Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (SRSRB) Members

The Snake River Region is managed by the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board, a cooperative group comprised of officials representing Walla Walla, Garfield, Asotin, Columbia, and Whitman counties. In addition, the board also includes the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and various state and federal agencies.

SRSRB Members

Whitman County

Michael Largent, County Commissioner

Michael Largent is a native Whitman County and is a fifth generation Palouse region wheat farmer. He is a graduate of WSU in accounting and finance. In addition to farming, Michael has worked for WSU in Economic Research and the Washington State Senate as a legislative aide. He was elected as County Commissioner in 2006 and represents the county on natural resource issues.

Gary Thorgaard, Citizen Member

Gary Thorgaard is a native of Portland, OR and has had a long-term interest in salmon and trout which originally developed from a love of fishing. He studied at Oregon State University in 1979. His lab at WSU has focused on genetics in trout and salmon. He has alos taught a fish biology and management course there for a number of years, which has included a field trip to the Tucannon River. Gary and his wife, Becky, live in Pullman, WA and enjoy boating, camping and sightseeing around the Northwest.

Kelly Farnsworth, Citizen Member

Asotin County

Harold Beggs, County Commissioner

Jay Holzmiller, Citizen Member

Jay W. Holzmiller's great grandparents came to Asotin County in the 1880's. Jay raises Angus Cattle and he also has a commercial tree farm. Jay has served on the Asotin County Conservation Board for fourteen years and he has also served on the Asotin Creek Model Watershed Steering Committee. Jay has made himself available to work on several other committees that were addressing resource issues.

Jerry Hendrickson, Citizen Member

Garfield County

Bob Johnson, County Commissioner

Bob was raised in Garfield County and is a 2nd generation farmer. He graduated from Washington State University with a BS degree in Agronomy. Bob served as a Garfield County Port Commissioner for several years. While serving as a port commissioner, he was involved with the Washington Public Ports Association and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. Bob was elected to the position of Garfield County Commissioner in 2009.

Del Groat, Citizen Member

Del Groat is a local boy born and raised in Pomeroy. He spent his youth hunting and fishing in the Blue Mountains and the Palouse Hills. Del completed his BS in biology, with an empasis in fisheries at Eastern Washinton University. He has completed post-graduate work at Utah State, Colorado State and Virginia Tech. He worked for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Forest Service during the summer in his college years. After graduation, Del worked seasonally for the Army Corps on "operation Fish Run" at both Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams. He accepted full-time employment with the Forest Service and became a fish and wildlife technician in 1989. Del has been the Fish Biologist at the Pomeroy Ranger Distict for fourteen years and is currently the program manager for fish, wildlife and recreation in the district. He was part of the orignial technical advisory team in the four original Model Watershed programs. Del and his family spend a great deal of time enjoying a farm and ranch in Whitman and Adams Counties owned by his wife's family. He has two daughters, the oldest is attending Washington State University.

Billy Bowles, Citizen Member

Columbia County

Richard (Dick) Jones, County Commissioner

Dick Jones graduated from Cal Poly in 1963. He started farming in Dayton in 1963 using conventional farming methods and today uses no-till technology combined with a practice of rotating his acreage between summer fallow and annual cropping. In 1973 he joined the Dayton school board and served for 20 years. He has been a member of District #3 Rural Fire Department for more than 30 years. He has been a member of the Columbia REA Board of Directors since 1992, serving four years as board president, as well as several other offices on the board. He received "Outstanding Your Farmer," "Conservation Farmer of the Year" and various conservation district Wildlife Farm awards. He began serving on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners in the fall of 1998 and he continues to represent the commissioners on most if not all fish and wildlife issues relating to the county.

Roland Schirman, Citizen Member

Roland Schirman was appointed as Columbia county member to the SRSR Board in 2008.  His formal training was obtained at Oregon State University and U of Wisconsin with emphasis in the area of agronomy/weed science.  In his professional career Roland was employed by Chevron Chemical(1962-65), USDA-ARS(1965-79) and WSU Extension(1979-2005).  A major emphasis of his professional work was to help develop sound resource stewardship within the agricultural community.  Since leaving the Extension payroll he has maintained active involvement with producers in the agricultural industry and continues to serve on various boards and committees related to resource management.

Dick Ducharme, Citizen Member

Dick Ducharme is a landowner on the Tucannon River where he enjoys spending his time with his wife and frequent visits from the grandkids. Dick is actively involved in many efforts to improve our watersheds. He is a member of the Walla Walla Basin Habitat Conservation Committee, the Lower Snake River Watershed Planning Unit under HB2514, and a member of the Walla Walla Watershed Alliance. Dick is an avid steelhead fisherman and enjoys spending time in the outdoors on his ranch along the Tucannon River.

Walla Walla County

Perry Dozier, County Commissioner

Perry is a native of Walla Walla County, growing up in Prescott and is a 1977 Prescott High School graduate.  He is a graduate of Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.  Perry served as President of Washington Association of Wheat Growers in 2001, is a former commissioner of Washington Barley Commission from 2003-2004, and served on the Walla Walla County Planning Commission. Perry is serving on the Board of Northwest Grain Growers.  He is currently serving his second year as Walla Walla County Commissioner, elected in 2008.  He farms wheat, barley and peas in both Walla Walla County and Columbia County.  Perry has worked extensively with the Department of Ecology, US Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Stuart Durfee, Citizen Member

Stuart Durfee was born and raised in Dayton, Washington. He grew up hunting and fishing and gained a love of the outdoors at a young age. Stuart began five years of seasonal employment in agriculture at the age of sixteen after several years in newspaper delivery and grocery store employment. He immediately began developing a good working knowledge of the interaction between irrigated agriculture and water resources. Stuart attended Walla Walla Community College. While there he married Laurie, his high school sweetheart, and received an associate degree of applied arts and sciences in irrigation technology. After college he returned to Dayton to complete his last season with the ranch. Stuart began employment for Gardena Farms Irrigation District in February of 1983. He spent five years as a canal rider and maintenance technician and was promoted to Secretary-Manager in September 1988. Stuart's workload and duties took on a new look in 2000 with the arrival of the Endangered Species Act. He has represented Gardena Farms in environmental compliance issues and manages the business affairs of the District. Stuart brings a working knowledge of irrigated and dry land agriculture and has a good understanding of the attitudes and concerns of his peers in irrigated agriculture. Stuart is very involved in the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Planning process and has worked with many of the local, state, and federal agencies and officials involved in the Snake River Region.

Yancey Reser, Citizen Member

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Gary James

As Fisheries Program Manager for Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Gary James oversees all programs, strategies and implementation of fish-related policy guidelines for all watersheds within CTUIR co-management scope.

Graduating in 1979 from Oregon State University Gary holds a bachelor of science in fisheries. Before Gary assumed his most recent position he worked for various agencies in Oregon and Alaska.