Staff & Board

Board of Directors

Warren Whitney, President
Bowdoinham, ME

Brandon Devito, Vice President
Saranac Lake, NY

Jess Wilson, Treasurer
Glen, NH

Zand Martin, Secretary
Cambridge, MA

Anne Brewer, Lake Placid, NY
Dan Brown, Middlebury, VT
Thomas Hark, Williston, VT
Paul Heintz, Hinesburg, VT
Kristine Keeney, Waitsfield, VT
Danny Mongo, Lake Placid, NY

Emeritus Directors

Ron Canter Rob Center • Kay Henry

Would you like to serve on our Board?

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board provides strategic direction, fiduciary oversight and governance of NFCT. If you are interested in helping shape the future of this grand adventure contact Executive Director Karrie Thomas or Governance Chair Whit Whitney for more information.

NFCT Board Responsibilities

Board Recruitment Announcement

NFCT Board Member Application

Karrie Thomas, Executive Director

Karrie joined the Northern Forest Canoe Trail team in 2014. She is inspired by connecting people to the Northern Forest through outdoor recreation and appreciates the privilege of providing stewardship and access for paddlers today and into the future. She participates in local, state and regional partnerships from New York to Maine including the VOREC Steering Committee, Maine’s High Peaks Initiative and the Coos Outdoor Recreation Value Chain Project. She grew up exploring the forests and mountains of the Northeast. Her passion for the outdoors ‐ and its capacity for recreation of the mind, body, and spirit – has its roots here. In college, she fell in love with kayaking and multi-day trips on remote waterways and has remained dedicated to rivers and river travel ever since. She enjoys combining work and pleasure exploring the northeast by paddle craft with her husband and two sons.

Phone: 802-496-2285, ext. 1
Email: [email protected]

Noah Pollock, Stewardship Director

Noah first learned about the NFCT while leading Adirondack paddling trips as a student at Cornell. In 2007 he earned a Master’s degree from the University of Vermont, completing a thesis examining the economic impact of paddlers along the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Noah was one of our first interns in 2007, and then moved on to serve as a Field Coordinator and Outreach Coordinator  assisting with intern, waterway work trip, and community outreach programs. Noah manages construction and maintenance of the trail and oversees the summer intern stewardship crew. An accomplished trail builder, community organizer and paddler, Noah also leads projects for the Vermont River Conservancy, including the Lamoille Valley Paddlers Trail and the Connecticut River Paddlers Trail.

Phone: 802-496-2285, ext. 3
Email: [email protected]

Chris Morris, Communications Director

Chris joined NFCT in August 2019 and manages communications, marketing and outreach for the organization. Chris spent his early career working in journalism for media outlets across northern New York and Vermont before transitioning into a career in marketing and communications. He worked for Adirondack Foundation for five years before launching his own consulting business, Tell Media, in 2018. He lives in Saranac Lake and spends his winter down south waiting for paddling season to start again.

Phone: 802-496-2285, ext. 4
Email: [email protected]

Marthe Peterson, Office Manager

Marthe manages the day-to-day operations of the office. She will gladly help you with your map and guidebook needs or your membership and event questions. She joined NFCT in 2015. While she is an ocean girl at heart, her interactions with the NFCT community have helped her quickly understand the draw of the Northern Forest. Marthe’s background is in corporate marketing but she much prefers managing the NFCT office and learning something new about the trail every day. Growing up on the beaches of Massachusetts and living in Bermuda for eight years, she surprisingly lives on the Mad River in Vermont with her husband, two children and so many pets.

Phone: 802-496-2285, ext. 2
Email: [email protected]

Alex Delhagen, Assistant Trail Director

Alex Delhagen is a lifelong paddler and passionate environmental advocate. He joined the NFCT team in 2023 after spending time working for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, and Rocky Mountain Field Institute, among other organizations, and volunteering with conservation groups in South America. Alex believes deeply in the importance of connecting humans with the natural world, and has seen the potential of outdoor recreation to fortify such connections where they already exist and reestablish them where they have faded. He is excited to contribute his skills and expertise to further the goal of facilitating high-quality, accessible, and sustainable paddling opportunities throughout the New England region, including his home state of Vermont, where he first stepped foot in a canoe more than two decades ago. When he’s not out on the water you can find him playing guitar, reading a book, or wandering aimlessly through the closest forest.

Phone: (802) 433-3389
Email: alex@northernforestcanoetrail.org