The Kenai Watershed Forum has appointed Trenten Dodson as their new executive director.
Dodson will be taking over for interim Executive Director Mitch Michaud who’s been in the role since the summer of 2022.
Trenten Dodson explains his move to the Kenai Watershed Forum;
“It was kind of an interesting as a couple things, but one thing that’s always interested me in the watershed forum, I mean all the way back to my Cook Inlet Aquaculture days when we were volunteered to help with their water monitoring for their baseline on the Kenai River. It was just the impact that they had on the community, the togetherness they brought to the community, you know, it was really community based effort. And with all of my extracurricular activity with Rotary and those sort of things, I’ve always kind of been a community person, always wanted to be involved in the community. And so the fact that they had that underlying, you know, tenant of their organization was really appealing to me. Also, the education piece, I’ve always been really interested in outreach and education. And that really, you know, fostered itself when I was with The Prince William Sound RCAC really got into that. And so those are things that are really attracted to me. And in fact, I actually went on the website to sign up to be a volunteer when I saw they had the job opening. And I felt like I was at the point in my career kind of at the right time, right place that has like, man, this would be a really good place for me. This is somewhere I’d really like to be. And so, I went for it.”
Dodson is excited to return to the Kenai with his family;
“I came to Alaska from Indiana back in 2021 just for the summer and I ended up staying and here I am. I really enjoy, like I say being involved in the community where I reside and you know, just getting involved in stuff and making a good place for my kids. That’s why we came back here as I felt like this would be a really great place. To raise my two kids. They kind of got into the junior high age and I felt it was time to bring them here in the in the outdoor activities that it provides for us. We like the fish, we like to hike, we like to just be out in nature.”
Dodson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Kenai Watershed Forum with an impressive background in fisheries management and aquatic habitat restoration.
Dodson has been an engaged community member and professional in the field since 2001, making significant contributions to various organizations in Alaska like Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Cook Inlet Regional Citizen Advisory Council, and the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association.
Trent discusses his vision for the Kenai Watershed Forum;
“The one thing that I really like about this organization is or is the education efforts. So, I’d really like to continue to expand those and improve upon those just even with the stuff they have now. I think it’s great and we can always, you know, maybe try to do more or do better also with some of the talk of doing a lot of improvements down here to the waterfront. I think that’s a really good opportunity for our organization to kind of get involved in and get out in front of and really assist in those efforts. But you know we’ve got it looks like we’ve got a new strategic plan coming out. So implementing that and working on that and you know not changing too many things right away, I am new, but you know seeing where we are and then seeing. How we can improve and implement that new strategic plan.”
Dodson is excited to work with the staff at the Watershed forum;
“I’m really excited to work with this great staff that we have. I’ve had an opportunity to meet with them a couple of times before I actually started full time. I really love the energy that they bring to the organization of the knowledge. They look like a really fun group to work with and I’m really excited for that.”
Expressing his enthusiasm for returning full time to the Central Kenai Peninsula, Dodson is eager to leverage his skills and expertise to advance KWF’s initiatives.
