By George Owen

Long-time BMTA member and activist Ron Tipton has just been chosen the executive director of the national Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) on July 12.

The ATC oversees the Appalachian Trail (AT) – the world’s most famous footpath – in its 2,175 length through 14 states. Its staff headquarters is in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Ron has a long history with both the Appalachian Trail and the Benton MacKaye Trail Association as he has served the past thirty years as an advocate for public land preservation through leadership in major conservation/environmental organizations.
While in Atlanta during the 1980s for several years as regional director for The Wilderness Society, Ron both served on the BMTA board and spent various work Saturdays helping to construct the Benton MacKaye Trail across Georgia. Upon subsequently leaving Georgia he has continued to this day to be a BMTA member.

His involvement over more recent years with the Appalachian Trail was initiated in 1978 when he hiked the entire trail in a few months. His AT-related involvement since then has included membership and section maintainer for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and board of the ATC.

Ron has served for much of his more recent career until now as senior vice president for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), which has over 400,000 members nationwide. A graduate of George Washington University with an undergraduate degree in American Studies and a law degree from GW’s National Law Center, he subsequently worked as a program officer at the National Academy of Sciences and on the oversight/investigative staff of the U.S. Congressional House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee. He then became a congressional liaison for The Wilderness Society, for whom then he became the regional director several years in Atlanta. Here he developed and helped usher through Congress greater protection for several areas on the Chattahoochee National Forest, including new wilderness areas.

After The Wilderness Society, Ron served as vice president for the National Audubon Society, then was with the World Wildlife Fund. In 2000 he became the Senior Vice President for Programs of NPCA, and from 2008 until now NPCA Senior VP for Policy.

Ron has been married for 33 years to Rita Molyneaux and has a son who is a firefighter.
He and Rita reside in Rockville, MD. He is the recent past president of the Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington, a large project of the DC area Episcopal Church.

Our BMTA faithful member has been a close friend to several of us long-time BMTA members, including three former presidents. Some of us in BMTA are part of a group that hikes with Ron for part of a week every other year now.

All of us wish Ron well with great success in his new ATC job.