IGBC Executive Committee

The IGBC Memorandum of Understanding and the Committee Charter direct the Executive Committee to provide overall guidance for approved projects as detailed in the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and associated management decisions. Each year the IGBC Executive Committee meets in the winter in Missoula, Montana and in the summer within one of the grizzly bear recovery ecosystems. Specifically, the Executive Committee takes the following actions during their business meetings:

  • Implements the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan, and all management and research activities necessary to provide for recovery of the grizzly bear
  • Directs research and monitoring activities
  • Makes joint recommendations to Federal and State agency heads
  • Reviews and approves or disapproves actions proposed by Subcommittees
  • Make provisions for implementation of approved actions

The chairmanship of the IGBC executive committee rotates every two years.

Matt Hogan, IGBC Chair 2018-2020

Matt Hogan, Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region

Matt Hogan has been the Deputy Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region in Denver since 2013. Matt joined the Mountain-Prairie Region in 2010, as the Assistant Regional Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs and later as the Regional Refuge Chief.

Prior to working for the Service in Denver, Matt worked for 20 years in the policy arena in Washington DC. During his time in Washington, Matt served as Executive Director of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) from 2006 to 2010, where he worked closely with the 50 state fish and wildlife agencies. Before taking the helm of AFWA, Matt served in several leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Interior including Deputy Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Acting Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Acting Assistant Secretary of Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

Matt has also worked for a several NGO’s in Washington doing government affairs and policy work. Matt began his career working on Capitol Hill, serving first on the House Armed Services Committee and then on the staff of Congressman Pete Geren (D-TX), where among other things, he oversaw the work of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus.

Ellen Davis, IGBC Executive Coordinator, 2005 – Present

Ellen Davis has held the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) Executive Coordinator position since April 2005. The Ellen DavisExecutive Coordinator is a U.S. Forest Service position and has been for much of IGBC’s 33 years of existence. Prior to that, the position was with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is also the only permanent staff position within the IGBC and funded by all the federal IGBC member agencies.

Davis’s Forest Service career has spanned over 27 years with the agency. Davis began her career in the Alaska Region before moving to the Northern Region of the Rocky Mountains in Montana. She held Public Affairs Specialist positions in both regions before becoming the IGBC Executive Coordinator for the IGBC.

She holds an Associate of Arts (AA) Degree with an emphasis in Communications and English from the University of Alaska, Southeast, Ketchikan Campus.

Executive Committee Meetings

Please refer to the Meeting Calendar for upcoming meetings of the Executive Committee.

Meeting summaries and presentations

  • Information and Education Update
  • Wildlife Management Institute Support to the IGBC
  • Update on IGBC Bear Resistant Container-Testing and Certification Program
  • IGBC and Subcommittee Ecosystems Five-Year Action Plan
  • Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2015 Research and Monitoring Summary
  • GYE Grizzly Bear Population Monitoring & New Genetic Research
  • Selkirk Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems Accomplishments and Research Updates
  • Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem 2015 Report
  • 2015 IGBC Expenditure Report
  • North Cascades Ecosystem and EIS Update
  • Bitterroot Ecosystem Update 1
  • Bitterroot Ecosystem Update 2
executive committee
Front Row left to right:
Frank van Manen, Martha Williams, Ellen Davis, Rollie White, Ann Froschauer, Karen Taylor-Goodrich, Jacque Buchanan
Back Row left to right:
Toby Boudreau, Mike Philbin, Hilary Cooley, Chris Savage, Eric Johnston, Pat Walsh, Randy Arnold, Jodi Bush, Penny Becker, Rodney Smoldon, Kim Annis, Matt Hogan, Scott Jackson, Lori Roberts, Tim Woolley, Tricia O’Connor, Mike Wrigley and Chuck Mark

Executive Committee Membership

  • Matt Hogan (Chair) Region 6, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  • Martha Williams (Vice-Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
  • Ellen Davis (IGBC Executive Coordinator) U.S. Forest Service
  • Toby Boudreau Idaho Fish & Game
  • Tim Woolley Wyoming Game & Fish Department
  • Penny Becker Washington Department Fish & Wildlife
  • Melany Glossa Region 1, U.S. Forest Service
  • Jacque Buchanan Region 2, U.S. Forest Service
  • Mary Farnsworth Region 4, U.S. Forest Service
  • Eric Johnston Region 6, U.S. Forest Service
  • Rollie White Region 1, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  • Pat Walsh Intermountain Region, National Park Service
  • Karen Taylor-Goodrich North Cascades National Park
  • Claudia Regan Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, USGS
  • Mike Philbin Montana State BLM, also represents Idaho State BLM and Wyoming State BLM

Canadian partners

  • Alec Dale British Columbia Ministry of Environment
  • Paul Frame Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
  • Dave McDonough Jasper National Park, Parks Canada

Advisors to the IGBC Executive Committee

  • Hilary Cooley Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  • Frank van Manen Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, USGS
  • Scott Jackson National Carnivore Program, U.S. Forest Service
  • Kim Annis (IGBC IEO Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Executive Committee I&E Subcommittee Membership

  • Kim Annis (IGBC IEO Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Selkirk/Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem Subcommittee)
  • Lori Roberts (IGBC IEO Vice Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
  • Ellen Davis (IGBC Executive Coordinator) U.S. Forest Service
  • Amy Baumer U.S. Forest Service (Bitterroot Ecosystem Subcommittee)
  • Dillon Tabish Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem Subcommittee)
  • Denise Schultz National Park Service (North Cascades Ecosystem Subcommittee)
  • Danielle Oyler Wildlife Management Institute (Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee) 

IGBC Foundation and Policy Documents

Foundations of the IGBC

IGBC Position Statements

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Documents

Historical Documents