Kenneth Cole

WWP's NEPA Coordinator

Ken Cole, Western Watershed Project’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Coordinator, is a 5th generation Idahoan who grew up accompanying his father, who worked for the Forest Service, on outings in central Idaho. It was during this time that he developed an appreciation of and respect for the natural environment and gained firsthand knowledge of the destructive impact of livestock grazing on public lands.

Ken has a degree in Biology from Idaho State University and studied Fisheries Resource Management at the University of Idaho. While in school, he worked summers as a crew leader doing field work and stream inventories for the U.S. Forest Service and for Idaho Fish and Game, collecting data on the now threatened White Sturgeon. He was also a fly-fishing guide for private outfitters in McCall and Yellowpine, Idaho.

After graduation and prior to joining WWP, Ken was a Biological Technician for Idaho Fish and Game. During this time he established a locally-adapted brood population of steelhead on a tributary of the Upper Salmon, processed biological information, tagged and did salmon counts on the South Fork of the Salmon and, at the Nampa Fisheries Research Laboratory, conducted fin-ray aging studies of Snake River Chinook.

An avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer, Ken is a past Board Member of the Wolf Recovery Foundation and is currently on the Board of the Buffalo Field Campaign.