October 25, 2020
Contact: Mark Taylor, Trout Unlimited, mark.taylor@tu.org
ARLINGTON, Va.—Trout Unlimited welcomed seven new members to its Board of Trustees at its recent annual meeting. The new board members bring a mix of conservation and communications expertise, fishing industry experience, legal acumen, and a passion for Trout Unlimited’s work.
“Our new board members bring an enormous amount of talent and dedication to our Board of Trustees. I look forward to working closely with each of them as we continue our mission of protecting and restoring our nation’s trout and salmon and the watersheds on which they depend,” said Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited’s president and CEO.
The new board members are:
Josh Crumpton, Wimberley, Texas. Josh is a 7th generation Texan who was raised spending equal time in Telluride, Colo., and the Texas Hill Country. He is the owner and operator of Spoke Hollow Outfitters, and the primary steward of Spoke Hollow Ranch. Josh is a skier, angler and huntsman, with a passion for being in the outdoors, and he has a calling to share his knowledge and joy with others. He is the product of a skipped generation when it comes to the outdoor sportsman life. His grandfather, James A. Joy, “The Judge,” was an avid outdoorsman and spent most of his life planning for his next hunting and fishing adventure. Josh fondly remembers holidays at The Judge’s house, which were filled with wild game and line-caught fish. Josh’s grandfather passed before the tradition could be handed down and his own father was not interested in sporting pursuits. But that did not stop Josh from pursing his sportsman life. At the age of 12, Josh picked up a fly rod and taught himself to fish on the San Miguel River in Telluride. Since then, Josh has enjoyed fly fishing every chance he can get, from rivers in Northern Idaho to the Texas coast. In his 30s, Josh began to pursue shooting and hunting sports. When he married Jeanie they started spending time at Spoke Hollow Ranch and exploring sustainable farming practices. This journey to acquire knowledge of self-sufficient life practices ignited a fire for Josh to harvest his own wild game. Once that journey began, his pursuit for knowledge and practical application of hunting and conservation was all-encompassing.
Josh spent part of his life in the culinary world through restaurant ownership, and this background set the stage for a major “light bulb” moment when he harvested his first large game. A sense of satisfaction enveloped his life when he was able to bring his harvest to the dinner table. He was flooded with memories of his youth and his grandfather, and a sense of honor and satisfaction knowing that a tradition was being carried on. He feels there is a true connection to the natural cycle that comes from bringing your own protein to the table and helping build a sustainable environment for that activity. His mission is to share that feeling and knowledge with others. Josh is teaching his own children how to hunt and fish so another generation is not skipped. He believes that through these modalities we can all gain an appreciation of the natural world that will lead to us being the best stewards possible. It is this core belief that drives him to assist others along their outdoor path. Whether you are a skilled hunter/angler, or whether you are the product of a skipped generation or outdoor sporting is not in your family history at all, Josh is excited to help build an outdoor legacy.
R. Joseph De Briyn, Los Angeles, Calif. Since 1985, Joe has been the Managing Partner of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP, a California law firm. He began his legal practice in 1973 in San Francisco and joined Musick, Peeler in Los Angeles in 1979. He became a partner in 1981 and was elected managing partner in 1985. Under Joe’s leadership, Musick, Peeler significantly expanded, opening offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Ventura County, Santa Barbara, and Costa Mesa. The firm is a traditional, general practice partnership representing a large and diverse clientele.
Joe matriculated in 1970 from Santa Clara University with a B.S. degree in Economics with honors and in 1973 with a J.D. degree from its law school. His experience includes working as corporate outside general counsel for many successful enterprises: Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., The Sullivan Companies, Royal Insurance Co., Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc., Mutual Protection Trust, Southwest Water Company (formerly a NASDAQ company), The John Wayne Cancer Institute, Woodbury University, J. G. Boswell Company and Worldwide Facilities, Inc. Joe is a member of the California Bar, L.A. County Bar Association, and the L.A. Chancery Club, and a fellow of the American Bar Association. He is admitted to practice law in California, in addition to several Federal District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal throughout the country. From 2010 to 2019, Joe was Chairman of The Jackson Hole One Fly and has served on many other boards, in both the for-profit and the nonprofit sectors. Joe has been a trustee of Woodbury University, and L.A.’s Catholic Education Foundation. He was formerly a member of Santa Clara Law School’s advisory board and served three years on the Civil Justice Association of California board. He also served on the Team USA Fly Fishing Board. Joe is a member of the California Club, where he was President in 2009 and 2010. An avid golfer and fly fisherman, Joe has competed in, and won many amateur golf competitions, competed for Team USA in the World Fly Fishing Championships in 1996, 2000 and 2002, and has won individual honors in the One Fly contest several times.
Paul Doscher, Weare, N.H. Paul retired as the vice president for land conservation at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the state’s largest land trust and conservation organization. He is also the owner of Windcrest Farm, a certified tree farm and Christmas tree farm in Weare, N.H. Paul has served at all levels of the Trout Unlimited, having formerly served as the council chair and NLC representative for the New Hampshire Council as well as secretary for the NLC from 2014-2018. In 2013, he was the recipient of Trout Unlimited’s Ray Mortensen award, the highest award for volunteer leadership. Paul has more than 30 years of experience in land conservation and is a published author of numerous articles and land trust publications, among others.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Environmental Sciences from Miami University (Ohio). He has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the New Hampshire Audubon Society, of which he is a current trustee.
Peter Grua, Boston, Mass. Peter Grua is a managing partner at HLM Venture Partners (“HLM”), a Boston-based, venture capital investment firm focused on the healthcare industry. Peter is passionate about investing with entrepreneurs eager to transform healthcare by improving the consumer and caregiver experience while increasing quality and reducing costs. His investment activities center on technology-enabled health services and digital health businesses. Currently, Peter is on the board of directors of several HLM Venture Partners portfolio companies including: CityLife Health, Innovacare Health, Linkwell Health, MeQuilibrium, Oceans Healthcare and OnShift. Prior to joining HLM in 1992, Peter was a managing director at Alex Brown & Sons, an investment banking firm, where he directed equity research on health care services and managed care companies.
During his career, he has also served on five public company boards including: Atria Communities, The Advisory Board, Evolent Health, Health Care REIT (now called Welltower), and Renal Care Group. Peter is a graduate of Bowdoin College and holds a MBA from Columbia University. Peter and his wife, Mary O’Connell, live in Boston, except in the summer months when they enjoy sharing their home on Nantucket with their many nieces and nephews. Peter is an avid fly fisherman and has traveled extensively in the pursuit of trout of all kinds.
Chris Hill, Haines, Alaska / Washington, D.C. Chris Hill has a deep desire for social justice and a passion for the outdoors. She has been an avid adventurer since she was young, engaging in backpacking, climbing and snowboarding adventures all around the world. Chris’ passion for fly fishing started with her first lesson on the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Her passion has since taken her all over to fish from the remote rivers of Alaska to the tropical waters of Belize to the small streams in Shenandoah National Park. As an environmental lobbyist for the past decade and currently an associate campaign director at Sierra Club, Chris’ desire for a just, equitable and sustainable future, one in which all people benefit from clean air, clean water and have access to the outdoors is rooted in community-based organizing. Chris got her start as a grassroots organizer in Appalachia working to stop mountaintop removal coal mining and advance just transition.
Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Chris earned a B.A. in broadcast communications and electronic media from Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and a J.D. from Vermont Law School. Chris is a Sierra Club Outings leader (leading fly fishing trips in Alaska), a member of the Leadership team for Artemis Sportswomen, an ambassador for WeGotNext, a board member for Alaska Wilderness League and a member of the Green Leadership Trust.
She currently splits her time between Washington, D.C., and Haines, Alaska. In 2019, Chris partnered with The Outbound to tell her story on the water. The film, “Where I belong,” was a part of this year’s Mountain Film Festival. Watch Chris’ story here.
Candice Price, Kansas City, Kan. Candice Price is an award-winning media pioneer and change agent who has led the way in defining, showcasing, and advocating for true diversity in the outdoor sports and lifestyle industry. As the founder and CEO of Urban American Productions, Candice’s vision and passion for engaging minorities in the outdoors through live events and original content in the television and new media spectrums is unmatched.
In 1999, Candice Price became the first African-American woman to executive produce an outdoor sports reality television show, Urban American Outdoors (UAO). Hosted by an African-American outdoorsman Wayne Hubbard, UAO was created to dispel the myth that black people are not nature enthusiasts. By broadcasting motion picture images showing people of various ethnic backgrounds hunting and fishing together—a concept never seen before on U.S. broadcast television—Candice Price and Wayne Hubbard struck a chord with viewers and earned their first syndication deal for UAO TV show in fall 2003. Since that time, Urban American Outdoors has received more than 70 awards. The success of Urban American Outdoors has led to a host of other programs, including Urban Kids Fish, the only national fishing derby event for inner-city youth recognized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service.
Candice has a B.A. degree in Communications from the University of Missouri – Kansas City, as well as a degree in music from the Conservatory of Music. She worked in television for over a decade and held other multimedia jobs over the years before starting her own business. She has her MBE, WBE certification and has been a Hunter Ed Certified Instructor as well as Instructor of Outdoor Safety.
Judi Sittler, State College, Pa. Judi is a retired special education teacher and psychologist. As a longtime volunteer for Trout Unlimited, Judi has a tremendous resume that includes extensive leadership in youth education and diversity work for the Pennsylvania Council. For the past decade, Judi has been an active leader and volunteer for Trout in the Classroom and has worked closely with Trout Unlimited staff at the annual TU Teen Summit since 2012. She is the current chair of the Youth Education Committee for PATU and past member of their Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is also a member of the NLC Youth Education Workgroup. In addition to her work with Trout Unlimited, she works with the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission as a Fishing Skills instructor for its Women’s Fly Fishing 101 program.
Judi holds a B.S. and M.Ed. from Pennsylvania State University as well as a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the California Graduate Institute.