Meet The Board

Tom Lemke

A Board member since 2015, Tom assumed the Chair of Piney Creek Watershed Association in 2020. He has guided the association through years of growth and success,. He is also active in both the Monitoring and Finance Committees.  

Tom earned PhD in chemistry from Lehigh University .He led Technical and International Marketing at Huntington Alloys and retired after 30 years in 2004 when he and his wife, Sally, moved to Glade Springs.  He has a passion for gardening and home brewing beer. In addition to his duties with Piney Creek, he fills his time with Rotary Club and serving on the boards New River Community and Technical College and Just for Kids, Wow!

Barry Milam

Barry was born at Coon Branch in Wyoming County and raised in Hoo Hoo Hollow near Maple Meadow. He graduated from Trap Hill High School and attended Beckley Collage and WVU before helping with the restart of the Lester Volunteer Fire Dept., where he then served as Asst. Chief for 35 years. Barry became the General Manager of the Crab Orchard-MacArthur PSD in 1994 and has been involved with the Trap Hill Watershed Assoc., the Upper Guyandotte Watershed Assoc. and is a founding member of the Piney Creek Watershed Assoc.  Barry has served on our Board of Directors ever since 2004! He currently serves on the Raleigh County Property Safety Enforcement Agency as well as the Board of Directors of the WV Rural Water Assoc. Barry believes a citizens group has to be involved in serving and promoting projects for the betterment of their community!

Teresa Sopher

A native West Virginian, Teresa spent much of her youth outdoors – first, running wild on her family's farm and later attending every outdoor camp she could find. Her favorite was a YCC Work Camp where she built stream dams, reclaimed a strip mine and built a Braille Trail, complete with a bridge. After thirty years spent working for the local phone company (five spent outdoors as one of the company’s few female linemen), she retired in 2009 and soon joined the PCWA Board of Directors. She serves as the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer and on the Monitoring, Executive, Financial and Fundraising Committees.  Teresa is also the President of Beckley Library’s Friends of the Library, the Secretary Treasurer of the Beckley Beautification Committee and active in the Raleigh County Historical Society.

Carolyn Hefner

Carolyn is the newest board member of the PCWA and serves as the secretary of the board of directors. Her love for the outdoors began at a young age when she would follow her father who was a conservation officer. She retired after 22 years of service as Assistant Director of the West Virginia Conservation Agency. In her role as Assistant Director, she helped to organize and assist many watershed associations around the state. Carolyn has stated many times, “Watershed organizations are the true grassroots organizations. These organizations work hard to restore and maintain the designated uses of our waterways to help ensure safe drinking water, fishing, recreation, and protection of wildlife.”

Gary Morefield

Gary is the heartbeat of all our trails in the watershed! He was recognized with a WV Governor's Award for his unparalleled and countless hours of volunteer work.

If you have hiked or mountain biked in the Piney Creek Gorge, or surrounding areas, it was likely a trail on which Gary has worked.  He has been on the PCWA board since 2010 (?) and he is active on the Outdoor Recreation Committee.  The employees of PCWA collaborate with Gary on a weekly basis and look to him for materials, and all bridge building, as well as brainstorming all things access.  We are lucky to have Gary's passion aligned so fully with the mission of PCWA.

Jeremiah Johnson

,Jeremiah was first introduced to the wonder of the Piney Creek Gorge as a student in Woodrow Wilson High School’s Conservation Club .   Over 25 years later, Johnson plays an important role in the conservation and improvement of Piney Creek.  Jeremiah is General Manager of the Beckley Sanitary Board, a wastewater and stormwater community which serves the greater Beckley area.   Early in his tenure at BSB, he incorporated the Piney Creek Watershed Association and recruited its first volunteer members.   Eighteen years later, he continues to serve as a board member and technical advisor.   Jeremiah is a strong believer in building collaborative partnerships in order to achieve conservation goals.   He learned many of those principals through his education at Emory & Henry College and graduate degree program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.   Jeremiah’s track record of community service includes a history of membership/leadership positions with many community organizations.   Beyond PCWA, he currently serves on the boards of the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, the New River Conservancy, the Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority and the West Virginia Municipal Water Quality Association.   He also serves as a co-chair of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Small and Medium Utility workgroup.   Jeremiah can often still be found hiking the Piney Creek Gorge, staying in shape through his hiking passion.  He has hiked or backpacked in 14 states.    

Corey Lilly

A native of West Virginia and recognized as one of the top adventure athletes in the state, Corey's passion for the outdoors is deeply rooted in his time spent in nature. Corey has gone as far as Capitol Hill advocating to protect WV's rivers. He served as PCWA's Executive Director from 2020 to 2021 and is now a board member at large. He currently works to lead his hometown of Beckley into the outdoors as the Director of the Office of Outdoor Economic Development.

Matthew Wade

Matt grew up in Mullens, WV in Wyoming County.

Before taking over at Eppy's Drug and IV here in Beckley, he had a career in Real Estate, serving the community with his can-do spirit.

Matt has always loved the outdoors and strives to protect what God has been so gracious to provide. 

Jim Reed

Prior to retirement in 2012, Jim was the Special Assistant to the Director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. He was also the Fisheries Biologist for 8 southeastern counties that included Raleigh County, and particularly “Piney Creek”. Jim was a charter member of PCWA, and has remained on the board since 2004.

Zach Armentrout

Zach is an avid outdoor enthusiast and works locally as a real estate developer with a background in outdoor recreation and water clean-up events. 

He grew up in Beckley whitewater rafting the New River Gorge, and returned to Fayetteville after finishing his undergrad in Finance and receiving a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), both from WVU in Morgantown.

Ken Dunlap

Ken is a retired chemist.  He received his Ph.D. from West Virginia University and worked in the Polymer Research Department at Bayer for over 30 years.  Ken grew up in central Pennsylvania, lived in West Virginia's northern panhandle for about 40 years, and moved to the Beckley area in 2007.  He enjoys the beautiful mountains and streams of West Virginia and strives to keep this beauty for future generations.  Ken is the chair of the PCWA Water Monitoring Committee.

Phyllis Farley

Phyllis, a retired DEP employee, served as PCWA's first Executive Director. She transitioned immediately from employee to Board member in 2010 where she remained a strong Board member till she resigned in March 2022. Phyllis served as both Chair, and Vice Chair during her tenure, and served on multiple committees.

Detlef Ulfers

Detlef has been on the PCWA board since the beginning days, and has been involved with trail scouting/planning, stormwater management, invasive
species control (knotweed), stream cleanups, and promoting the history of Piney Creek.  He currently serves as Chair for the WV Mountain Resource Conservation & Development Council (12-county area)--this group awards small local grants to assist trail building, erosion/sediment control, agricultural, improve environmental quality, and increase community development opportunities.  He works for Raleigh County as engineer (wearing many hats).  His hobbies include beekeeping, goat-keeping, kayaking, musical performance, solar panel/battery technology, snorkeling and e-biking.

Detlef has worked for years with Gary Morefield, helping to establish trails within the Beckley area.  Detlef adds a unique contribution to PCWA, one moment he'll play songs and the next moment he's collecting
wild edibles.