About Us

The Blue Water Task Force is a locally-led nonprofit 501(c) (3) watershed group, headquartered along the famous Gallatin River in Big Sky, Montana. The Task Force is governed by a board of community members representing a wide variety of stakeholders, including homeowners, recreational business owners, developers, and local water resource managers.

Board & Staff

Jon Holtzman, Chair
Jon has served with the Task Force from the beginning of the organization in 2000. He began coming to the Gallatin Canyon in 1965 and has been a full time resident since 1999. He is currently chair of the Wastewater Solution Forum, an organization investigating ways to manage wastewater in the growing Big Sky community. Jon holds bachelors and masters degrees from Indiana University in journalism and mass communication. He is a former chair of the Ophir School Board, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce growth and development committee, and a former board member of Gallatin County Big Brothers Big Sisters. He retired from a 30- year career in industry public relations and public affairs in 1998, is a former editor of a prize-winning weekly newspaper in Oregon and served in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot.

Eric Becker, Board Member
A fifteen-year resident of Big Sky, Eric is owner and operator of Geyser Whitewater Expeditions and is one of two river recreation representatives on the board. Eric attended Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, another recreational mecca. Eric has also served Big Sky on the advisory committee for the Chamber of Commerce and as a Search & Rescue volunteer and a volunteer fire fighter. Eric enjoys outdoor activities with his wife and young daughter, especially Nordic skiing, kayaking and biking.

Ron Edwards, Board Member
Ron has been the General Manager of the Big Sky County Water & Sewer District 363 for the past 10 years. Prior to this position he served as the Manager for the Green Lake Sanitary District, a summer lake resort community located in Green Lake, Wisconsin from 1988 to 1995. He has a Masters degree in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and a Bachelors degree in Geology from the University of Montana. Prior to 1988 he worked as a petroleum geologist in the Williston Basin. Ron and his family have lived in the Four Corners area since 1997. He and his wife Karla have 3 children; a daughter 24, and 2 sons 22 and 18. Ron enjoys golf and hunting and serves as the President of the Bozeman American Legion baseball program.

Sue Barton, Secretary/Treasurer
Sue is a middle school teacher at the Ophir School in Big Sky, primarily teaching life science and language arts. One of her main goals in teaching is to share her love of science and reading. "I want my students to get as excited as I am about discovery and to follow where it leads". Sue is originally from Wisconsin and moved to the mountains of Montana and finally to Big Sky in 1998. She has a B.A in psychology and a Master's in social work from the University of Wisconsin, a high school certification for psychology and biology from Carroll College in Helena and a B.A. in elementary education from Montana State University in Bozeman (MSU). Working on freshwater sponges with Dr. Addis at Carroll College was the aspect of her schooling that she loved the most. Sue published her thesis at Carroll College on freshwater sponges in Montana in a peer reviewed journal. She is now working on a Master's of Science in Science Education at MSU. In her free time, Sue enjoys reading, running, hiking, biking and skiing.

Jack Crowther, Vice Chair
Jack, who began visiting Big Sky as a part-time resident in 1974, has resided in the community with his wife Debbie since 1997. Jack is a retired insurance executive from the Minneapolis-St. Paul and a graduate from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. Since moving to Big Sky, Jack served on several B.S.O.A committees and was served on the Big Sky Water and Sewer board from 1998 through 2001. He was a key negotiator of the agreement with the Yellowstone Club which assured treated wastewater would not be released in to the Gallatin. Jack is an avid fly fisherman and bird hunter. He also enjoys golf, skiing and fishing.

Mike Richter

Mike got a ride to Big Sky in 1991 and has been snowboarding in the area ever since. He has a bachelors degree in Environmental Geology from Ohio University and began working for the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology in 1995. Mike collects ground water data from participating landowners across Montana for the GWIC database. He lives with his wife Jodi at Karst in the Gallatin canyon and enjoys long pow runs, safe skin tracks, catching fish until his arm hurts, and friendly Big Sky, Montana.

Staff

Kristin Gardner, Executive Director
Kristin recently moved to Big Sky from Bozeman, where she recently completed a PhD in Environmental Science and Ecology at MSU with a focus on streamwater quality. Kristin has worked in the Big Sky community for many years, conducting her PhD research in the West Fork watershed and serving as a Big Sky Institute fellow at Ophir School. Along with a passion for the area and a love of the outdoors, she brings a background in Water Resource Engineering and Environmental Planning and experience working for nonprofit organizations. For her Master's research she worked closely with the Nantucket Land Council, a non-profit land trust in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the Nantucket community on groundwater quality issues. In her free time, Kristin enjoys playing outdoors, listening to live music and traveling with her husband Jeremy, son Elijah, and dog Thailer.