Board of Directors

Curtis went to College in Tacoma at Pacific Lutheran University majoring in Biology and Chemistry.  After considering a career in Marine Biology, he elected instead to go to Medical School at Oregon Health Sciences University.  He completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Vanderbilt and then returned to Oregon for a Nephrology fellowship with associated research experience.  After completion of training in 1982, Curtis moved to Spokane with his wife Nancy and two young children.  Initially, his primary career focus was the Medical Director of Sacred Heart’s new Kidney Transplant program and subsequently Medical Director of the constantly changing Inland Northwest Dialysis services.  After many years of caring for patients with chronic kidney disease, he retired in 2017. Curtis brings a scientific frame of mind, and a strong interest in maintaining our Priest Lake Environment.

As a business owner that relies on a natural resource within the Priest River Sub-basin, I am deeply invested in  the ecological health of the surrounding area.  My family and I live locally and regularly recreate in the surrounding mountains, forests and on its bodies of water.  Growing up in a family with a deep rooted hunting tradition, a deep connection with the natural world was fostered at a young age.  This connection had been the dominant force in my life steering me toward careers in the National Park Service, the rock climbing industry and currently as the owner/operator of Inland Northwest Fishing Guides, the manager of the Calispel Duck Club and a fisheries consultant for Seattle City Light. 

Being a person that lives in the Selkirk region, has extensive hands on wildlife and habitat management experience within that region and owns a business that relies on the natural resource within the Priest River Subbasin, I offer a unique and alternative perspective that would be beneficial to the board of the Selkirk Conservation Alliance.  I intend to be a positive force, motivating board members and inspiring local citizens to reach cooperative solutions to the ecological issues in our region.

Dr. James Lea is a recently retired neurologist who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – when not enjoying his Kalispell Bay cabin on Priest Lake. James is passionate about finding solutions for improving water quality in shallower bays like Kalispell, where he has witnessed a steady decline in near-shore water quality. James is currently working with WSU on a special study in Kalispell Bay.

I’ve always had a strong affinity for the environment.  I grew up in Spokane, but all my summers were spent on Coeur d’Alene lake, swimming, water skiing, and exploring the woods. I have a B.S. in Biology from Central Washington University where I mostly studied plant biology and forest ecology.  I then obtained another B.S. in Diagnostic Medical Sonography from Seattle University and upon graduation began a 31 year career with Kootenai Health, performing ultrasound exams and managing the echocardiology department in the Kootenai Heart Center.  I retired in 2018.  I love to spend time in north Idaho’s lovely lakes, forests and mountains, skiing, trail running , hiking and foraging for mushrooms and berries.  I hold the environment and the planet in high regard and believe we all have the responsibility of doing what we can to preserve as much of it as possible for future generations,  My husband, Randy, and I live in Coeur d’Alene and at Priest Lake during the summers at our place in Kalispell Bay. Over the 31 years that we’ve been enjoying the Priest Lake area, I have become aware of the deterioration of the lake’s condition and the health of our surrounding forests.  I am so excited to be involved with SCA and get back to cultivating my true passion of studying and protecting nature, and giving back to the region I have grown to love.

Native to North Idaho, Jeremy Patterson has explored many of the rivers, lakes, mountains that make our region special. He knows how precious these resources are and believes that people only protect the things they know and love.

Passionate about entire ecosystems, Jeremy’s primary focus is on healthy fisheries. As a local fly fishing Outfitter and Guide on Priest Lake and Priest River, he uses every opportunity to show locals and visitors the unique diversity of our region. He blends his business and personal life in every way, living on the Priest River; the very river he learned to fly fish as a young boy.

Jeremy is also a Journeyman Electrician with over 15+ years of experience on diverse commercial and residential projects. He enjoys traveling the world with a fly fishing rod in hand and meeting guides and outfitters who are dedicated to protecting waters worldwide. He maintains a commitment to volunteerism and has helped build a solar system for a small, rural school in rural Kenya and has also helped with the Spokane River Keepers sediment study. He loves animals, is a vegetarian, and loves to roll up his sleeves on projects he’s passionate about.

As an individual with a personal history in the Selkirks and professional background as a fisheries biologist in the Priest/Pend Oreille watersheds, I was excited to join the SCA in December of 2023.

I have a strong passion for conservation. For wild fish, wilder places, and the idea of wilderness. Having grown up in a small eastern Washington state farming community, my passion for all things outdoors began from infancy. This passion led me to pursue a career in the outdoors and eventually to a B.S. in Biology from Eastern Washington University, graduating in 2017.

My career has taken me to the Upper Columbia River, serving for several years as a fisheries biologist working with the threatened Upper Columbia White Sturgeon population. Currently I work in the Pend Oreille and Priest River drainages, with Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout populations found therein. My focus is largely on the preservation and conservation of native fish species through habitat restoration and population connectivity.

Outside of work my personal passions are backpacking, hunting, fishing, rafting and wilderness. Foraging for wild mushrooms, running rivers and exploring untrailed mountain basins are what fuel me.

With these skills and passions I hope to contribute to the mission of the SCA. To conserve what we have for the enjoyment of today and the benefit for those who come tomorrow.

Jon Miller first came to Priest Lake in 1969, camping with his future wife and her family in Mosquito Bay. In 1974, the family built a small cabin in Sandpiper Shores, just north of the Thoroughfare. He and his wife began construction of their own cabin in the summer of 2019. Jon recently retired from the University of Idaho, where he spent the last 28 years of a 43-year academic career in the College of Business and Economics. Jon hopes to use his expertise in economics to advocate for preservation of the Priest Lake and greater Selkirk environment. Jon’s current Priest Lake interests include hiking, sailing, huckleberry picking, and introducing his young grandchildren to the unique Priest Lake sense of place.

Jon and his wife Mary live “off the grid” on a section of Priest River known as 8 Mile Canyon, originally purchasing acreage in 1980.  They have been inspired to apply the ethics of stewardship and preservation in managing the property.  The river has been a source of recreation and wonder, raising their children to also desire to preserve, which is being passed on to another generation (grandkids!) .  This has led to studies in forest management through the University of Idaho Master Forest Stewardship program, membership in the Idaho Forest Owners Association, and learning bio control of noxious weeds.   They have lived full time on Priest River since 2009.   Jon retired in 2017 from a career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Fly fishing has resulted in many hours wading and floating the river.  Cross country skiing is the winter activity and hiking in the summer, exploring the Selkirk range year around.   He sees the importance of seeking a balance between resource management and protection of the valuable Priest River drainage.

Jon has previous board experience through the Spokane County Community Services Administrative Board, the Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation, Pacific Northwest Nordic Competition Committee, Food Bank of Alaska Board, Cross Country Alaska and the Campbell Tract Trail Advisory Committee in Anchorage, AK.

Greetings to all concerned SCA enthusiasts: Amy’s presentation at the last Lakes Commission meeting piqued my interest in volunteering my time to help “Keeping the wild in the Selkirk ecosystem.” Now I am a supporting Board member of SCA. Let me introduce myself to you. I have been a Bonner County resident for 40 plus years, initially homesteading 20 acres south of Priest River, then owning a home in Priest River, and now I am a homeowner in Sandpoint. My two children were raised in the area camping, canoeing, and hiking mostly in the lower Selkirk Mountain ecosystem and Priest Lake Watershed. This is still how I enjoy spending my time. Early on I made a living in North Idaho as a partner in a small cooperative independently acquiring reforestation contracts with the USFS and IDL in both Bonner and Boundary County. In the winter I enjoyed supplementing that work as an employee of Schweitzer Mtn Resort. Thinking of better retirement options I went back to school and recently retired from a later in life career change as an educator teaching many grades and subjects and always enjoying the hands on time we spent outdoors. As a retiree I find I have more time to try and give back to the area I love. I am passionate and energetic in my desire to help positively affect change in our environment. I am concerned and alarmed by the way the county is developing the area and the resulting detriment to our waterways and forests. Restoring the health of the lower Priest River is especially important to me. As a board member I would hope to have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of local issues, to learn the organization’s inner workings, and support other members/volunteers with environmental causes. Currently as a “citizen scientist” I volunteer with ICL’s newly acquired Lake Pend Oreille water monitoring project (previous years I worked with LPO Water Keepers), this is my 4th year surveying bumble bees with the Pacific NW Bumble Bee project, and I have recently become involved with The Great Old Broads for Wilderness. Retirement is agreeing with me! Thank you, Pam Duquette

Stan’s academic background includes Undergraduate degrees in Education and Chemistry from CWU and Masters degrees in Environmental Science (Water Quality) and Engineering Management from WSU. His Masters degree research for the Environmental Science degree involved estimating groundwater loading of phosphorus to Liberty Lake. After completing the MS in Environmental Science (1977), Stan went to work at Spokane County on the Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.  That program is now Spokane County Water Resources. He worked in that capacity from 1983 until retirement in 2004.     

In 1985 He and his wife procured a leased lot on Cavanaugh Bay at Priest Lake. For the first decade or so due to the pristine nature of the Bay Stan only observed the quality of the lake visually. In 2012 Stan became an Idaho Master Water Steward and began collecting and testing water samples from the lake at their cabin site and in Cougar Creek just upstream from the mouth. In addition to the very limited water quality testing available through the water steward program, visual changes were also noted. First, came attached algae on the logs for the dock about 25 years ago. This coincided roughly with the appearance of 2 cycle engine personal watercraft in the mid 1990’s. Rooted aquatic plants first appeared about 5 years ago. These aquatic plants are still limited to several individual plants along our waterfront.