Who We Are

Katmai Conservancy is a proud, official nonprofit partner of Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Our Vision

Katmai Conservancy works for the day when Katmai National Park and all public lands are understood and appreciated, preserved and conserved, and enjoyed by all.

Our Approach

Our Mission

Katmai Conservancy supports the preservation of Katmai National Park and Preserve, its unique ecosystems, scenic character, and associated natural and cultural resources by promoting greater public interest, appreciation, and support through education, interpretation, and research.

Katmai Conservancy works in partnership with Katmai National Park and Preserve to support and protect Katmai.  Our goal is to help the National Park Service:

• Preserve this unique part of Alaska
• Provide extraordinary opportunities for visitor experiences and compatible traditional uses
• Be an active partner with its communities

We will coordinate and work with the park and its management to determine how Katmai Conservancy can best help the park and how funds raised by Katmai Conservancy may be utilized by the park.

Our Story

Board of Directors

Katmai Conservancy’s Board of Directors is responsible for long-range planning, fundraising priorities and financial and programmatic oversight for the organization. They also work with our park partners to protect and preserve Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Barbara Muhlbeier

President

Barbara Muhlbeier is a retired attorney, residing in Bellingham, Washington.  She was formerly in-house counsel for Pinnacle Financial Partners based in Nashville, Tennessee.  Barbara has been active for over 20 years in non-profit organizations devoted to supporting public lands, including serving four terms on the board of the Great Smoky Mountains Association and six years on the board of the Public Lands Alliance.

David Cary, PHD

Secretary

David Cary served as a professor of Finance at California State University, Northridge for over a quarter of a century. Dave’s passport shows his love of traveling in general, with stamps from six of the seven continents. But his true love is Alaska, where he has visited almost every year for the past 25 years.  Of all his Alaskan destination, Dave’s favorite is Katmai National Park. He has shot thousands of photographs, some of which were displayed at the Alaska Air lounge in Los Angeles for three months in 2011.

Ellis Bacon

Treasurer

Ellis S. Bacon received his BS and PhD from the University of Tennessee studying perception and behavior of the American black bear, and raising two black bear cubs during his four-years of research in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  He was the director of the Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont for five years.   In 1982, he founded the South’s Finest Chocolate Factory in Knoxville, Tennessee. During his 30 years as a chocolatier (wholesale/retail/manufacturer) Ellis continued his environmental pursuits as a long term board member of the Great Smoky Mountains Association, board member and treasurer of the Public Lands Alliance, and research adjunct at the University of Tennessee.

Diane Chung

Vice President

Diane Chung served as the Superintendent at Katmai National Park and Preserve from 2013-2016. The Katmai Conservancy was created during her tenure at Katmai, with Diane playing a significant role in promoting the need for a non-profit park partner.   She is currently maintaining her connection to the park as a board member of the Conservancy in order to assist in the growth of this organization.

Andria Agli

Board Member

Carl Chapman

Board Member 

Carl Chapman is a dedicated conservationist of wild places. Carl’s dedication to natural habitats started as a child, growing up in rural Yosemite. Here he experienced unspoiled nature daily and witnessed the impact of over visitation. After his first visit to Katmai, Carl fell in love with the 6400 square miles of pristine habitat that comprise the park. His goal for Katmai is to influence proper funding and secure policy that assures that Katmai is not “Loved to Death”.  Carl’s professional career has spanned television, film, education and digital marketing.

 

Mike Fitz

Board Member

Mike began his career working with public lands in 2000 as an intern with the Bureau of Land Management at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (now part of Jurassic National Monument). Since then, he’s worked as National Park Service ranger at nine parks, most extensively at Katmai where he interacted with thousands of people who visited to watch bears, fish for trout, and explore the surrounding wild lands. From 2013 – 2016, he was Katmai National Park’s media ranger. Mike is the author of The Bears of Brooks Falls: Wildlife and Survival on Alaska’s Brooks River, blogs at FitzNaturalist.com, and continues to share his love of Katmai’s bears and nature everywhere as the resident naturalist with explore.org.

Guy Runco

Executive Director

Guy is extremely passionate about Katmai National Park and Preserve, having been fortunate to visit on many occasions. First and foremost, he recognizes that the Park and Preserve is located on the traditional homelands of several Indigenous groups and is grateful for their past and present stewardship of its land, wildlife, and habitats since time immemorial. He will work in earnest alongside community partners, Park staff, the broader interested public, and the Katmai Conservancy Board to realize the organization’s vision, mission, and goals, which all focus on preserving this unique and sacred place, its wildlife and ecosystems, scenic character, and unparalleled natural and cultural resources.

Sara Wolman

Media Specialist

Become a Friend and Protect the Future

Your support will help the Katmai Conservancy and Katmai National Park accomplish research, education, and visitor service priorities.  Donate today, and help support Katmai National Park.

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