STAFF & BOARD
Larry Leveen
Executive Director
Following his graduate degree in Environmental Studies from
The Evergreen State College, Larry has been an advocate for livable communities for over 25 years in the private and public sectors in the South Puget Sound. He worked in the bike industry for seventeen years and has served on the boards of organizations focused on outdoor recreation and mobility. He served as an advisor to the Olympia City Council for fourteen years on land use, zoning, long-range planning, capital facility budgeting, municipal development standards, and active transportation. Larry brings policy analysis experience from both his non-profit work as well as employment with the Department of Commerce and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. He focuses on improving codes, plans, and standards as well as funding for healthy livable communities and is committed to using a lens of anti-racism and social equity in his work.
Roxanne Miles
President
Roxanne Miles joined Pierce County as the Director of Parks & Recreation in 2017, following a 15-year career with Metro Parks Tacoma. Pierce County Parks manages over 5,200 acres of parkland and maintains the Pierce County Regional Trail Plan. Ms. Miles is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and has an MBA in Non-Profit Management from Corban University. She is a life-long Pierce County resident.
Bob Myrick
Secretary
Bob has served as Tacoma Washington Bicycle Club's Director of Community and Government Affairs for about 25 years. He worked on Pierce County's non-motorized plan and the Pierce County Trails Plan, served on Tacoma's Transportation Committee, worked on Tacoma's non-motorized Plan, and served on Puget Sound Regional Council's Non-motorized Committee. When federal funds became available for non-motorized projects, he championed using them for the Foothills Trail, Bridge of Glass, Thea Foss Esplanade projects and other projects.
He identified Cushman Powerline, City Water Ditch, and Tacoma Water Pipeline Road as possible trails and worked with Scott Pierson in coaxing WSDOT to build the trail along Highway 16 to the Narrows Bridge. He also worked with Scott Pierson to produce the first modern bike map for Tacoma/Pierce County. Bob worked with Joe Kanan to get the BPA trail built in Federal Way and helped build a single-track trail to South Prairie in 1997.
Rob Buck
Treasurer
Rob Buck is a life-long Puyallup resident who has been using
the trails and trails systems in Pierce County for nearly 50
years. He is the Director of Environmental Safety and Health
for Long Painting Company in Kent, WA. Rob is an active community member, who has served on numerous boards and committees and coached soccer for 30 years. He currently is active with the Puyallup Valley Bike Club, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance Pierce County Committee, and the Citizen’s Advisory Board for Pierce County Parks. Rob loves riding and working bikes of all types and doing trail work. His goal is a network of maintained trails throughout Pierce County for all groups of users. Rob lives in Puyallup with his wife and two high school-age kids.
Cody Geddes
Cody is the Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Puyallup. Prior to that, he worked for 12 years with the City of Federal Way.
Recognizing that trails play an essential role in creating a sense of belonging and fostering physical and mental well-being, Geddes is committed to expanding and connecting the existing trail network to a larger system. He understands that trail connections aren't just pathways; they're conduits that bridge communities and provide avenues for exploration, exercise, and connection with nature.
Jennifer Dvorak
A project manager and engineering lead for Parametrix,
Jennifer has managed and designed numerous local transportation projects, with a decade of focus on trails and pedestrian-focused design. Her work includes planning, alternatives analysis, preliminary engineering, permitting, constructability analysis, and quality reviews. She has substantial experience with the WSDOT Local Agency Guidelines (LAG) Manuals, managing project teams, and stakeholder coordination.
Shayla Miles
Shayla is the Executive Director of the Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition. She has a Masters of Public Administration with a focus on nonprofit leadership from Evergreen Tacoma, and a passion for ensuring outdoor recreation is accessible, plentiful and safe. Much like any long-time nonprofit employee, Shayla has worn many hats: fundraiser, education program manager, field trip facilitator, events planner, volunteer manager. Her most recent role was Development Director at Pacific Bonsai Museum. Shayla lives in Tacoma with her husband and young daughter, and can be found most weekends running or hiking the many amazing trails Pierce County has to offer.
Kim Field
Bio coming soon
Alisa O'Hanlon-Regala
Board Member
I’m honored by the opportunity to serve on the Board of ForeverGreen Trails. I am a 50-plus-year resident of Tacoma and have built my career entirely in public service with an aim to create and nurture collaborations for the common good. I was peripherally involved when the ForeverGreen Council was conceived as I was collaborating on other community projects with individuals crafting ForeverGreen. After 15 years in government relations at the City of Tacoma and now as the Strategic Planning Manager at Metro Parks Tacoma, I am tickled to have the chance to be in the middle of the ForeverGreen action!
I look forward to representing Metro Parks as a partner committed to bringing our best thinking and our system of assets to connect in creating a seamless network and experience for contemporary populations to travel and enjoy the rich lands known from time immemorial by the Coast Salish people.
Past Board Members & Advisors
Mary has been with the City of Lakewood for 16 years developing
a comprehensive park, recreation, and community services
system for the citizens of Lakewood. Her team now manages
the maintenance and operations of streets, signs, and signals. Prior to working in Lakewood she spent fifteen years with the
Town of Steilacoom directing their parks, recreation, and community service programs. Mary believes in the benefits of parks and recreation and how it can create a healthy and vibrant community. She is thankful for the many residents and organizations always willing to share resources, solve problems, and work together to improve the Lakewood community.
Mary Dodsworth
Board Member
Terry Reid
Terry is a University of Washington graduate and has lived in
Pierce County for over 40 years. He retired in 2011 after a
35-year career in state and local government public health.
During his 15 years with the Washington State Department of Health, he managed the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and directed the Health Communities Section. He continues to seek ways to make our community a healthier place to live, work, and play and started service on the ForeverGreen Trails Board in 2015. Terry currently resides in Bonney Lake where he is active in coordinating the local community garden and represents the city on the Pierce County Conservation Futures Citizens Advisory Board.
Alan Carter Mortimer
Alan Carter Mortimer has been a field program manager for Washington Trails Association for the last 12 years. Prior to
that, he was a volunteer for the organization for 11 years. He supervises volunteer trail maintenance crews working on hiking, equestrian, and mountain bike trails across the state including the Olympic Peninsula, South Puget Sound, Mount Rainier National Park, and all of eastern Washington. His passion is to spend as much time outdoors exploring new places in our beautiful state and helping to make it possible for others to enjoy these same experiences in the natural world.
George Walk
George is a native of Pierce County. He graduated from Western Washington University, taught for 18 years, and served as Director of Government Relations for Pierce County for 22 years. George has belonged to numerous community organizations and committees. He was elected for seven terms to the Washington State House of Representatives. In the Legislature, he served six years as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee. George has been an advocate for all modes of transportation as important for our economy, environment, and quality of life.
Shawn Phelps
Shawn has worked as a Transportation Planner for the Pierce County Department of Public Works & Utilities for 24 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Western Washington University, with an extended Minor in Cartography (map making). At the County, Shawn is responsible for bicycle and pedestrian planning for County roads and is the lead staff person for the update of the Transportation Element of the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan.
Terry Lee
Terry graduated from Central Washington University with degrees in Chemistry and Zoology, completed post-graduate studies in Nuclear Physics and Radiology. Terry served on the Peninsula Advisory Council for 8 years, the Pierce County Planning Commission for 11 years, and the Pierce County Council for 8 years.
Barbara Skinner
Founding Director
Barbara was born in Juneau, AK, moving to Sumner in 1942. In 1970, Barbara and husband John started their accounting business in Sumner. She served on the Sumner City Council from 1976-1985, on the Pierce County Council from 1986-1994, and as Mayor of Sumner, from 1998-2005. She represented Pierce County on the Puget Sound Council of Governments Board from 1986-1993, serving as President for three years. From 1986-1994 she chaired the County Council Committee that developed Pierce County’s Solid Waste Program. In 1986, Barbara pushed the County Council and Executive to become involved in the acquisition of land for the Foothills Trail. She is a charter member of the ForeverGreen Council; served as an Officer or Board member of the Puyallup River Watershed Council from 1998-2013; and served on the Lake Tapps Task Force, which preserved Lake Tapps for our future.
Kirk Kirkland
Founding Director
Kirk served on the Board representing the Tahoma Audubon Society. He is a past president and for many years focused on legislation that would have increased trail funding for County Parks and Metropolitan Park districts in Pierce County. Kirk is an avid cyclist who has bicycled on both coasts of the U.S. and in Europe -- looking for good trail systems.
Gary Cooper
Gary is the Director of Public Works, Parks & Recreation for the City of University Place. He studied Public Works Administration from 1998-2001 at South Puget Sound Community College. Gary has worked eighteen years as the Public Works Supervisor, Assistant Director, and Director of Public Works, Parks, and Recreation Departments at the City of University Place. He has thirty years of construction and maintenance experience.
Gary has received 12 merit awards from City of University Place, Outstanding Achievement Award from Washington State University College of Engineering, Pierce County DUI Task Force Award for Road Safety, and Washington State Department of Transportation Wall of Fame. He has completed over $7 million in Capital Improvement Projects and obtained over three million in grant funding for the City of University Place.
Kim Oman
Lover of trails, being in the great Pacific Northwest outdoors. Kim's passion is growing new trails and finishing the connections of old ones. She is secretary of Chambers Creek Foundation, the non-profit stewards of one of Pierce County's regional parks.
