Russ has served on the GMC Stewardship and Land Conservation Committees since 2008, and he and his sons maintain the Laura Woodward Shelter.  He began section hiking the Long Trail in 1975 but hasn’t quite managed to finish yet. Russ did complete the 740 mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail in 2015, and in 2016 paddled from near Lake Superior north to James Bay, via the Missinaibi, Brunswick, and Moose Rivers.

Russ has a Master’s Degree in ecology from the University of Vermont where he studied the impacts of dairy farming on Lake Champlain’s nutrient loads and water quality. His family hikes, hunts, fishes and skis on land conserved by the GMC, and he sees serving on the Board as a way to give back for those opportunities.