Trail Conference Elects Patsy Wooters Board Chair

February 01, 2021
News
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

Title

Trail Conference Elects Patsy Wooters Board Chair

Body

The Trail Conference is pleased to announce that Patsy Wooters has been elected Board Chair.

Patsy has been an active member of the organization since the 1980s, and a member of our Board of Directors since 2014.

Patsy is a retired teacher who worked in New York City’s public schools for 26 years. Her fascination with wildlife and ecology drives her to protect natural areas and access them. She first found the Trail Conference through her father, who volunteered with the organization as an attorney in the 1970s; she has been a member herself since 1984. Patsy, of Suffern, N.Y., spent much of her childhood near the mountains and grew up hiking and camping at 4H camp and Girl Scout camp in Harriman State Park.

“I’m very attached to the mountain forest, and as a Board member, I hope to help preserve it for the long term,” Patsy said. “Trails allow us to connect with true wilderness. Hikers are critical for protecting lands that would otherwise be developed.”

Patsy has been active in conservation advocacy since 2000 when she joined Torne Valley Preservation Association to help defeat proposals for two power plants in Torne Valley. From 2005 to 2014 she chaired the Ramapo Highlands Coalition, working to protect mountain forests along the Ramapo Pass.

She is a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and a regular and winter member of the Catskill 3500 Club. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and a master’s from Lehman College. Patsy is a Trail Conference Life Member.

“Patsy has been a champion of the Trail Conference for decades,” said Executive Director Joshua Howard. “Her commitment to protecting open space and ensuring that everyone is welcomed outdoors will be key to the organization’s ongoing success.

Board Updates

John Magerlein has been elected Trail Conference Board Vice Chair. John has been a Board member since 2015. He is also chair of the Policy Council and serves on the Governance Committee. John retired as a physicist from the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center after 37 years in a variety of technical and managerial positions. Since 1992, he has been a Trail Conference Supervisor for Fahnestock State Park, where he has led the construction of new trails and bridges and is a certified chain sawyer. John set up the first online registration system for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Biennial Conference as a registrar in 2007. He is an ATC and Adirondack Mountain Club member. He holds a bachelor’s from Kalamazoo College and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is a Trail Conference Life Member.

Beth Ravit will continue to serve as Board Treasurer and Ken Posner will continue to serve as Board Secretary.