Ron Monson
Chair

Ron is a lifelong Minnesotan. He first visited the BWCAW in 1977 with his church youth group and again in 1978 through the inaugural Leadership Training Experience with Mink Lake Camp. He now has a twenty-year streak going in the BWCAW with friends, mostly up the Arrowhead Trail.

Ron earned his BA in Biology in 1985 from Bethel University, his MA in Teaching from the University of St. Thomas in 1987, and his ABD in Educational Leadership & Administrative license in 2012 from Bethel University. He was a high school biology, human anatomy & physiology teacher, and principal for 35 years, retiring in 2021.

Ron now serves as the Land Steward for their family farm in Todd County, MN. 81 of the 110 acres are currently enrolled in CRP. He is also an active, longtime ambassador for the MOVEMBER Foundation, raising awareness for Men’s Health. In 2022, he summited Mt. Kilimanjaro with Movember.

Ron enjoys hunting and fishing. Deer and pheasants are his main pursuits, and he will gladly join the hunt for grouse, waterfowl, or turkey. He recently tagged a huge Red Stag in Argentina! His fishing focuses on smallmouth, walleye, and largemouth. He will jump into the boat on any fishing foray.

Mark Neuzil
Vice Chair

Mark is a professor of journalism and environmental studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. He has written several books, including Canoes: A Natural History in North America (with Norman Sims), A Spiritual Field Guide (with Bernard Brady) and Views on the Mississippi, which won a Minnesota Book Award. An avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing as well as hunting pheasants and deer, Mark makes multiple canoe camping trips to the BWCA each year, including an annual family outing that began before his adult daughters were in kindergarten. His journalism has taken him to such varied places as Cuba, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, and his freelance articles have appeared in publications including Field & Stream, Earth Island Journal and Audubon magazine. He also was a Fulbright Scholar teaching journalism at Charles University in Prague, where he enjoyed the Czech pastimes of carp fishing and mushroom hunting.

Zach Washburn

Treasurer

Zach grew up in Iowa and spent many hours during his childhood fishing the backwaters of the Mississippi from his grandparents’ property in Wisconsin. In 2005, he developed a passion for wilderness and backcountry experiences after his first hiking and fishing trip to Glacier National Park.  Since relocating to his wife Leslie’s hometown of Rochester, MN, he has become a BWCAW enthusiast, often making a Spring trip to fish and a Fall trip to hunt grouse.  His favorite outdoor pursuit is fishing, especially with a fly rod.

He earned a BA in Biology from Luther College, followed by an MD from the University of Iowa. He completed residency and fellowship training in diagnostic radiology at the University of Michigan and now practices as an Emergency Radiologist. 

He is a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.  He values preserving our remaining wild places and public land for current and future generations. 

Scott Sorensen

Scott Sorensen’s first fishing trip into the BWCA/Quetico was in 1985 at age 13. His father, who has been fishing the lakes of the Boundary Waters since 1966, started bringing Scott and his brother into the wilderness at the end of each school year. The 80 lb aluminum Grumman canoe and 240-rod first portage is a memory Scott has not forgotten, even after countless trips and four decades of exploring the area in all 4 seasons. Scott moved closer to the BWCA to raise his family in a wilderness setting. He is the owner-operator of Fly Box & Company in Grand Marais, MN, which provides gear for travelers in the area and guided day trips for fly fishing and grouse hunting up the Gunflint Trail.