Staff & Volunteer LeadershiP
Who We Are
Dave Zentner
Project Director
David Zentner spent his childhood along the Mississippi River and has an avid interest in farmland conservation. A retired insurance and financial planner living in Duluth, Minnesota, Dave has served as the Izaak Walton League chapter, state, and national president and chair of the national executive board. Honorary doctorates from the University of Minnesota and Northland College, the IWL’s 54 Founders Award, and Outdoor Life magazine’s Conservationist of the Year award recognize his conservation work.
Barb Hanson
MN UMRI Administrative Liaison
Barb Hanson has lived and worked in the Minnesota River Valley for most of her life. For 32 years, she worked at the women’s correctional facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, and retired as associate warden of administration. Barb has served on the boards of directors for the Friends of the Minnesota Valley and the Minnesota Valley chapter and state division of the Izaak Walton League.
Tom Crawford
MN River Data Coordinator
Tom Crawford brings a wealth of local knowledge as the Minnesota River Data Coordinator. His love of the outdoors began as a young boy exploring the woods and waters of Princeton, MN. Since then Tom has held a variety of outdoor education roles across Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Colorado. He is also a dedicated volunteer of the Green Crew, a youth conservation organizations aimed at getting young people invested in the natural resources around them, and preparing young scientists and stewards for the challenges facing Minnesota’s environment. He spends his recreational time paddling on the water, making music with his friends, and going hiking with his wife and two cats.
Ted Suss
UMRI Steering Committee Chairperson
Ted Suss spent most of his career as a school administrator including as a school superintendent for 12 years. He served in the Minnesota legislature and was executive director of the Minnesota State Board of Education. Born and raised on a farm in southern Minnesota, Ted is a hobby farmer raising cattle, hogs, and goats. He was president of the Minnesota division and the Minnesota Valley chapter of the IWLA.
David Minge
UMRI MN River Coordinator
Living close to and enjoying the Minnesota River and its tributaries, David Minge has a long and strong involvement with the river. He canoes, skates, skis, swims, bikes, and camps. For decades, David has volunteered and worked on river issues as a county lawyer and in public office. He has served as a member of CURE, the Friends of the Minnesota Valley, the Izaak Walton League, and related organizations.
A Word
From Our Director
“The Izaak Walton League strategic plan… is to make conservation a way of life for every citizen. We (have) failed, in spite of our heroes, in spite of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act. We have not reached every day citizens. We have done the reverse in many ways. All of our success in the ’80s, in some ways, has made us a little arrogant, too piped into big government, too piped into top-down. I think I’m right that we start with our neighbors. We don’t start with the U.N. We don’t start with U.S. Senate. If all politics are local, then we go back to the old ways — from pre- and post-World War II. We go to the PTA. We talk to our neighbors and try to understand them.”