MCV Board

Leslie Harroun President

Leslie Harroun (President) is Senior Program Officer at the Oak Foundation, where she has worked on climate change and marine conservation issues globally since 1998. Leslie has 20 years of experience working on environment and sustainable development issues. Prior to joining the Oak Foundation, Leslie was a Fulbright Scholar in Papua New Guinea where she chaired a national consortium engaged in protecting the intellectual, biological and cultural property rights of indigenous landowners. She also has worked for World Wildlife Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and various small law firms in Washington, DC and Cambridge, MA. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Northeastern University Law School. Leslie served on Governor Baldacci's Ocean Energy Task Force from 2009-2010; is on the board of the Biodiversity Research Institute in Gorham, ME; and is a former board member of SmartPower, the Ecologic Development Fund and the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity. She is an avid photographer and gardener and has a special interest in global warming's impact to the poles. Leslie lives in Portland.

Roger Berle Vice President

Roger Berle (Vice President) is a founding Director and current President of Oceanside Conservation Trust of Casco Bay, having represented Cliff Island on the OCT Board since 1982; also, as OCT is a member land trust of Portland North Land Trust Collaborative, Roger has chaired the PNLTC Steering Committee since its 2006 inception. He owned and operated a construction business on Cliff Island for thirty-four years but has also used the island as a base for his long-standing commitment to the permanent preservation of significant open space. Since closing his business, Roger does fundraising consulting for smaller nonprofit organizations. A former member of the Land for Maine’s Future Board (LMF), he is a Past President of Portland Trails and Past Chair of the Portland Land Bank Commission. He is also Chair of the Maine Islands Coalition, which comprises the elected representatives from the surviving fourteen year-round Maine coastal islands and which meets to address issues which affect the sustainability of these unique communities. A graduate of Bowdoin College (BA) and Boston University (MBA), he lives partly in Falmouth and partly on Cliff Island. His daughter Liz, 33, lives in San Francisco and his son, Christian, 30, lives in Washington DC.

Ralph Pope Treasurer

Ralph Pope (Treasurer) received a BA in Economics from Bowdoin College in 1969 and spent most of the following 30 years building and managing a printing company in Woburn, MA. In 2000 Ralph sold his printing company to begin an Environmental Studies Master’s program at Antioch University New England. Following his graduation from Antioch in 2003 Ralph wrote a book on alpine zone lichens and taught botany courses at Antioch until he and his wife Jean moved to Arrowsic in 2006. Ralph has served on several non-profit boards. His interests are botany, specifically cryptogrammic botany, hiking, and canoeing.

Howard Lake Secretary

Howard Lake (Secretary) grew up in Wilton, Maine and has practiced law in Winthrop since 1978. He is a graduate of Colby College (1975) and the University of Maine Law School (1978). He concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate, land conservation, estate planning and small business. He is past Chair of the Real Estate Section of the Maine State Bar Association and is an active member of the Elder Law Section. He is a founder, past President and current board member of the Kennebec Land Trust and is also on the board of the Winthrop Area Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Readfield with his wife Brenda and is the father of two young men. Despite his civic commitments, Howard prefers to hike, ski or paddle anywhere in Maine.

Caroline Pryor Chairwoman

Caroline M. Pryor (Chairwoman) has worked for 30 years in the fields of land conservation and nonprofit management. She currently works as an independent consultant to a variety of nonprofit organizations and private landowners. Her experience includes fourteen years on the staff of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine’s largest independent land conservation group, including ten years as Vice President. At the appointment of Governor McKernan, she served as a Commissioner of the Land Use Regulation Commission from 1992-1996. Caroline holds a B.Sc. in marine biology and environmental studies from McGill University. She and her husband, David MacDonald, live in the town of Mount Desert with their two children, Eliza and Jesse.

Daniel Amory Past President

Daniel Amory is an attorney with the firm of Drummond, Woodsum and McMahon in Portland. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he practices in the areas of commercial transactions, Indian gaming, and environmental law. He is Chair of the Maine State Advisory Committee of the Conservation Law Foundation and President of Waterman's Community Center on North Haven, is past President of the Board of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and has served as Treasurer of Portland Stage Company, as Chair of the Board of Harbor Commissioners for Portland Harbor, and as a member of various non-profit boards. His pleasures include sailing, cross-country skiing, gardening and history.

Brownie Carson

Everett “Brownie” Carson served as Executive Director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) for more than two and a half decades. Under his guidance, NRCM helped pass many of the state's first-in-the-nation environmental laws including expansion of Maine's Bottle Bill to include non-carbonated and alcoholic beverages, and a law requiring electronics manufacturers to collect and safely recycle toxics-laden computer monitors and television sets. In 1999, a 10-year campaign culminated in removal of the Edwards Dam from the Kennebec River, a victory secured by a coalition led by NRCM. Brownie was awarded the 2005 Down East Magazine Environmental Award, the 2005 Common Good Award from Bowdoin College, and the National Wildlife Federation's Special Achievement Award. Carson is a graduate of Bowdoin College and the University of Maine School of Law, and he served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Prior to coming to NRCM in 1983, Carson spent six years with Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which serves low-income Maine families. He enjoys sailing, hiking, and canoeing. Brownie and his wife live in Harpswell.

Peter Didisheim

Peter Didisheim is the Advocacy Director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine where he manages their legislative, public education, and advocacy programs. He was appointed by former Governor John Baldacci to serve on the Wind Power Task Force, by former Governor Angus King to serve on the Maine Environmental Priorities Council, and by the Brunswick Town Council to serve on the Brunswick Open Space Task Force. He served for 3 years in the Clinton Administration as a Special Asst. to Sec. of Energy Hazel O'Leary, and as Exec. Dir. of the Sec. of Energy Advisory Board. He served on the Clinton-Gore Presidential Transition Team, and worked for 7 years as Dep. Chief of Staff for the House Science, Space & Technology Committee and Administrative Asst. for Congressman George Brown, Jr. (D-CA). He also worked as a research associate and lobbyist for the Union of Concerned Scientists. He received his BA in biology and environmental studies from Williams College and masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He lives with his wife in Brunswick.

Karen Herold

Karen Herold is on the Maine Audubon board, where she was board chair for two years. She is the chair of MLCV’s governance committee and also serves on the Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund board. In Cumberland she was on the MSAD 51 school board, and now works with the Cumberland and Chebeague Land Trust, and on the Vernal Pool mapping project. Karen has a lifelong interest in wildlife habitat and wilderness landscapes. She is an avid hiker, canoeist, road biker, and cross country skier. She takes extended outdoor trips every year, including many paddling trips in the Canadian Arctic and "near North." She has taken many independent bicycle trips in the U.S.A. and abroad, and is always scheming the next one. She is attempting some writing and photography about the natural world. She graduated from Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School.

Sherry Huber

Sherry Huber is the Executive Director of the Maine TREE Foundation. She worked previously as the Executive Director of the Maine Waste Management Agency and as a consultant to private nonprofit organizations on fundraising and development issues. She served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1976-1982. Sherry chairs the Board of Directors of the Mainewatch Institute, is President of the Board of the Forest Society of Maine and is a Trustee of the College of the Atlantic. She is a Director of NatureServe and the Land Trust Alliance. She serves on the University of Maine School of Law Board of Visitors and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Leadership Council.

Rebecca Lambert

Rebecca Lambert recently received her master’s degree from the University of Vermont in climate, transportation and energy policy and currently works as a transportation and land use planner with the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Before attending graduate school, she worked for the Maine Energy Investment Corporation (MEIC), the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association (DLWA) and America Coming Together. An effective and tireless advocate for climate change action, Rebecca founded the Endowment Climate Action Group, which spearheaded successful student efforts to encourage UVM to adopt guidelines for voting in favor of climate change proxy resolutions, and to join the Investor Network on Climate Risk. Currently, she is on the boards of directors of the Rockefeller Family Foundation and EarthRights International.

George LaPointe

George LaPointe is currently working on regional and national marine fisheries management issues regarding catch shares, ocean energy, and fisheries allocation. He is a US Commissioner to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, on which he currently Chairs the North American Commission. He served as the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources from 1998 to January 2011, where he led the management responsibilities of the Department at local, state, regional, federal, and international levels. George formerly held the position of Director, Interstate Fisheries Management Program, with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), in Washington, D.C. from December 1994 -September 1998. Prior to this he served as the Council Liaison for the Commission from 1987-1989. George began his work on marine fisheries with the Virginia Department of Marine Resources where he served as a fishery management plan coordinator. Mr. Lapointe received his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Massachusetts and holds a M.S. in Wildlife from the University of Minnesota.

Jon Lund

Jon Lund is the publisher of the Maine Sportsman. He attended Augusta public schools, graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Law Schooland entered private law practice in Augusta in 1954. Following two years in the U.S. Army, He served on the Augusta City Council and was elected Kennebec County Attorney, a position he held for four years. Following eight years in the Maine House of Representatives and Maine Senate, he served a term as Maine Attorney General. He is a past President of both the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Civil Liberties Union. He is former chair of the Board of Trustees of the Maine State Retirement System. Mr. Lund is on the Maine Board of the Conservation Law Foundation. He retired from law practice in 1985. In 1998, he was the recipient of DownEast magazine's "Conservationist of The Year" award.

Jeff Pidot

Jeff Pidot served most of his legal career in the Natural Resources Division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office, for the last seventeen years of which he was Chief. For three years in the early 1980’s, Jeff was executive director of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission. In 2004-5, he was a visiting fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, where the focus of his work was on conservation easement issues and reforms. Jeff serves on the boards of Maine Audubon and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and has previously served on the board of the Kennebec Land Trust and other organizations. In 2007, he was recipient of NRCM’s lifetime achievement award.

Jim Wellehan

Jim Wellehan, Lewiston is the owner and CEO of the retail store, Lamey-Wellehan Shoes. Under Jim’s ownership, Lamey-Wellehan has been recognized for its environmental responsibility. It participated in the Governor’s Carbon Challenge and was recognized as the Business Leader for the Environment by Sierra Club in 2007. Wellehan stores recycle up to 95% of their waste and have also reduced their annual carbon output by 21%. A longtime environmental activist, Jim was a supporter of the state’s Cool Communities Initiatives, which encouraged municipalities to conserve energy. Prior to assuming ownership of the family business, Jim served in the army and taught in South Africa.

MCV Advisory Board