Board of Directors

Scott Josiah

  • After a long search for a location to spend our retirement years, I knew as soon as I got off the ferry for the first time that Lummi Island was the place. Drawn by the forests, water, mountains and perhaps most of all, the community, my spouse Debbi and I became property owners in 2010 and moved here permanently from Nebraska in 2017. Recently retired, I have served as a forester in leadership positions with nonprofits and government in the US and overseas for more than 40 years. I have worked to protect and enhance the health and vitality of forests, to restore severely disturbed lands, and was fortunate to participate in programs to secure and protect threatened conservation lands. I know first-hand the great value of protecting forest land and open space for future generations and am committed to working with the Trust and its great staff to sustainably achieve those goals.

Dawn Dietrich

  • Our love of hiking, the outdoors, and solitude is what drew my partner and me to Lummi Island in 2019. Since then, it has been the kindness, creativity, and resourcefulness of the people here who have helped us decide that this is our forever home. One of the reasons we moved to Lummi Island was because of the active work of the LIHT, and I am deeply honored to join the wonderful Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers who make this organization the success that it is. I am committed to the stewardship of the wild places on this island. Preserving the nature of Lummi Island means seeing the land as a gift and a responsibility and valuing the plants and other-than-human creatures as much as the humans who depend upon these wilds. These are teachings that Native Americans have held from time immemorial, but their knowledge and stories benefit everyone. I currently teach at Western Washington University, where I have been a professor for twenty-eight years.

William Enoch

  • There was no intention to actually move full time to Lummi Island in that first summer spent here after completion of building my cabin, but then the island cast its spell and thoughts of returning seasonally to California vanished. Lummi is now home, a place imbued with connection to the environment and a passionate community. My own contributions to the Trust are grounded in years of financial management of nonprofit organizations but I feel most connected to the mission of the Trust when walking the island trails or paddling the surrounding waters - just magical.

Peter Earle

  • I am a bilingual lawyer dedicated to enforcing the rights of working people and holding accountable those who abuse authority. My practice focuses in the areas of civil rights, employment discrimination, lead poisoning, product liability, and redistricting. Recently I served as co-lead trial counsel in the first partisan gerrymandering case to prevail at the trial court level. In 2017, this case was heard by the United States Supreme Court and a decision is expected during in 2018. I have served on numerous Boards of Directors including the Milwaukee Area Technical College and various social justice organizations such as Wisconsin Citizen Action, Voces de la Frontera, and Wisconsin Anti Violence Effort. My wife and I make our home on this beautiful island and are committed to Heritage Trust’s work to protecting the nature of Lummi Island.

  • Lummi Island’s charm captivated me when I spent a summer on the island in 1993 while in college. I spent the intervening years until I became a full time resident in 2000 working and traveling abroad, but the island’s pull drew me back again and again while home visiting. I’m forever grateful for how the island and its community has shaped who I am today, which is why I find myself volunteering for LIHT in various capacities. I’ve worked as a teacher, graphic designer, and I’ve done just about every job there is to do on the island. All creatures are blessed to call this place home, and I’m honored to play a small role in helping protect it.

Judy Bush

  • My family came to Lummi Island in 1971 to visit friends, with no idea we would end up buying land, building a home, and sending our daughter to Beach School. Over the next 40 some years I worked as an attorney for legal services programs in Bellingham and Fairbanks, Alaska, and then as the Reservation Attorney for the Lummi Nation until my retirement a few years ago. Many years ago I helped work on the first Lummi Island land use plan, motivated by an interest in preserving the nature of this beautiful place. And it is that interest that motivates me now to work with the LIHT, it's excellent staff, dedicated Board Members, and all the wonderful community members who volunteer their time and talents and donate generously to further the work of preserving the nature of Lummi Island.

Elizabeth Kilanowski

  • Happenstance brought me to Lummi Island. After spending a year at sea, my husband and I sailed into Puget Sound and started to look for a place to stay. Someone suggested Bellingham and along the way we found a lovely anchorage called Inati Bay on an island called Lummi. Within six months we had property on the island. I grew up having acres of forest and fields to roam in as a child. When as a teen, I watched a large portion of the forest destroyed to make way for development I began to appreciate the foresight of those before me who worked to set land aside for the education and enjoyment of future generations of children. The mission of the LIHT appeals to my sense of land preservation and I am honored to serve as a member of its Board.

Tobey King

  • My wife Barbara and I discovered Whatcom County during a 2003 backpacking trip to the North Cascades. Determined to experience the water-sport opportunities offered, we purchased a cabin on Lummi Island and, upon my retirement after 41 years in the chemical business, spent 8 consecutive summers on Lummi Island. Upon selling our cabin, we purchased 4 forested acres, thinking it might be the site of our ultimate residence. Though we decided to live for a significant period in Bellingham, we have upgraded our Lummi property with a "tiny house" which we use for brief overnight stays. I have previously served on the Boards of Lutheran Community Services of Wilmington, DE, the Santa Fe chapter of Girls Incorporated, and the Santa Fe Alliance for Science.

Mary Ross

  • Enjoying the natural world has been a life-long passion. Because I grew up in the suburban sprawl of southern California, joining the Girl Scouts made a huge difference in my life giving me opportunities to experience the natural beauty of California’s mountains, deserts, beaches, and islands. In 1980 my husband Jim and I moved to the Puget Sound where I realized I had finally found the perfect place to bring my love for forests, mountains, meadows and my very strong connection with the sea back together. We lived aboard our boat for almost 10 years, enjoying sailing, scuba diving and exploring the myriad of inland waters that make up the Salish Sea ecosystem. Not long after moving to Lummi Island I learned about the work that LIHT was doing to protect and preserve land, and began volunteering to help out with various projects. I became a citizen member of LIHT’s Community Outreach Committee and have taken the lead in organizing several special events and programs for the trust over the years. I am looking forward to continuing to support land conservation and preservation on Lummi Island as a member of the Board.

Janine Shaw

  • I first visited Lummi Island in 1976, and have lived on Lummi Island since 2012. I enjoy walking, swimming and reading on Lummi Island. I grew up camping in the Olympic Peninsula each summer and think that the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful place on earth. I am a family doctor at the Lummi Tribal Health Center.

Catherine Shornick

  • We first moved to Lummi Island in 1982 so our three (soon to be four) children could grow up in this very special community and environment. My dad and I ran Village Point Restaurant on Legoe Bay for a bit, an experience that only deepened our connections to the island. After leaving for a number of years, I returned at long last and have relished the opportunity to rekindle old friendships and watch my grandchildren enrich their own relationships with the island. I am a long-time supporter of the Heritage Trust and grateful for the opportunity to more directly participate in the preservation and protection of our beautiful island.

Paul Upton

  • As a child our family camped, hiked and enjoyed nature in the southwest. I have traveled a lot with my IT jobs over the years. On one of our trips our family discovered the beauty of the Pacific NW and we spent a lot of time vacationing in the area. After deciding to move to the NW from Texas we found our current house on Lummi. I have been amazed at the beauty of nature we see on a day to day basis here. After hiking the trails on the island and volunteering, I have learned to appreciate and be impressed by the work of the Heritage Trust. From the people to the nature that surrounds us, we should not only be thankful, but willing to do the things to continue to conserve and protect this special place. This organization allows us to be the stewards on Lummi Island and allows nature to be protected and enjoyed into the future for us and those who will follow.