MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Board of Directors have chosen nonprofit and conservation leader Chris Knopf as its new executive director, effective September 11. Knopf succeeds Paul Danicic who led the organization between 2009 and mid-2017.

“We are thrilled to share that Chris will be leading the Friends,” said Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Board Chair, Dan Pauly. “He has an accomplished history of nonprofit leadership paired with a legacy of protecting public lands and advocating on behalf of our wild places.”

The announcement of this leadership change comes at an important time for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and Quetico-Superior ecosystem. The ecosystem faces real and significant threats from sulfide mining, which risks polluting more than a million acres of wilderness visited by hundreds of thousands of people annually. In addition to mining, the organization is also working to grow programs that connect people of all backgrounds to the BWCAW as well as support a robust, sustainable wilderness economy in Northeastern Minnesota.

“The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is important to so many of us and is a place where I’ve always found beauty, rejuvenation, and solitude,” said Knopf. “I’m honored to be entrusted with building on the rich organizational history of wilderness protection and conservation leadership at the Friends.”

Knopf brings a unique blend of life and work experiences to lead the organization. Most recently, he served as a principal at Blue Green Solutions, a consulting firm that works with public agencies, tribes, and nonprofits to protect land and water resources. In addition, Knopf worked as a major gifts officer with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation and the Ohio Office Director of The Trust for Public Land. He is also a licensed attorney.

You visit the Friends of the Boundary Waters website by following this link.

http://friends-bwca.org