon.

Oregon Wild was founded around a campfire in 1974 when a group of outdoor enthusiasts realized some of their favorite places were quickly disappearing only to be replaced by clear-cuts. Across five decades, the organization has helped to protect 1.7 million acres of Wilderness and nearly 1,900 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers. From fighting to rebuild northwest salmon populations to protecting the northern spotted owl from extinction, Oregon Wild has safeguarded unique wildlife and the habitat they need to survive.

Under the new leadership of Shlaes, the organization is poised to move forward with several exciting campaigns. As the 111th Congress winds down, Oregon Wild has two pieces of legislation ready to pass into law and two others that stand on the precipice. The proposed 30,000-acre Devil’s Staircase Wilderness outside of Eugene and the Wild & Scenic Molalla River bill have both passed out of the House and await a final vote in the Senate. The Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old-Growth Protection, and Jobs Act has been the subject of two committee hearings in the Senate and final language is currently in the works. The bill would refocus the U.S. Forest Service toward protecting ancient forests and restoring degraded landscapes across 8.3 million acres of federal land. Finally, a proposal to protect 58,000 acres of Wilderness along the famed Rogue River stands primed for introduction in Congress. In an historic development, the proposed Wilderness is not opposed by the major timber industry lobby group and has widespread support from local businesses that benefit from the salmon, outdoor recreation, and tourism economies that the Rogue River supports.

“Many problems stand in the way of Oregon’s environmental health,” added Shlaes. “In comparison to neighboring states, we’ve protected relatively little Wilderness; we’re struggling to learn how to share our land with species critical to environmental health like the returning gray wolf, and continued logging of the little old-growth forests which remain threatens our ability to defend against climate change. We need to work to protect these fragile places to ensure resiliency in an uncertain future, and to pass on our most vital legacy to future generations.”

In terms of public lands protection, Oregon lags far behind its neighbors. Only 4% of Oregon’s land is protected as Wilderness (the highest level of federal protection) compared to 11% in Washington, 14% in California, and 8% in Idaho.

The transition in leadership at Oregon Wild also affords the opportunity to look back on Regna Merritt’s accomplishments in her time with the organization. Starting as the coordinator of the Adopt-a-Grove ancient forest program in 1991, Merritt played a pivotal role in organizing support for the ultimately successful campaign to designate the Opal Creek Wilderness. Merritt also worked with local activists to secure federal protection for Portland’s one-of-a-kind drinking water source, the Bull Run Watershed. Under her leadership, Oregon Wild led the nationwide charge to enact the 2001 Roadless Rule that safeguarded 2 million acres of pristine National Forest land in Oregon and 58 million acres across the country.

More recently, Merritt celebrated with Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Earl Blumenauer as the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act passed in March 2009. The decade-long campaign saw 127,000 of Wilderness and 80 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers protected around Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge.

“Clean drinking water, magnificent forests, homes for wildlife – these are the things that have shaped my life’s work,” said Merritt. “As I step away from my leadership role, I’m excited to see Oregon Wild and Oregonians more dedicated than ever to protecting our special state.”

Read Scott Shlaes’ bio on the Oregon Wild website.

Meet Scott and see the unveiling of the winners of the Oregon Wild Outdoor Photo Contest at the Oregon Wild Open House on October 20, 2010 at the Portland Japanese Garden.

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