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Support the RMS Alaska Chapter by meeting and voting for your new slate of chapter officers!

The polls are open through June 9. Vote here!

President - David W. Schade, MPA

Dave is Director of the Division of Agriculture in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. In his role as Director, Dave supervises the Division’s programs around the State of Alaska. This includes the Northern Latitude Plant Materials Center and offices in Palmer and Fairbanks. Dave is a life-long Alaskan who was raised on the family homestead East of Homer, where he attended grades 1-12, graduating from Homer High School in 1977. Dave has a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Idaho (1982) and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Alaska, Anchorage (1994).

Prior to taking the position of Director, Dave was Chief of the Water Resources Section in the Division of Mining, Land and Water from November 2012 to January 2019; and prior to that was Navigability Subunit Manager in the Public Access Assertion and Defense Unit (PAAD) where he had served since returning to State service in 2008.

Dave is currently an Alaska representative on the Western States Water Council, on the Association of Western States Engineers (President in 2016), President of the Alaska Chapter of the River Management Society, President of the Alaska Farmers Union; and the President of the Eagle River Valley Community Council.

Dave continues to participate in the running of the family’s ranch in Homer, Alaska; as well as boating and flying when time allows.

Vice President - Cassie Thomas 

Cassie has been a member of RMS since its creation after the merger two pre-existing national river management organizations in the early 1990s, a life member since 2003, and has previously served as a chapter officer positions in the Northeast and Alaska. With an educational background in oceanography and environmental law, her focus turned to freshwater systems when she found herself working on a river protection plan (Westport River, MA) in 1984. She has experience on staff at two river conservation organizations, numerous state conservation agencies, and worked at the National Park Service for 27 years until she retired in spring 2018. She lives in Anchorage with her pilot-turned-teacher husband Russ, and two dogs.

Secretary - Sharon Seim

Sharon is currently the Wilderness and Trails Program Manager for the Alaska Region of the U.S. Forest Service. A wildlife biologist by training, Sharon has worked for a variety of agencies on diverse public land management concerns including wildlife management, subsistence resources, realty issues, wetlands, wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, and land management planning. Sharon has spent more than 20 years of her career in Alaska, but has also lived and worked throughout the western U.S. including California, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, and Utah.

Voting is open here through June 9, 2019. Thank you for supporting your RMS Alaska Chapter!