Your donation to FDRD supports the local, National Forest.

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Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that preserves the local, National Forest through volunteer projects, education + collaborative partnerships.

With more than 60 volunteer projects on our National Forest each year, FDRD volunteers contribute thousands of hours maintaining and improving trails, planting trees, pulling invasive weeds and educating visitors about the local, National Forest.

Staff & Board
Goals/Accomplishments

FDRD Mission

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD)’s Mission is to partner with the White River National Forest’s Dillon Ranger District in Summit County to provide opportunities for the community to play a more active role in the sustainable management of the local forest and to enhance the experiences of all who recreate here by:

  • Conducting high quality projects to build and maintain trails, plant new trees, promote watershed restoration and perform other services to sustain the Dillon Ranger District
  • Developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships between the Forest Service and a diverse group of local organizations, stakeholders, individuals and users of the National Forest land
  • Creating excellent educational programs for our visitors, residents and youth to promote, protect and preserve our National Forest

FDRD Team

Doozie Martin
Doozie MartinExecutive Director
Doozie, who grew up in Kansas City, followed his Midwest roots to graduate school at the University of Missouri. Upon the completion of the program, he followed his love of the forest and the mountains to the high country of Summit County where he stumbled upon Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. He’s now entering his ninth season of forest stewardship with the strong volunteer community that resides in Summit County. When he’s not rubbing shoulders with volunteers in this devoted mountain community, he can be found hiking with his dog, Titus, riding his bike, camping in the woods and strummin’ on his ol’ 6-string. He hopes to make your acquaintance on an upcoming forest health project on a trail near you!

Get in touch: doozie@fdrd.org
Pronouns: he/him/his

Lizzie Morrison
Lizzie MorrisonPrograms Manager
Lizzie first joined the FDRD team in 2019. She is excited for her new role as program manager. She transplanted to Colorado from the Midwest about 8 years ago. After graduating from college with a degree in Environmental Science, she looked west for outdoor conservation work. Her trail background comes from participating and leading trail crews with the Student Conservation Association and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps. She is inspired by FDRD volunteers and their dedication to giving back to the National Forest here in Summit County. When she is not busy organizing volunteer projects and wearing her hard hat, she can be found in the woods biking, hiking, and skiing with her partner, Zack and powder hound, Cheezy. Lizzie is looking forward to digging in a borrow pit and pounding rebar with you at one of our trail projects this summer! Happy trails!

Get in touch: lizzie@fdrd.org
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Robert Bennett
Robert BennettMarketing & Events Manager
Rob grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and made his way out to Colorado after graduating from Drury University with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations. He started off in Summit County as a ski instructor at Copper Mountain and eventually moved into the world of events, working for Copper’s Competition Department. He soon followed that up with a stint at Vail Resorts. Rob is an adrenaline junkie and cannot get enough of the gravity fed freedom that skiing and mountain biking supply. In his free time, you can find him out on the trails or honing his skills in the kitchen. Rob is an expert at-home chef and chocolate chip cookies are his speciality. Rob comes to FDRD with a great attitude and a passion about preserving the outdoors for others to enjoy.

Get in touch: robert@fdrd.org
Pronouns: he/him/his

Maddie Retrosi
Maddie RetrosiEducation and Youth Programs Manager
Maddie grew up in New Hampshire and spent her time in coastal New England exploring the nature around her and working in outdoor and environmental education. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, she put her physical skills to the test on a Student Conservation Association trail crew. Falling even more in love with the outdoors, conservation, and stewardship, Maddie moved to Colorado to chase public lands. She spent her summers in Summit County as an environmental educator and now is excited to get dirty on the trails again with FDRD. Maddie can’t wait to work with you on the trail and share her favorite recipes from wild edibles!

Get in touch: maddie@fdrd.org
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Em Lind
Em LindEducation & Events Coordinator
Em joined the FDRD team in the summer of 2022 and is ready to be back on the trails! She moved to Colorado in 2019 and has worked as a youth snowboard instructor each winter at Breckenridge Resort. Originally from Pennsylvania, she studied Outdoor Recreation Management at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Since then, Em has gained experience working with youth through instructing and as a manager of an adventure program at a summer camp in Maine. She is passionate about inspiring future generations to be stewards of the outdoors and connecting with the local community. When she is not out in the field, you can find her rock climbing, hiking, or out shooting photos.

Get in touch: emilylind@fdrd.org
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Maddie Kornutiak
Maddie KornutiakProgram Coordinator
Maddie is new to the FDRD team this summer! She grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania and moved out to Colorado to attend CU Boulder (Sko Buffs!). After graduating from CU with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, she moved up to Summit County to work for the US Forest Service on the Dillon Ranger District Trail Crew. You may have even seen Maddie patrolling up at Vail Pass on skis or a snowmobile! Maddie has gained a lot of experience working on the trail crew over the past two summers and is excited to work with FDRD. When she’s not rolling around in the mud on the trails, she’s is usually skiing, biking or even crocheting!

Get in touch: kornutiakm@fdrd.org
Pronouns: she/her/hers

The FDRD Board

Laurie Alexander
Laurie AlexanderBoard President
Retired Software Product Manager
Jim Borgel
Jim BorgelVice President
Corporate Attorney at Holland & Hart
Brian Blankenmeister
Brian BlankenmeisterTreasurer
Senior Vice President at Alpine Bank
Lauren Richmond
Lauren RichmondSecretary
Marketing and Events Manager – High Country Conservation Center
Scott Schlegel
Alpine Bank Assistant Vice President
Elaine Collins
Elaine Collins
Dedicated Volunteer
Jill Hutton
Jill Hutton
Lift Maintenance Admin Specialist
Breckenridge, Vail Resorts
Anne Miller
Anne Miller
Arapahoe Basin – Human Resources Director
Brad Piehl
Brad Piehl
Watershed Planner at JW Associates

History of FDRD

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD) began in 2005 as a group of local community members who wanted to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Dillon Ranger District (DRD), to play a more active role in the sustainable management of our local National Forest. At the time, Ken Waugh was the District Recreation Staff Officer for the DRD. He also recognized the need for the Forest Service to make some “friends” and the inception of FDRD became his mission. In the past 15 years, the organization has grown to a four-person, full time, year-round staff, with two summer seasonals and over 1,000 dedicated volunteers. Our programs have grown steadily in response to a high level of demand for organized, effective outdoor stewardship projects, as well as the growing popularity of recreation in Summit County. FDRD was recognized as the US Forest Service’s National “Volunteer Program of the Year” in 2010 and won 2nd Place in the Summit Daily News’ Best of Summit competition for Best Nonprofit in 2019.

Awards + Acknowledgements

  • Caring for the Land Stewardship Award
  • Summit Foundation Outstanding Community Organization Award
  • Continental Divide Trail Alliance Partner of the Year
  • Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado Partner Organization of the Year
  • USDA Forest Service Sponsored Group of the Year Award
  • The SHIFT Youth Stewardship Award
  • Best of Summit County Award

Summer 2023 Accomplishments

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Volunteer Hours
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Bags of Trash Collected
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Feet of Trail Maintained
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Number of Youth Educated

Goals & Accomplishments

  • Improving trail conditions on the National Forest in Summit County by engaging a diverse range of community members and other stakeholders in outdoor stewardship projects.
  • Providing a consistent volunteer outreach and monitoring presence on the National Forest in Summit County by engaging individual volunteers as part of FDRD’s Ranger Patrol program.
  • Providing a continuum of service learning opportunities for youth ages 6-18. Increased engagement of local, and visiting, youth remains a primary goal for FDRD in the years to come.
  • Improving natural resource conditions by engaging partners and community volunteers in a variety of volunteer service projects including ecological restoration and trail maintenance.
  • Seeking business and organization “field partners” to not only participate in field projects but also to help recruit additional sub-population of volunteers.
  • Educating the public about issues facing the National Forest, by providing and facilitating educational presentations, outreach opportunities, and interpretive hikes throughout the year.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Friends of the Dillon Ranger District is committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in all aspects of our mission. As a community-based, non-profit organization, we recognize the inherent value that every unique individual who makes up our community contributes to our mission of protecting and maintaining our public lands.

See what deia means to us