Executive Director:
Aaron Megquier Aaron grew up in the Bangor area, in a family that loved Baxter State Park and introduced him to it at an early age. He first climbed Katahdin, via the Saddle Trail, at age six, and started making annual trips into the Russell Pond area with his family two years later. Backpacking, fly fishing, nature observation, canoeing, and the occasional bushwhack were staples of his early experiences in the park. Baxter State Park quickly became his favorite place to be, and that's still true three decades later. He graduated from Colby College with a degree in biology, and then earned a master's degree in conservation biology and sustainable development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent eight years working in the Maine land trust community. Aaron enjoys helping people connect with nature, and has a particular love for introducing children to the outdoors. He is a Registered Maine Guide, with licenses in recreation and sea kayaking. Aaron and his wife Ashley live in Belmont with daughters Rowan and Retta.
Board:
Henry Beeuwkes is a long-time supporter of Baxter State Park. He grew up spending summers at his family’s camp on Togue Pond, a camp established in the 1920’s by his grandfather, Tom Clark. Tom inspired a love of the Katahdin wilderness and a respect for nature that has been passed down through five generations of his large family. Since Henry retired as an IT educational director, he has refocused his efforts to volunteering in the Maine outdoors. He is currently active with Maine Handicapped Skiing and Friends of Baxter State Park. When he is not skiing, biking, hiking or kayaking in Maine, he enjoys foreign travel. His family includes his wife Peg, daughter Claire and son-in-law Oliver. Henry and Peg reside in Saco.
Lindsay Bourgoine completed her tenth winter climbing trip with her father to Mt. Katahdin this February. After visiting the park in the summer months as a child, both with her family and at nearby Camp Natarswi, she wanted to see the Knife’s Edge with snow, and started attending the four day trip with her father and his buddies. Although there is no record, Lindsay would like to think that perhaps she is the youngest female to summit in full winter conditions, at 15. After growing up in Readfield, Lindsay attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY where she received a B.A. in Environmental Science and Geology. She spent her summers working at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s huts in the White Mountain National Forest. Lindsay currently works full time for the AMC in Portland as the Maine Policy Associate, focusing on land conservation policy and advocacy. Lindsay lives in Portland.
Gary Friedmann Gary is a lifelong outdoorsman, enjoying wilderness experiences in Maine and Alaska, where he worked as an exploration geologist. Since 1982 Gary has been working in the nonprofit sector, assisting conservation groups and other organizations with fundraising and development projects in every county in Maine. He has served on the staff of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and consulted with many local land conservation trusts. Gary chaired the Bar Harbor Conservation Commission for nine years, currently serves on the Bar Harbor Town Council and is on the board of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections. He has hiked, paddled, skied and bicycled throughout Maine, and spends much of his free time exploring Acadia National Park. Gary’s devotion to Baxter State Park began with a college camping trip in the fall of 1977. Family camping and canoe trips followed, then backpacking and climbing many of the peaks, including climbing Katahdin on every trail. Most recently, Gary has enjoyed the newest addition to the Park, the area around Katahdin Lake. Gary lives in Bar Harbor with his wife, Glenon, where they have raised their daughters and operate Bar Harbor Community Farm.
Alec Giffen Alec is a Fellow with The Clean Air Task Force, focused on the role that forests can play to mitigate global warming. He is also the New England Forestry Foundation's representative in Maine. As Maine Forest Service Director Alec served on the Baxter State Park Authority. He also served as Director of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, with the Natural Resource Planning Division of the Maine State Planning Office, and founded the consulting firm Land & Water Associates that resolved disputes over land management and facility licensing. He has a Master of Science in ecology and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Science. Alec is an avid outdoorsman, a licensed professional forester and a registered Maine guide. After years of stories of family trips to Baxter, Alec got to the Park in the early '60s on a family backpack from Katahdin Stream to South Branch and has continued trips to the Park since. In speeches he often cites Governor Baxter's achievement in creating the Park and finds it particularly remarkable that Baxter included both wildlands and scientific forestry. Alec and wife Diane live in Chelsea.
John Loyd is an attorney with Eaton Peabody with offices in Bangor, Brunswick, Augusta, and Ellsworth. He lives in South Harpswell. John served on the Baxter State Park Advisory Committee for 15 years including two years as Chair. After leaving the Advisory Committee, he continued to serve on the Park's Finance and Reservations Committees and to volunteer in the Park. John is currently a member of the Park’s Investment Committee. He has been a frequent user of the Park including winter climbing. He and wife Susan have climbed Katahdin many times in all seasons but spend more time in the more remote northern areas of the Park. John was a founding member of Friends and served on the FBSP Board and Policy Committee from April 2004 to 2006. He served on the Friends' Nominating Committee for the 2012 Board election.
Jill Ippoliti is recently retired from the State of Maine after 22 years with the Legislative Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, primarily as staff to the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. Jill has bachelor degrees in psychology and forestry and a masters degree in agricultural and resource economics. She grew up in Millinocket and now lives in Winthrop. Despite growing up in the shadow of Katahdin, Jill didn't start hiking seriously in the Park until first climbing Katahdin while in college. Hiking then became her primary recreation. She has since hiked extensively in the Park including an annual trip with friends from central Maine. Jill is a long-time member of Friends of Baxter State Park, has attended a number of Annual Meetings, Walks in the Park, and other Friends’ events. She serves on the Friends' Policy Committee and attended the Board retreat focused on strategic planning. Jill is a member of the Winthrop Conservation Commission and the Kennebec Land Trust.
Al Howlett, Treasurer, has been climbing Katahdin since he was a boy. He had a career in international development that started with the Peace Corps in Chile as a forestry volunteer, then with the United Nations in Brazil and Paraguay, and for 27 years with the World Bank in Washington, DC. Al and his wife, Lois, have two grown children. They live in Yarmouth, where Lois works as a yoga instructor and naturalist. Al is President of Maine's Sister State Program with Rio do Grande do Norte, Brazil, and he sits on Yarmouth’s Recycling Committee. Al and Lois enjoy outdoor activities, including gardening, biking and hiking - but none more than their trips to the unsurpassed beauty of the wilderness of Baxter State Park.
Anne Huntington recently sold her successful Huntington Bread business. Anne has taught local and natural history at the Wayne Elementary School. Anne is a member of the Maine bar, although she does not currently practice law. She serves on the Wayne Zoning Board of Appeals. Some of her earliest memories are of watching the wind sweep snow off the summit of Baxter Peak from the very drafty windows of the farm in Patten where she lived before she started school. Her family continues to return to the Park frequently, and she always looks forward to the early morning discussions with the moose from the far back corner of the Chimney Pond lean-to. She has 3 children and lives in Wayne with her husband Jon. Anne is a FBSP Founding Member, and has previously served on the FBSP board for six years. She was active on the Membership Activities Committee and chair of the Policy Committee
Dick Klain, Secretary, is a past educator in various communities in Maine and currently works part time as a technician aboard the US EPA research vessel Bold. He first visited Baxter State Park as part of his Junior Maine Guide training at Camp Buckskin in Franklin, ME. While at the Park he was “recruited” by a young ranger named “Buzz” to help put down a lightening-caused conflagration somewhere in the Park. After a fast ride in the back of a pick-up and a faster hike with an indian pump on his back, the fire was soon put out. The next day, he climbed to Baxter Peak. He has been hooked ever since. For many years, he made it a point to climb Mt. Katahdin at least once a year. He created a hiking program for kids and has hiked the Hundred Mile Wilderness several times as well as many other sections of the AT. After marriage and children, other areas of the Park were explored more fully. When his children come home, one of their favorite places to visit is Baxter State Park. While an educator, Dick was a 25-year member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Conservation School at Bryant Pond, serving in a variety of capacities. He was also active in several professional organizations at the state, national and international level. He enjoys travel, photography, reading, hiking, and sailing. He and his wife of 36 years, Ellen, live in Falmouth.
Charlie Jacobi is a natural resource specialist at Acadia National Park. His focus is visitor use issues. He has worked for the NPS since 1982. His responsibilities include identifying and facilitating needed visitor impact and social science research, monitoring visitor use numbers and behaviors for the park, mitigating visitor impacts to natural resources, Leave No Trace education, and contributing to a variety of park planning efforts. He has worked on the development of park management plans for Isle au Haut, the carriage roads, rock climbing, hiking trails, and commercial services. Charlie previously served on the board of Friends of Baxter State Park for eight years, including three years as President. He lives in Bar Harbor.
Bob Johnston is a geologist with the Maine Geological Survey, Maine Department of Conservation. He has been with the Department for over 31 years, first as a cartographer and then as a geologist. He was involved in the production of the new Maine Geological Survey publication on the geology of Baxter State Park. Bob gives interpretive geology talks in Maine State Parks and for the last two years has led the geology hike up Mt. Katahdin for the Friends of Baxter’s Maine Youth Wilderness Leadership Program. His first visits to Baxter State Park took place in the mid-1970’s when he moved to Maine after college. He has hiked almost all the trails in the Park. Bob is a long time age group, high school and college swim coach and is an active masters swimmer. He lives in Vassalboro with wife Mary Ellen and has twin daughters in college in Maine.
Jaime Renaud is a former Registered Nurse. Along with her husband, Paul, she now owns the Appalachian Trail Lodge & Cafe in Millinocket, a local business that supports hikers that come to the Katahdin region. After working in Maine as a Travel RN and hiking in Maine with Paul on the Appalachian Trail as he completed his Appalachian Trail hike, “I saw Katahdin and knew I wanted to live here”. Jaime is active in the community as a Katadin Area Chamber of Commerce board member and co-founder of the annual Trails End Festival. Jaime has also started a local hiking club of women who have no hiking experience and have hiked trails in Baxter State Park and along the Appalachian Trail in the 100 mile wilderness. She has volunteered with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in the visitor center at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and as a trail maintainer. She enjoys reading, long walks in the woods and traveling with her husband.
Jym St. Pierre has visited Baxter Park scores of times since the 1960s as well as being involved in Park policy issues and additions to the Park. He participated in the organizational meetings of FBSP and is a charter member. Jym earned BA and MPS degrees at UMaine. He has held senior positions in Maine in the Dept. of Conservation, The Wilderness Society, and Sierra Club. Jym has been involved in many organizations and was founding director or chair of several including Citizens to Protect the Allagash, Maine Conservation Voters, Maine Forest Biodiversity Project, Kennebec Land Trust, and Capital Area Camera Club. Since 1995, he has been Maine Director of RESTORE: The North Woods. A Maine native, Jym is a published author, an award-winning photographer, and a poet. He has served on the FBSP board since 2009. He currently chairs the Policy Committee.
Mike Stillman learned about Baxter Park early in his work life. Volunteering with the Student Conservation Association in 1987 gave him his first exposure to this unique park. He was the Assistant Trail Crew leader for a number of years and with this experience went on to serve as a team leader for the Maine Conservation Corps, Maine Appalachian Trail Club, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mike feels he owes the park and the people who work there a huge debt of gratitude for helping him gain confidence, management skills, and logistical training at a young age. Skills that he continues to use every day, making the park a big part of who he is today. Mike would like to see Friends increase the size and age diversity of our membership and help provide the same opportunities that he had at a young age. The opportunity to learn and develop in one of the most beautiful places on earth is one we should protect and make available to as many people as possible. Mike Stillman lives in Farmington with his wife Carmen and four dogs.
Milton Wright is a former teacher and teacher advocate who retired as Executive Director of the Maine Education Association. He has served as President of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club which oversees the maintenance of the 270 miles of the A.T. from Grafton Notch to Katahdin. He served for many years as Chair of the Readfield Planning Board and then as Chair of the Readfield Select Board. Milt has served on many boards including Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed, Training and Development Corporation, Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, Fee Arbitration Panel of the Board of Overseers of the Maine Bar, Readfield Trails Committee, Old Fort Western and Readfield Union Meeting House. Milt first summited Kathadin in 1949 at age 10 with his father and a sister and went on to summit Katahdin for 57 consecutive years. It isn’t only Katahdin, but the beauty of the rest of the park and its wildness that holds his fascination. Milt lives in a circa 1791 house in Readfield, Maine.