Trustee Council
In 2012 the Coeur d’Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that established the Coeur d’Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustee Council (Trustee Council). The Trustee Council has one representative from each of the Trustees. The Trustee Council meets regularly and its purpose is threefold:
In order to achieve its purpose, the Trustee Council chartered the Technical Staff. The Technical
Staff provides technical expertise to the Trustee Council, and the Trustee Council provides
oversight and guidance to the Technical Staff.
Trustee Council Members
Kim Pierson, USDA Deputy Forest Supervisor, Idaho Panhandle National Forest

Pierson is an avid botanist who began her Forest Service career as a seasonal botanist on the Payette
National Forest in 1992. She completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a Master’s Degree in
Botany/Ecology at Utah State University in 1999. Prior to starting her permanent Forest Service
career, Pierson successfully managed her own botanical consulting company which was highly utilized
by several National Forests to complete survey work, pollination studies, and botanical analysis for
Forest Plan Revision efforts.
Pierson was the Forest Botanist for the Sawtooth National Forest. She spent nine incredible years in
this position working on a variety of botanical issues and restoration efforts. Pierson became the
New Meadows District Ranger in 2010, and then served as the Acting Director for Natural Resources
for the Intermountain Region in 2015. She leads a highly performing workforce comprised of a
dedicated team focusing on increasing the pace of restoration under Collaborative Forest Landscape
Restoration Program and a large fire organization.
Pierson and her husband Jeff Motychak share a love for camping, canoeing, science, and adventure.
Jeff and Kim also have a soft spot for shelter animals and have provided a home for five dogs and
two cats, which are the light of their lives. They are all extremely excited to be coming to the
Idaho Panhandle National Forests.
Ralph Allan, Jr.,
CDA Tribe

Ralph Allan is a member of the Coeur D’ Alene Tribe, and he is currently the Fish & Wildlife program
manager in the Tribe’s Natural Resources department. He joined the Tribe’s Natural Resource’s
department in 2003 as a wildlife technician, and worked his way through the ranks and school to be
where he is currently at in his career. Ralph earned two A.A.S degrees in 2015 from Spokane Community
College, and his B.A. from Whitworth University in 2020. Ralph also is a member of the Tribe’s Natural
Resource’s Committee, and enjoys doing his part to protect, preserve and enhance the Tribe’s natural
resources. Ralph has a deep love and passion for the people, land and waters that make up his
aboriginal homelands. Ralph enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking and especially inspiring youth to take an
interest in the natural world and all of the beauty it has to offer.
Carson Watkins, State of Idaho

Carson grew up on a family farm and ranch in Emmett, Idaho where he developed his love for Idaho and its resources.
He joined the Idaho Fish and Game in 2014 as a Regional Fisheries Biologist where he worked on large lake
fisheries issues and wild trout management in the Coeur d’Alene Basin, among many other things. In 2019,
Carson moved south to become the Southeast Regional Fisheries Manager where he worked on restoration of
wild trout fisheries and was instrumental in the cross-program integration of the region’s ongoing
bird-fish conflict resolution. He currently serves the state as the Regional Supervisor for the
Panhandle Region and is based in Coeur d’Alene. The challenges of collaboratively working on the
“people side” of fisheries and wildlife management issues is what Carson enjoys most about his job.
He earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from the University of Wyoming and a M.S. in
Fishery Science from the University of Idaho. In his spare time, Carson and his wife, Adeline, stay
busy trying to keep up with their two young boys—generally fishing, hunting, firewood cutting, and
anything else that keeps the family outside.
Christy Johnson-Hughes, Assistant State Supervisor for the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office/ U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service
Department of the Interior 

Christy has served in several roles within the Ecological Services Branch of Environmental Review.
She has lead national level efforts, including serving as Acting National Environmental Policy Act
Lead, ESA Compensatory Mitigation Lead, and National Energy Coordinator. Christy has over 20 years
of experience with the USFWS. Her USFWS career began as a volunteer in the New York Field Office
which lead to her first official position as a biologist with the Long Island Field Office. She
worked in the Pennsylvania Field Office, Headquarters in the Endangered Species program, West
Virginia Field Office, and back to Headquarters to the Ecological Services program. Most of
Christy’s career has revolved around team building and problem solving using various authorities,
including the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She
worked with federal, state and local organizations to support piping plover conservation on Long
Island beaches. In Pennsylvania, she was a transportation liaison and worked closely with the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. In West Virginia, Christy worked with the state and
industry to mitigate impacts from wind energy, coal mining, and natural gas infrastructure. In HQ,
she worked with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other DOI bureaus, as well as FWS programs,
to implement NEPA and the ESA Compensatory Mitigation Policy. Christy received her B.A. in Biology
from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and her M.S. in Conservation Biology and
Animal Behavior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
