Meet The UMOWA Team

Josh serves as Executive Director of the Upper Missouri Watershed Alliance, leading the organization's conservation efforts and community partnerships to protect the Upper Missouri River watershed.

I am Sherry Meador and serve as the Board Chair for UMOWA. I am a Virginia native and have lived in the Helena area since 1993 after graduating from the University of Montana, School of Law. My husband, Dave, and I have two children with whom we have spent many enjoyable days at our cabin on the Missouri. Through my law practice, I have worked with a number of non-profit organizations, small businesses, recreational services, and government policy initiatives. I helped establish the Smith River Habitat Project in 2005, working with private and public land managers to improve weed management on the Smith River. I joined the board of UMOWA in 2017 and have appreciated the opportunity to work with the Missouri River community to protect the upper Missouri River watershed.

I grew up in Northwestern Montana and learned to appreciate some of Montana's outdoor treasures hiking the Cabinet Mountains and fishing the Kootenai River and its tributaries. After graduation from the University of Montana, I moved from Missoula to Helena. I practiced law for several years. Later, I became a Managing Director doing land conservation with the Montana Land Reliance until retiring in 2018.

I have been involved with river conservation as a board member and board chair of the Pat Barnes Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I am a long-time board member and current board chair for the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust (Citizens Advisory Board) acquiring and improving public access to recreational land and water.

I live in Helena with my spouse, Ann. Our children, Sam and Zoe, are grown and live in Montana. I enjoy fishing, skiing, and hunting.

I am a Journeyman Lineman, currently serving as Business Manager for Local #44 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. I previously served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives and have always been a community activist. I am a lifelong Montanan, one of 8 children and currently reside in Butte. I am originally from Great Falls and we have a family cabin near Craig. I have lived next to or had a place on the Missouri River my entire life and have seen many changes to the river and its shoreline. I am married to my girlfriend, Elaine, and we have 4 daughters and 7 grandchildren. We all love the river and feel we owe much to it. We, as a family are committed to its health and preservation.

I grew up right here in the Missouri watershed and have spent my entire life recreating in Montana's wild places. After graduating from Helena High, I attended college at both MSU in Bozeman and UM in Missoula and finished with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. I started my teaching career in the Flathead Valley but moved back to Helena a few years after to be closer to the Missouri River and prime elk country. I spent eight years as a special education teacher with the Helena school district, and recently took on a new adventure teaching at a country school in Canyon Creek. A few years back I started working at Wolf Creek Angler during the summer and now I guide fly fishing trips on the Missouri. I really enjoy the best of both worlds, teaching during the school year and spending my summers on the river. Montana has been my home for the last 40 years and I know the importance of conserving its wild places so in the future others will be able to have the same recreational opportunities that I've been lucky to have enjoyed.

Joe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wyoming. He is currently a professor of Economics at Oregon State University. He has authored many papers on economics and its impact on agricultural and environmental issues. Joe comes from a multi-generational family home on the Missouri river with special knowledge and expertise on plants and streambank matters along the Upper Missouri Watershed and he is the point person on the UMOWA Board for these issues.

Growing up, I hunted and fished along the Rocky Mountain Front with my father who was a wildlife biologist. After a whirlwind of 5 different colleges, multiple different sports, travel around the world and the country, I luckily managed to end up in Missoula. A little more luck and I married Kim; who grew up tying flies and ran the original Angler's Roost on the Bitterroot River with her parents. Currently, I lead the natural resources team of a civil engineering, planning, and natural resources engineering firm, and I get to practice my passion of restoring and protecting Montana's local waters. My passion for the Mighty MO has been life long and UMOWA is the perfect vehicle to give back to the water that has brought me so much happiness. Looking forward to helping anyway I can and to serve on the board with such great people.

Riley Tubbs is an entrepreneur and outdoor enthusiast from Helena, Montana. Born and raised in Montana, Riley studied Nature Based Tourism at the University of Montana. After graduation Riley helped found Ten Mile Creek Brewery in Helena and most recently opened The Craig Taphouse in Craig, Montana.

When not running the business Riley enjoys the outdoors with his two children Trippe and Pennie and his wife AshLy. Riley has a long connection to the Missouri River, starting with his grandfather Bob Tubbs who was a boat captain and manager at The Gates of the Rocky Mountains.

Tim is a proud lifelong Helena resident and fourth generation Montanan. He considers himself truly fortunate to live in Helena and recreate along this wonderfully windswept eastern shadow of the Continental Divide. A perfect August day would be spent along the banks of a tributary to the upper Missouri River hunting for wild raspberries and hoping those reliable winds might transport grasshoppers onto the stream. A perfect winter day would be spent skiing new and deep wind transported snow at the Great Divide.

He is married to another lifelong Helenan, the fair and delightful, Ann Tilton and father to two marvelous children, Scott and Alana.

Tim spent his professional career primarily as a Contracts Officer, retiring in 2020, after a 30-year career with the Montana Department of Transportation. He previously served on the Smith River Advisory Council for the 2009 Smith River Management Plan Update. He is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Board of UMOWA in support of its mission to understand, conserve, and enhance the unique ecological and recreational resources of the upper Missouri River.

I accepted a teaching position in Helena in 1969 and have never left. After teaching and coaching at Helena High School for 6 years I spent 5 years at Carroll College coaching football. Notre Dame never called so I moved on. I began guiding with Paul Roos in 1980 and we eventually formed PRO Outfitters, a fly fishing/upland bird hunting operation with our main rivers being the Smith, Missouri and Blackfoot. After 45 years I'm still guiding some Smith trips and doing some upland bird guiding as well.

During this time I served on the original Smith River Advisory Board that formed the first set of rules and regulations including the lottery system that regulates the Smith River. I also served on the first Smith River Watershed group. I am honored to join Sherry and her group in doing our small part to help protect and enhance the Upper Missouri River.

As a 4th generation Montanan growing up in Klein and spending a good amount of time hiking the Bull Mountains and fishing the local rivers and small streams I have developed an ongoing admiration and appreciation for the outdoor opportunities we have available to us and the duty we have to protect these wonderful places.

My wife Renee and I plus 5 dogs reside in Helena where Renee owns and operates Park Ave. Bakery.

Rock is a respected conservation professional with deep ties to Montana Land Reliance and the Land Trust Alliance, where he has advanced land conservation, agricultural preservation, and wildlife habitat protection across the American West. An avid outdoorsman, self-described addicted fly fisher on the Missouri River, and passionate mountain biker, Rock brings thoughtful leadership and a genuine love of the land to UMOWA's board.