John has a strong background in Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, bringing this expertise to our board of directors. He currently serves on the board of Partnerscapes (partnerscspes.org) and is the Vice President of the Mountaineer Chapter of Trout Unlimited. John has served on other boards including: Tygart Valley Lions Club, Elkins Pool Committee, and Elkins Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. John has been an Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing guide since 2010 for Elk River Touring Center in Slaty Fork, WV and also guides at Harman’s Cabins. He’s also an avid waterfowl hunter that trains retrievers and loves to introduce young hunters to the sport. He has coached for over 40 years and continues to coach the Randolph Area YMCA Swim team (RAYS). John has been married to Jean Lowry Schmidt since July 1981, with two adult children and two grandchildren. John and Jean enrolled nearly 43 acres of their forest in the Family Forest Carbon Program in 2023 and an additional 11 acres is enrolled in a combined Partners for Fish and Wildlife (USFWS)/EQIP (NRCS) project to provide pollinator habitat and improve forest health via the removal of non-native invasive shrubs.
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