Meet The Board of Directors

Andy is a graduate of Flathead High School, and of the University of Montana in economics. He is the principal partner in Western Pacific Plastics—a company that produces lamination films and laminated MDF parts for furniture, kitchen cabinet, and award industries—with manufacturing facilities in China and Vietnam. He is also involved in Feury Family Farms, LLC, a fourth generation farm that produces grains, oil seeds, and cattle in Montana and North Dakota. Andy is also the head dishwasher, floor scrubber, and lunch cook for the crew at his wife Terri’s Finn Biscuit bakery. 

He brings to the board a broad base of experience and history covering a wide range of community issues thanks to his 14+ years serving in our city government. He served the Whitefish City Council from 1991-1998, Mayor 2000-2007, and on numerous committees from the Hwy EIS and Ice Rink Advisory Board He feels that time afforded him the opportunity to learn how to clearly identify issues and the leadership skills to help develop and implement community supported policies to address them. 

Andy is a life-long skier, hiker, upland game hunter, mountain biker, and self-described “badly obsessed” windsurfer for over 30 years. He enjoys cooking and traveling, and lives in Whitefish with his wife Terri and his 86 year old mother, Avis. 

Hank Ricklefs is a retired Vice President for the Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc., Northern Region. He received a BA from Dartmouth College in 1971 and MBA from Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth in 1972. He has a 35 year work history in the wood products and forestry industry. Hank has experience in the management of large-scale business operations including financial and budgetary expertise, experience with Whitefish Trails system and impacts on local recreational opportunities and eco-systems, and familiarity with collaborative efforts between business and non-profit entities. 

Hank has lived in Whitefish since 1996 and has served on several boards. He was a member of North Valley Hospital board from 2002-2013, Chair for the final two years; instigator of Flathead Valley Community College Business & Industry Council in 1999; member of the Whitefish Legacy Partners Board since 2011; and member of Houston Point Homeowners Association board for 12 years. Hank has been married to Susan for 35 years. They have two grown children and four grandchildren, all residing in Montana. His hobbies include skiing, golf, fly fishing and travel. 

Hank believes the foremost issues facing WLI are addressing the Lake’s surrounding property for septic system improvements; securing adequate funding and budgeting to provide continual, solid science in the management of lake issues, while avoiding political entanglements; integrating WLI activities with other ecosystem enhancements or public improvements surrounding the greater Whitefish Lake Watershed.

John Collins was raised in Whitefish and moved back here full-time in 1986. He has maintained a residence on the lake since the early 1980s and has a strong interest in the health of the lake. John is the former president and director of the Flathead Valley Ski Foundation that supports youth skiing. 

John earned a BS from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Temple University in Pennsylvania. In 1987, he founded John B. Collins Associates, Inc, which was later sold to Marsh & McLennan Cos, the parent company of Guy Carpenter & Co. He retired as vice chairman of Guy Carpenter in December, 2009. 

John believes the most important issue facing WLI is how the organization can most effectively work with other entities and the community to preserve and enhance the water quality of Whitefish Lake.

Brian Averill is Owner/Operator of Averill Hospitality, a family-run resort and hotel management company in Montana with the vision of delivering exceptional guest experiences that exceed expectations in every way, every time, at all their properties. 

Generations of the Averill family grew up in Montana and are proud to showcase the heritage and the beauty of their home at our unique properties. The Averill’s have been a part of Montana’s hospitality industry since the 1940s when Les Averill created The Flathead Lake Lodge with the vision of bringing western culture and a personal touch to hospitality. Today, they strive to give guests the same special memories they have from growing up in Montana – from its rugged beauty and diverse wildlife to its fun adventures and embracing community. 

Averil Hospitality’s mission is to provide true western hospitality in spectacular settings. They create warm, welcoming environments so guests automatically feel a sense of belonging when staying at one of their hotels, enjoying all the comforts of home in a luxurious and contemporary atmosphere. Averill Hospitality’s goal is to create spaces with a spirit of fun, adventure and community, where connections are forged and souls nourished.

John was elected Mayor of Whitefish in 2012 after serving as Deputy Mayor and since 2006 as City Councilor. John continues to serve as Mayor. John was appointed by the Whitefish City Council to serve as the liaison between the City of Whitefish and the Whitefish Lake Institute from 2010 to 2012. John is a professional Hydrologist and owner of River Design Group, Inc., a Whitefish-based consulting firm offering specialized river, wetland and fisheries restoration services throughout the Pacific Northwest. His current areas of focus include design and engineering of large dam removal and river and floodplain restoration projects in Montana, Idaho and Oregon. He earned his bachelor degrees in Geoscience and Watershed Hydrology in 1995 and prior to founding River Design Group, was employed by the USDA Forest Service Kootenai National Forest in Fortine, and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Trust Land Management Division in Missoula and Kalispell.

John has served on numerous community boards and was the Vice Chairman of the Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee prior to his appointment to the Whitefish City Council in 2002. Through his private consulting firm and as a volunteer, Mr. Muhlfeld has assisted with development of water quality standards for local waterbodies including Haskill Creek as part of the State of Montana Department of Environmental Quality's Total Maximum Daily Load program. Mr. Muhlfeld served as a technical advisor on the Critical Areas Ordinance committee and helped develop scientific criteria forming the basis of the current stream, river and wetland setback ordinance adopted and implemented by the City of Whitefish.

Monica Pastor was raised in Bigfork, Montana and grew up on the shore of Flathead Lake. She graduated from Bigfork High School, and went on to attend Duke University, graduating in 1995 with a dual major in Art History and Religion. 

After completing a Master of Arts in the department of Visual Culture, Art, & Theory at the University of British Columbia, Monica returned home to the Flathead Valley, and opened Jest Gallery in 1998, creating a space to showcase contemporary art. She followed this with the opening of Underscore Art & Jewelry in 2017. She also taught art history at Flathead Valley Community College for 10 years. 

In addition to her focus on the arts, Monica has been active in non-profit work in Whitefish. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Whitefish Community Foundation since 2014, including roles as the chair of the grants committee and scholarship committee. She is also an art editor for the Whitefish Review. 

Debbie’s love of Montana began at a young age when her Dad’s positions with the US Forest Service brought the family to the Flathead Valley. Debbie graduated from Flathead High School and received a BA in Interpersonal Communications from the University of Montana. Her most rewarding summer job was working on the Youth Conservation Corps Trail Crew, improving recreational trails throughout the Flathead National Forest, and building the first leg of the Danny On trail on Big Mountain. 

Debbie began her professional career working for non-profit organizations, including positions with the Arthritis Foundation, Special Olympics, United Way and the American Red Cross. Debbie has spent the last 12 years working for Flathead County and currently serves as the Clerk & Recorder. Prior to her elected role, Debbie worked for the Commissioner’s Office managing special projects, which included writing and administering grants. Her most noteworthy accomplishment was facilitating the Bigfork Stormwater Project, a collaborative community project utilizing federal, state and local funding to upgrade the stormwater management system in Bigfork village. Debbie feels that implementing practices to improve and protect water quality are vital to sustaining the life we all enjoy in the Flathead Valley. 

Debbie and her fish-slaying husband Mike live in Whitefish. When not enjoying recreation on local lakes and rivers, Debbie spends her time relaxing at home with family, friends and her golden retriever…the only “child” still in the nest! 

Mitch Robinson is a former resident of Edina Minnesota and San Diego California with long-standing ties to the great state of Montana. 

Having completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Montana in 1984 he went on to earn his law degree from the University of San Diego in 1987. Mitch founded, managed and subsequently sold his law firms in San Diego in 1997 and Minneapolis in 2019. 

After successfully launching two children into adulthood, the beauty of Montana and its opportunities motivated Mitch, his wife Jennifer, and young son Brooks, to relocate to the Flathead Valley in 2019 where they have owned a home since 2016. 

Mitch and Jennifer are Montana Real Estate Professionals working with Glacier Sotheby’s International Realty in Whitefish. 

Cami is an attorney whose practice focuses primarily on land and water law. 

She was raised in the small town of Huntsville, Utah where she received a Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Oregon in 1998. Cami then worked as a transient field biologist throughout the Western US for four years before returning to school to pursue a Master’s Degree from the School of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. Following graduate school Cami took a job with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. After a field season in Lake Tahoe, Cami readily returned to Montana and worked for a small environmental consulting firm in Whitefish. After four years of consulting work on rivers and streams of Montana, Cami enrolled in law school at the University of Montana with the plan to apply her science background to her legal work. 

Cami feels lucky to call Whitefish, Montana home. She lives with her husband Eric and sons Keller Rye and Ruedi Max. 

Todd H. Votteler, Ph.D. is President of Collaborative Water Resolution LLC, Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Water Journal and Texas+Water,and hosts the Talk+Water podcast. He is a Fellow of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University (TxSt), a Mentor at the Austin Technology Incubator at The University of Texas at Austin, and an Executive Committee member for the Permanent Forum of Binational Waters. 

Previously, Votteler was Executive Manager of Science, Intergovernmental Relations, and Policy at the Guadalupe–Blanco River Authority, Chairman of the Guadalupe Basin Coalition, Research Scientist in Washington, D.C. for the Battelle – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Executive Director of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust, and Chairman of the Texas Land Trust Council. 

In 1994, Votteler worked for the Court Monitor during Sierra Club v. Babbitt. 1996, he was appointed Federal Special Master during Sierra Club v. San Antonio. In 2016, he negotiated a resolution to the conflict over surface water use and potential impacts to endangered whooping cranes. 

Jim is an Explorers Club Fellow, and an award-winning, professionally certified wildlife biologist who worked for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks for 31 years. Jim was honored with the prestigious Explorers Club Alan Rabinowitz Memorial Award in 2024. Jim received the National Park Service Wildlife Collaboration Award in 2023. Jim is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Whitefish Lake Institute. Jim is also the partnerships manager and wildlife biologist for the Heart of the Rockies Initiative. The Initiative supports and partners with 29 land trusts in the northern Rockies and Canada. Jim works to protect wildlife connectivity in the Keep It Connected program by supporting local and regional land trusts in the northern Rockies. Jim received an undergraduate degree in biology with an emphasis on marine biology from San Diego State and Florida State universities and his graduate degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University in Bozeman.  Jim studied mountain lion ecology for his Master’s Degree on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front and has focused on mountain lion and other wildlife conservation issues in various roles ever since.  As a wildlife biologist in central Montana, Jim managed big game populations ranging from pronghorn antelope and elk to mountain goats, worked with private agricultural landowners on wildlife tolerance issues, developed new conservation easements, wildlife management areas and other habitat conservation projects.  Later as the Montana FWP Wildlife Program Manager, Jim led a talented group of research and wildlife management biologists and his team developed grizzly bear monitoring and research programs, initiated western Montana’s first wolf conservation program, and provided program support and leadership on multiple wildlife habitat conservation projects.  Most recently as the Regional Montana FWP Director for northwestern Montana, Jim provided leadership and support for parks and recreation, wildlife, fisheries, game wardens and all administration teams.  Jim has worked with wildlife biologists in both Chile and Argentina on a variety of wildlife conservation projects. In 2018, Patagonia Inc. published his autobiography, Path of the Puma, which shares some of those adventures and the story of mountain lion conservation in the Americas.  Penguin Random House Audio recently published the audio version of Path of the Puma which Jim personally narrated. Jim and his wife Melora live in the charming ski town of Whitefish, Montana just west of Glacier National Park.