Meet the people leading the fight to preserve and protect the most heavily visited and most popular wilderness in the national wilderness system.

Paul Danicic – Executive Director

Paul came to the Friends after nearly 10 years as Director of YMCA Camp Menogyn, a wilderness canoe camp on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. At Menogyn, Danicic worked closely with the Friends on the Thomas Flint Canoe Trips program, organizing wilderness canoe trips for inner-city youth. Danicic brings tremendous experience and skills in leadership and capacity-building. He also has a great love for the BWCAW and a passion for introducing youth to the canoe country, which directly relates to a core value of the Friends’ mission: developing the next generation of wilderness stewards.

Sacha Casillas – Membership Director

Sacha received her bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin- La Crosse in Environmental Biology with minors in Chemistry and Spanish. After graduation she spent a year participating in sea turtle conservation efforts in Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico. She has also worked as a naturalist at a nature reserve to learn more about MN wildlife and issues affecting the state. Sacha enjoys hiking, going to the beach, spending time on the north shore of Lake Superior with her family and watching the sunset over a lake or other body of water.

Betsy Daub – Policy Director

Betsy has extensive experience in conservation policy, including six years at Audubon Minnesota, where she served as Forest Program Director, Acting State Director, and Senior Director for Conservation Programs. Her work at Audubon included substantial efforts regarding management of the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Most recently, Daub taught science in St. Paul schools. As Policy Director, Betsy brings strong experience in science and stakeholder collaboration to the organization and will help fulfill the Friends mission to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the BWCAW and the entire Quetico-Superior Ecosystem.

Ian Kimmer – Northern Communities Program Director

Ian graduated from the University of Minnesota Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy. He did his senior thesis on Environmental Policy and Issue Analysis. Ian has developed programs and presented for the Earth Museum; owned and managed an organic farm in Embarrass, MN; and worked as a U.S. senator’s staff assistant. He has also been elected to represent local interests in the 8th Congressional District and at State conventions. He also is a contributing writer for Hometown Focus. Ian‘s interests include year-round wilderness recreation (his children do not suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder!), music, paleontology, fishing and advocating for family and community development. He lives in Virginia, MN with his two children, aged six and three.

Greg Seitz – Communications and Engagement Director

Greg is also on the Board of Voyageurs National Park Association and was named the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust‘s 2007 Volunteer of the Year for his work redesigning their Web site.  Greg received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota and previously worked in corporate communications at the Thomson Corporation in Eagan, Minn. He has self-published two volumes of Esker, a chapbook of his writing. Greg visits the BWCAW frequently, often with his wife Katie and black lab Lola. He lives near St. Paul’s (non-motorized) Lake Phalen.