Notice:  We will soon be seeking a replacement for a Council member who has left Tribal   

                employment.

National Tribal Water Council

Bios & Contact Info

 Brief bios are provided for the following:  

Daniel Kusnierz – Penobscot Indian Nation – Region 1 Council Member

René Rickard –Tuscarora Nation / Haudenosaunee Envt’l. Task Force –

   Region 2 Council Member

Michael Bolt – Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation – NTWC Vice-Chair &

   Region 4 Council Member

Nancy Schuldt – Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa  –

  Region 5 Council Member

Nancy John –Cherokee Nation – Region 6 Council Member

Denise Jensen – Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska – Region 7 Council Member

Carlyle Ducheneaux – Cheyenne River Sioux - Region 8 Council Member

Ken Norton – Hoopa Valley Tribe – NTWC Chair & Region 9 Council Member

Daniel Chythlook – Aleknagik Traditional Council – Region 10 Council Member

Alex Cabillo – Hualapai Tribe – At-Large Council Member

Ann Marie Chischilly – Gila River Indian Community – At-Large Council Member

Dave Fuller – Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe – At-Large Council Member

Satya “Deb” Misra – Navajo Nation – At-Large Council Member

Steve Crawford – Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point –

  At-Large Council Member

Kathleen Hill (Klamath/Modoc/Paiute) – NTWC Project Manager

Joseph Dupris (Cheyenne River Sioux) – NTWC Project Administrator

Daniel Kusnierz – Penobscot Indian Nation – Region 1

Daniel Kusnierz, Water Resources Program Manager for the Penobscot Nation, has served the Nation for fourteen years, developing an understanding of the cultural importance of the Penobscot River to the Nation while refining his own technical skills. He has developed a watershed-wide water quality monitoring program with more than 95 weekly-sampling locations, set up a laboratory, and conducted investigations of toxic contaminants (including dioxins, furans, PCBs and mercury), and their impact on the aquatic environment. His expertise also includes investigations of algal blooms and nutrients, biomonitoring using aquatic insects, and assessing and controlling nonpoint source pollution and biological/ecological assessment of wetlands. Daniel uses the water quality data for permitting, licensing and affecting policy change. Daniel can be reached by e-mail at pinwater@penobscotnation.org, or by telephone at (207) 817-7361.

René Rickard – Tuscarora Nation /Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force – Region 2

René Rickard, Tuscarora, serves as the Tuscarora Administrator for the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF). She is responsible for contributing to a culturally-based environmental protection process that is consistent with traditional Haudenosaunee values. Her expertise lies in the areas of water quality and solid waste. René is known for her innovative and creative skills in planning, developing and addressing the environmental concerns of the Tuscarora Nation, and for her excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including her ability to build consensus. René can be reached via e-mail at Rene.Rickard@starband.net or by telephone at (716) 609-3810.

Michael Bolt – Eastern Band of Cherokee – Region 4 

(NTWC Vice-Chair)

Michael Bolt, Vice-Chair of the National Tribal Water Council, has served as Tribal Water Quality Section Supervisor for the Eastern Band of Cherokee for 8 years, following employment with Western Carolina University. He is responsible for the Tribe’s §106 water quality standards program, monitoring and reporting for `biological monitoring and assessment, and community education and outreach.  Michael is state- and Tribally-licensed as a water, wastewater, operator and laboratory analyst, and represents the Eastern Band of Cherokee in hydropower re-licensing matters, including the Nantahala and Tuckasegee Cooperative Stakeholder Teams, and the Cheoah and Tallassee Fund Boards. A former member of the National EPA-Tribal Science Council, he is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Masters in Environmental Law & Management. Michael can be reached via e-mail at michbolt@nc-cherokee.com, or by telephone at (828) 497-2715.

Nancy Schuldt – Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior 

Chippewa – Region 5

Nancy Schuldt has served as the Fond du Lac Water Quality Coordinator for 10 years. Her water quality monitoring and quality assurance plans were critical to the finalization of Tribal water quality standards, and provided a model for other EPA Region 5 Tribes entering similar phases of their own water projects. She directed research into fish contaminants and sediment chemistry to characterize mercury impacts to Fond du Lac Band members, participates in numerous local and regional working groups to ensure the tribal perspective is represented, and initiated a cooperative wastewater management project with the non-tribal community to protect Big Lake, a heavily developed lake on the Reservation. She is also responsible for the tribe’s nonpoint source management program, and environmental review of mining and energy industry impacts to trust resources. Nancy can be reached via e-mail at nancyschuldt@fdlrez.com, or by telephone at 218-878-8010.

Nancy John – Cherokee Nation – Region 6

Nancy John, (Muscogee/Choctaw), serves as Director of Cherokee Nation Environmental Programs and the 42-member Inter-Tribal Environmental Council. She is responsible for the strategic administrative and programmatic management of the Cherokee Nation Clean Water Program, including water monitoring, baseline assessments, community planning, and Smart Growth initiatives. She oversees the Inter-Tribal Environmental Council’s Regional Training Program, including water sampling methods training.  Nancy is a Registered Sanitarian and Registered Environmental Specialist, with Oklahoma State licenses in both areas. She is currently participating in the development of model Tribal Water Quality Standards for Tribes in Oklahoma, National Tribal Operations Committee, Regional Tribal Operations Committee and has participated on the Tribal Environmental Indicator Systems workgroup, Chemical and Pesticides Results Measures workgroup, National Pollution Prevention Roundtable Tribal Work Group and Forum on States and Tribal Toxics Action/Tribal Affairs Project. Nancy can be reached via e-mail at Nancy-John@cherokee.org or by telephone at (918) 453-5102.

Denise Jensen – Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska – Region 7

Denise Jensen serves as the Water Quality Specialist for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. She prepared the Tribe’s Quality Assurance Plan for the Chemical Assessment of Surface Water and Fish Tissue, and the Quality Assurance Plan for the Physical and Biological Assessment of Surface Water. Denise also established an extensive surface water monitoring program, generating years of physical, chemical and biological data, and conducted fish tissue collection from several recreational fishing bodies on the Winnebago Reservation. Denise can be reached via e-mail at winnewater@huntel.net, or by telephone at (402) 878-4060, ext. 1002

Carlyle Ducheneaux – Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

– Region 8

Carlyle Ducheneaux, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, serves as the Tribe’s Water Quality Coordinator.  He works with sixteen communities and five municipalities on his 2,850,000 acre reservation. Carlyle is familiar with all the necessary field work required for his position, including water, soil, fish, macroinvertebrate, periphyton and air sampling, as well as habitat assessment and human blood sampling re mercury contamination. In his former positions as NPDES and Superfund Coordinator, he helped establish permits for the entire reservation, participated in an NRDA case in which the Tribe won. According to an EPA Region 8 Director, Carlyle “has turned a good 106 program into a great program” and is “the top tribal expert on mercury in Region 8”. Carlyle can be reached via e-mail at cducheneaux@crstepd.org, or by telephone at (605) 964-6558.

Ken Norton – Hoopa Valley Tribe – Region 9 (NTWC Chair)

Ken Norton, Chair of the National Tribal Water Council, is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and serves as the Director of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Environmental Protection Agency. Ken has expertise in water quality and the development of water quality standards. He is also a fisheries expert, understanding the water quality needs of healthy salmon and other river life, and experienced in watershed restoration. As TEPA Director, Ken oversees an array of Tribal water programs, as well as other tribal environmental programs (such as superfund, brownfields, air, pesticides, lead and solid waste). Ken serves as the Vice-Chair of the National Tribal Operations Committee and as the NTOC Tribal Caucus Lead for Water Issues. Ken can be reached at knorton@hoopa-nsn.gov or at (530) 625-5515, ext. 303.

Daniel Chythlook – Aleknagik Traditional Council – Region 10

Daniel Chythlook, an enrolled member of the Aleknagik Traditional Council (Yu’pik), serves as the Tribe’s Environmental Program Manager. Daniel wrote the quality assurance project plan for the Nushagak/Mulchatna Watershed Council. He is experienced in water quality and aquatic bio-assessment monitoring, and trains environmental staff for other Alaska Native Tribes. Daniel is involved with global warming issues, and the impacts that the tourism industry and large-scale mining development have on Tribal water quality and fisheries. He serves on the Lower Nushagak River Technical Advisory Committee for Water Quality Assessment and on the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Steering Committee for the Nushagak River Watershed Traditional Use Area. Daniel can be reached by e-mail at aleknagiktraditional@starband.net or by telephone at (907) 842-4407.

Alex Cabillo – Hualapai Tribe – At-Large

Alex Cabillo, a Hualapai Tribal member, serves as the Tribe’s Water Resource Program Manager. A former Tribal Council member, he has worked on Hualapai water resource preservation and conservation issues for over a decade. Alex monitors water quality at over 54 surface and ground water sites, is responsible for source water assessment and the protection of aquifers on tribal lands, and has developed a Tribal storm water pollution prevention plan. He manages a wetland demonstration project that involves monitoring wetland water quality and the sampling of macroinvertabrates to establish baseline information correlated to wetland health and functionality. Alex’s goal is no net loss of wetland acreage, and – whenever possible – net gains through enhancement efforts or increased functionality. He is also responsible for a nonpoint source pollution program. Alex can be reached via e-mail at acabillo@hotmail.com or (928) 769-2254.

Ann Marie Chischilly – Gila River – At-Large

Ann Marie Chischilly, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, serves as Counsel for the Gila River Indian Community Office of Water Rights. A participant in the Community’s water rights negotiation process, she focused on anticipating and addressing relevant environmental concerns. Ann Marie has special expertise about working with federal and state agencies regarding the environmental approvals needed to implement Indian water settlements. She is also knowledgeable about the processes required for environmental enforcement, and compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Ann Marie can be reached via e-mail at amchisch@gricnet.com or by telephone at (520) 796-1344.

Dave Fuller – Port Gamble S’Klallam – At-Large

Dave Fuller, Water Resources Manager and Hydrogeologist, has written, managed and executed environmental grants for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and, before that, the Suquamish Tribe, for more than seventeen (17) years. He has expertise in groundwater resources and protection, Tribal surface water quality standards, surface water and wetlands monitoring and management, wellhead and drinking water protection and toxic landfill cleanup. Dave is frequently called on to serve as a technical expert for Tribal, state and regional water resources and watershed councils. He represented Western Washington Tribes on the Washington State Hydraulic Continuity (the link between groundwater and surface water) Technical Advisory Committee. Dave is licensed as a geologist and hydrogeologist by the State of Washington and is additionally licensed as a geologist in California. In previous lifetimes, Dave worked for the California Department of Water Resources, the California Geological Survey and a couple of counties in Minnesota on water quality issues. Dave can be reached via e-mail at dfuller@pgst.nsn.us, or by telephone at (360) 297-6323.

Steve Crawford – Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point – At-Large

Steve Crawford has served as the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Environmental Director since 2003. He is knowledgeable about methyl mercury contamination in freshwater and marine fish, impacts of acid rain on Northeastern Tribal waters, and water sampling for phytoplankton and zooplankton. He has surveyed and monitored marine invasive species in the Gulf of Maine since 1995. Since 2003, he has monitored water quality (including chlorophyll α, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen) in Passamaquoddy Bay, the Western Passage of the Bay of Fundy, and Cobscook Bay to determine their impacts on salmon culture. He previously designed, built and operated the largest catfish producing farm in Oklahoma, and was the first to commercially culture the Japanese seaweed “nori” in the Western North Atlantic. Steve can be reached via e-mail at stevecrawford@wabanaki.com or by telephone at (207) 853-2600, ext. 238.

Satya “Deb” Misra – Navajo Nation – At-Large

Satya Deb Misra, P.E., is the Director of the Navajo Nation’s Surface and Ground Water Protection Department. Deb’s areas of expertise include drinking water, waste water, water quality standards, source water and ground water protection, wetlands conservation, environmental permitting (including Public Water Systems, Underground Injection Control and NPDES) and PWS operator certification. He is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Deb can be reached via e-mail at debmisra@navajo.org, or by telephone at (928) 871-7701.

Kathleen Hill, NTWC Project Manager & 

Joseph Dupris, NTWC Project Administrator

Kathleen Hill, a Klamath tribal member, did the historical research and writing for the Klamath Tribes’ successful restoration of federal recognition, and served in Tribal government prior to completing her education at the University of Washington. She earned a law degree and advanced law degree (LL.M.) in International Sustainable Development, focusing on the water needs of Indian Tribes. Kathy subsequently served as the first Tribal Office director for EPA Region 10, working with tribes located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. She was a finalist for Ecotrust’s Indigenous Environmental Leadership Award sponsored by Peter and Howard Buffet, and currently serves on the Ecotrust Board of Directors.

Joseph Dupris, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has worked with Tribes at both the national and local levels. Prior to completing his graduate studies, he served as the national executive director of the Coalition of Indian-Controlled School Boards, and taught at several universities including the University of Washington. Joseph’s doctoral studies had a cross-cultural, business and organizational development emphasis. He earned both his Ph.D. and law degree at the University of Washington, then worked briefly for the Northwest Justice Project as an advocate for tribes and low-income individuals.

Kathy and Joseph, a married couple, subsequently served as professors of Native American Studies at Humboldt State University for five years prior to returning to Chiloquin, Oregon in Klamath country. They have more than half a century of experience working in Indian country and on Native issues, and are honored to be co-authors with William H. Rodgers, Jr. (Stimson Bullitt Environmental Law Chair at the University of Washington School of Law) of The Si’lailo Way: Indians, Salmon and Law on the Columbia River (Carolina Academic Press 2006).

Joseph and Kathy can be reached via e-mail at tribal_water_council@hotmail.com, or by phone at (541) 783-3590.

How did the Council members get appointed?

Interim Council:

As required by the cooperative agreement with EPA, the National Tribal Water Council started out with an Interim Council, then a full Council.

In January, 2007, the NTWC Project Manager and Project Administrator sought nominations for a five-member Interim Council. There were sixteen (16) nominees from five different EPA regions, in addition to Ken Norton (Hoopa Valley Tribe – Region 9), who had already agreed to serve on the Council. The nominee pool was very impressive. After reviewing the nominations, and the input provided by each nominee, a geographically diverse group of skilled tribal water professionals was appointed.

While developing the Interim Council By-Laws (subsequently amended and affirmed by the full Council), the Interim Council determined that the Council should have at least one member from each EPA Region that has federally-recognized Tribes within its boundaries, and six at-large members, for a total of 15 members.

Full Council: