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.
Dave Simonett
Dave Simonett is the lead vocalist, guitar player, and songwriter in the American bluegrass-influenced band, Trampled by Turtles. Born on the U.S. Army Base in Landstuhl, Germany, Simonett grew up in Mankato, Minnesota where he enjoyed fishing and Minnesota Twins baseball. He moved to Duluth to attend UMD, and that’s where four friends started to play music together and coalesced to become Trampled by Turtles. It’s during this time in Duluth that Dave started taking trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He fell in love with paddling and fishing across the BWCA and has subsequently introduced his children to the joys of camping in the Boundary Waters. Over the last few years, Simonett has also become a hunter and public lands advocate. He’s a member of Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. He’s also appeared on an episode of MeatEater podcast to talk about his journey to becoming a hunter.
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.
Hansi Johnson
Hansi Johnson is a lifelong BWCA enthusiast. He lives in Duluth, Minnesota with his son Tae and his wife Margaret and routinely does family visits to the Wilderness. Hansi works for the Minnesota Land Trust and advocates for Minnesota’s natural spaces and for the sports and activities that take place within them, with his work at MLT as well as his Photography.
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.
Kayla Lockhart
Kayla Lockhart is a passionate woman whose remarkable journey showcases the transformative power of embracing one’s passions. Through her love for fly fishing, Hunting, and the outdoors, she has navigated personal challenges from a difficult upbringing and emerged stronger, finding solace in the tranquility of nature. Committed to giving back, Kayla advocates for conservation and inclusivity within the outdoors, ensuring that others can experience the joy and healing that it brings. Whether introducing newcomers to the art of fly fishing or working tirelessly to protect natural habitats, Kayla embodies the spirit of resilience and community.
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.
Katie McKalip
Katie McKalip has over two decades of experience helping advocacy organizations shape narratives, increase effectiveness, advance policy, engage diverse constituencies and expand their impact. Over the course of her career, she has successfully amplified the voices of influential groups across the outdoor and conservation space.
She is the founder and principal of Conservation Media Strategies, where she provides strategic guidance on communications campaigns, media relations, executive positioning and issues management. In this role, she partners with organizations, foundations and leaders to navigate complex policy landscapes, elevate visibility and drive meaningful engagement.
Previously, McKalip served in senior communications roles with organizations including the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers – where she helped raise BHA’s profile as one of the fastest-growing and most effective conservation groups in North America – and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, where she helped the then-fledgling TRCP attain national prominence.
McKalip is also a leader in professional media circles, having served as president and board chair of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, the oldest and largest organization of outdoor communicators in the U.S. She is the recipient of OWAA’s prestigious Jade of Chiefs Award, recognizing overall impact on national conservation issues, and the Ham Brown Award for career leadership in the outdoors. She is a professional member of the Boone and Crockett Club. She lives in Missoula, Montana, and enjoys recreating with her husband, two kids, and dog in the Last Best Place.
Rob Hart
I grew up on my grandparents’ farm just outside the western metro of the Twin Cities. I’m thankful to have grown up far enough outside of town and during a time when you got bored quickly of programmed television. This open space and indoor boredom led me to wander the woods and ponds of the farm and develop a comfort and passion for nature.
I was 14 when I first went to the Boundary Waters on a father-son trip with two friends. This trip was a failed attempt at getting to Insula Lake (through 6 portages totaling ~225 rods and 11 miles of paddling) from Lake One Entry Point. I can still vividly remember so many details of this trip, including staying up until midnight before driving throughout the morning to get to Ely just after sunrise. This past May marked my 32nd annual trip into the BWCWA with one of the same friends from that first trip.
After high school, I graduated with a BS in chemistry and minor in Mathematics from MN State University, Mankato. Feeling the need to pursue my education and outdoor adventures further, I headed west to the University of Montana, Missoula for a PhD in analytical chemistry. There I developed instrumentation to collect and test seawater to autonomously monitor ocean chemistry for the effects of increasing greenhouse gases. Although grad school demanded a lot of my time, my passion for the outdoors increased exponentially as I got into the western culture of hiking, mountain biking, rafting/floating, fly fishing, and chasing wildlife on the rivers and around the mountains.
Near the end of grad school, I had a friend approach me about joining him to build a company around a product he had just brought to market. At that time the company was called HuntingGPSmaps. Today it’s known simply as onX. With a bit of reluctance to leave a career in chemistry, I took the leap knowing that I could go back to chemistry if being an entrepreneur didn’t work out. It did, and as a co-founder of onX I oversaw the operational departments, including sales, marketing, CS, fulfillment, financials and HR. I also had the privilege of being the account liaison for our government and conservation group partnerships.
Matthew Schultz
Matthew is a native Minnesotan who has been an avid outdoorsman and staunch conservation advocate for years. It was in Minnesota where he found his love for public lands, fishing, and conservation while paddling the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with his family. After High School, Matthew joined the US Navy, where he had the opportunity to learn the ropes of western hunting and fishing while stationed in Nevada and later in Washington State. Following his time in the Navy, Matthew completed bachelor’s degrees in both Political Science and History at the University of Eastern Washington, all the while volunteering as a board member with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and finding time between classes to enjoy the outdoors. Now, Matthew resides in Ely, Minnesota, where he can be found paddling local lakes, fishing for everything from brook trout to muskellunge, and bowhunting the big woods of Northern Minnesota.
