Board of Directors

Stan Stephens, President
Valdez, Alaska

Stan Stephens is a leader in Alaska’s tourist industry. He owns one of Alaska’s largest 100% Alaska-owned tourist businesses--Stan Stephens Cruises--which runs boat tours of Prince William Sound from Valdez. For the last thirty years, Stan has witnessed the persistent degradation of Alaska’s wildlife populations and wilderness from clearcuts, oil spills, and tanker traffic. Stan recently completed his second term as President of the Regional Citizens Advisory Committee, mandated by the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990 to oversee oil industry operations in Port Valdez, the location of TAPS marine terminal and tanker loading facility. Environmental activists, the business community, and government officials consider Stan one of the leaders of Alaska’s environmental community. Stan is a founding member of the Board.

Dave Lacey, Vice President
Fairbanks, Alaska

Dave Lacey has been a Fairbanks resident and citizen watchdog of the trans-Alaska pipeline for over 20 years. His professional life is devoted to working with Native Alaskans in the Interior. For the last fifteen years, Dave has served as the General Manager of Dinyee, a Native Village Corporation formed by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Dinyee lands surround the trans-Alaska pipeline in the vicinity of the Yukon River crossing. In addition to management and administration, Dave runs Yukon River Tours, a Native business offering cultural and recreational tours of Stevens Village and the Yukon River. In addition to the Alaska Forum, Dave keeps busy spending as much time as he can with his two sons, skiing and other outdoor activities, and volunteering with several other organizations. Dave is a founding member of the Alaska Citizens Transportation Coalition, and for the last thirteen years has been the volunteer producer-host for the popular Any Old Time and KUAC Oldies radio programs on Fairbanks public radio station KUAC FM. Dave was elected to the Board in November 1997.

Dan Lawn, Secretary and Treasurer
Valdez, Alaska

Dan Lawn is an environmental engineer who worked on design and construction of the Valdez Marine Terminal and then joined the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation as one of the first inspectors of terminal and tanker operations. He was the first regulator notified the night the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef. For over ten years before the spill, Dan documented the failures of the oil industry to follow-through on their commitments to prevent spills and to adequately prepare for clean-ups, and warned the state about the potential for a major disaster in Prince William Sound. For his efforts, Dan was harassed, intimidated, and wrongfully demoted by the state. Dan was featured in the PBS Frontline documentary "Anatomy of an Oil Spill" which investigated the complicity of the state and federal agencies’ with regulatory oversight of the pipeline in the events leading up to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was also the hero of the HBO movie "Dead Ahead," about the Exxon Valdez tragedy and the feeble efforts of the oil industry to respond to the crisis. Dan has a B.S. in natural resources engineering from Humboldt State University. He is a founding member of the Board.

Walt Parker
Anchorage, Alaska

Walt Parker has a long history of involvement in environmental issues in Alaska, particularly as a watchdog of Alaska’s oil industry. During the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Walt worked for the newly formed State Pipeline Coordinator’s Office. From 1989 to 1990, he served as Chair of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission which investigated the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Walt is a former Professor of regional and urban planning, public administration, and political science at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He has served on a variety of state and federal bodies, currently serves as Chairman of the Alaska Hazardous Substances Spill Technology Review Council, and last year was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and the American delegation to the U.N. Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. Walt helped found some of Alaska’s original environmental organizations, including Trustees for Alaska, Alaska Conservation Society, and the Alaska Center for the Environment. Walt was elected to the Board in December 1995.

Riki Ott
Cordova, Alaska

As a fisherman and scientist, Riki Ott has watched the destruction of fish habitat and decline of fish catches that result from oil spills and irresponsible timber harvest practices along fish streams. She is the founder and a director of the Copper River Watershed Project; serves as the chair of the Habitat Committee of United Fishermen of Alaska; is a former board member of the Alaska Clean Water Alliance; and was formerly the founder and President of the Oil Reform Alliance, a coalition of commercial fishing and environmental groups formed to increase oil spill prevention and response measures after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In 1994, Riki received the Alaska Conservation Foundation's Celia Hunter Award for exemplary voluntary service to the environmental movement in Alaska. Riki has a PhD in marine pollution from the University of Washington, and co-owned and operated a fishing business on Prince William Sound for nearly ten years. Riki is currently an environmental consultant and activist, and free-lance artist. Riki is a founding member of the Board.