Our Team
will harlan executive director
Will Harlan is an award-winning journalist, national bestselling author, senior editor of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, and contributing writer to The New York Times and National Geographic. A leader in conservation for two decades, Harlan earned his master’s degree in Biology from Clemson University and a master’s degree in English from Emory University. Harlan coordinates Forest Keeper’s political and legal work and leads our network of Forest Keepers across 29 national forests. Harlan lives beside Pisgah National Forest and is a champion trail runner.
hannah furgiuele program director
Hannah Furgiuele has worked in forest advocacy for over twenty years. She grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and completed her M.A. in Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University and her B.A. in Environmental Studies at Oberlin College. She is currently completing her second film about the role that traditional music played in saving Bluff Mountain from a large scale timber sale, converting an old mountain tobacco farm into an animal sanctuary and trying to master the Appalachian fiddle.
ROB LENFESTEY I CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR
Rob Lenfestey is an Agroecologist and Holistic Lifestyle Educator. He is owner of Mandala Chocolate and Mandala Springs Ecological Retreat Center. Previously, Lenfestey led the Cloud Forest Conservation Initiative, which has protected over 1,000 acres of pristine montane forest in Guatemala.
RIVER HARLAN youth program director
River Harlan leads youth outreach and organizing for Forest Keeper. He attends Asheville High School. He is a professional videographer and photographer whose work has appeared in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, Endangered Earth, and Asheville Citizen-Times. He also has organized and spoken at youth rallies and met with key local and national environmental leaders.
steven mcbride communications coordinator
Steven McBride is a professional photographer, videographer, and professor. He leads our communications and outreach strategy and organizes events and campaigns for local Forest Keeper chapters. McBride bikes regularly in the Big Ivy section of Pisgah National Forest, which he has photographed and helped protect for more than a decade.
FOREST KEEPERS
Our network includes state and regional Forest Keepers safeguarding national forests and public lands across the country. Our network of forest guardians protect 29 national forests in 18 states. Each state or regional Forest Keeper safeguards specific national forests or public lands. Forest Keepers monitor forest health and water quality, inventory old-growth forests, help maintain trails, work with management agencies on forest planning, and ensure that the public’s voice is represented in forest decision making.
Alabama Forest Keeper Jordan Hetherington
Arkansas Forest Keeper Kellyn Tate
Illinois Forest Keeper Matt Rahn
Indiana Forest Keeper Sarah Blumenthal
North Carolina Forest Keeper Steven Koranda
South Carolina Forest Keeper Bridget Butler-Ross
Georgia Forest Keeper Mark Galloway
Virginia Forest Keeper Lauren Walters
West Virginia Forest Keeper Josh Platt
Tennessee Forest Keeper Kevin Workman
Kentucky Forest Keeper Serena Campbell
Pennsylvania Forest Keeper Jess Davenport
Mississippi Forest Keeper Davis Ward
New York Forest Keeper Ken Frugoli
New Hampshire Forest Keeper Molly Bowlin
Vermont Forest Keeper Caroline Hunter
Missouri Forest Keeper Ryan Wylie
Florida Forest Keeper Lindsay Driscoll