Board of Directors
Chris Fox, president | Bitterroot Valley | 406-291-1327 | Email Chris
Chris Fox is a retired U.S. Forest Service environmental planner who has lived in the Bitterroot Valley since 2008. An avid cyclist (road and mountain) and walker, he first became involved with the work of Bike Walk Montana through an affiliate, Bike Walk Bitterroot, helping to identify, maintain and improve opportunities for those activities in local communities. He subsequently joined the board of Bike Walk Montana to expand that work statewide. Chris is interested in developing and promoting legislation which addresses and improves laws pertaining to non-motorized transportation, as well as communicating with, and educating users and others, about those laws.
BEN WEISS, Past President | Missoula | 406 531-3889 | Email Ben
Ben Weiss gets to spend his days making his community better for biking and walking in his position as Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Missoula. With his hands in many pies–from long-range planning to facility design to project development to education and encouragement to safety promotion–Ben helps Missoula maintain its place among the best places to bike and walk in the country. Ben likes to raft, ski, hike, and bike in his spare time. He is also passionate about music, playing keyboards in several bands and hosting a radio show on KFGM with his wife, Amy.
John Juras | Great Falls | 406-868-0742 | Email John
John Juras is a Professional Civil Engineer and cycling enthusiast. John combines his passion for cycling with his engineering position to be an effective advocate for non-motorized transportation issues in the Great Falls area. John is a Board member of Recreational Trails (River’s Edge Trail), and a long time organizer of the Great Falls Bicycle Club. Immediate family members include his wife, Kristen, a Law Professor at UM, and 3 sons (2 engineers and a teacher). John enjoys all types of bicycle exploration including trail riding, touring, competing, commuting, and sight seeing.
Jason Karp | Belgrade | 406-599-2897 | Email Jason
Jason Karp is the Planning Director for the City of Belgrade, has worked for the City for over 22 years, and is a lifelong resident of the Gallatin Valley. He is a regular commuter by bike or on foot, an avid road cyclist, and an active member of the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club. He volunteers to help out on numerous club rides, including the annual Three Rivers Century. He is also the Regional Brevet Administrator, for Randonneurs USA, leading long distance randonneuring rides all over Montana. Jason organizes a qualifying series of rides in Montana, called brevets, for the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200 kilometer grand randonee in France, and he has finished that event two times. Jason currently serves as the Gallatin County representative on the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board.
Kathy Aragon | Billings | 406 698-2992 | Email Kathy
Kathy Aragon is a physical therapist and community health advocate with a commitment to making her community a healthier more sustainable place to live, work, play and be educated. In 2012, Kathy and the MT Safe Routes to School Network (2010-2012) acted in an advisory position with the National Policy and Legal Analysis Network (NPLAN) to Prevent Childhood Obesity, and developed a model school siting policy in cooperation with local and state organizations including the MT School Boards Association (MTSBA). Kathy also worked with community partners to win EPA Implementation Assistance (awarded April, 2012) that resulted in the Smart School Siting Tool which provides city/school and other community decision makers with a planning tool that promotes more collaborative planning between schools, city, housing, transportation and health in order to improve outcomes and allow more fiscally responsible practices. Kathy worked in collaboration with multiple community partners to win a Safe Routes to School non-infrastructure grant in 2007 to fund the “Go Play!” community campaign which promoted support for trails, bikeways and sidewalks as Safe Routes to School. The work of the Go Play! campaign continues today in Billings, MT. Currently, Kathy serves on several community committees that work to make walking, biking or rolling to school, work or play safer for all.
Gene Townsend | Three Forks | 406 285-3633 | Email Gene
Gene Townsend is a native of Three Forks and the Headwaters Area. He and his wife, Pat, are long-time members of Bike Walk Montana. Gene also serves as a Board member or member of multiple non-profit community organizations, including the Three Forks Area Historical Society, Headwaters Food Bank, HRDC, the Three Forks Rural Fire Department, Bozeman Area Community Foundation and the Headwaters Fair Board. Gene started working on a trail system in the Headwaters Area in 1997 when he was Mayor of Three Forks. This paved trail is now 10+ miles long and extends from the Jefferson River at the Drouillard Fishing Access Area to the Headwaters State Park. The trail system has received several state awards. Because of the success of the Headwaters Trail System, Gene is frequently asked to be a speaker for communities trying to start trail systems. He and his wife spend many hours writing grants, mowing and doing other work on the trail. They have an Annual Run/Walk every July to raise money for the trail. Gene continues to plan for future trail expansion with a goal of connecting to other communities in the Gallatin Valley.
BRUCE ANDERSON | BOZeman | 406 600-8884 Email Bruce
Bruce is a Montana native and graduate of MSU where he studied earth sciences and geographic planning. During his college years, Bruce worked two summers on the Forest Service fire crew and two more as a Smoke Jumper out of Missoula, MT. He spent the next 30 years as a Navy helicopter pilot and staff officer stationed in a variety of places in the states and Europe. Bruce began competing in triathlons while stationed in Europe and has completed more than 10 1/2 ironman triathlons. Bruce has been a committed volunteer for several non-profits including Bike Walk Montana. Bruce brings passion for walk, bike and roll transportation safety with his history as an active community member and ambassador in making active transportation and the outdoor experience accessible for all.
Executive director, logan smith | Helena | 406 533-8128 | Email Logan
Logan Smith is a passionate community member, dedicated to building robust, safe, and equitable communities. Logan professional experience has emphasized her perspective in cross-sector collaboration and a holistic approach to making biking, walking, and rolling safe and accessible. Her recent professional roles have included: program supervisor for rental assistance programs at Montana Housing, Department of Health and Human Services with a focus on programs for children and youth with special health care needs, Program Specialist for the City of Missoula building sustainable transportation programs, and Outreach Director for Special Olympics Montana. She has a dual bachelor's degree in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Montana. As a sustainable commuter, you'll see her walking and biking around Helena. Logan is excited to continue to promote sustainable travel for all!