2024 IATC Public Forum

Funding Conservation in the 21st Century

Learn more about Our Panelists and the WORK THey DO

Sam Jarrett, Program Manager, King County Parks

Sam has worked for public land management agencies within the Issaquah Alps for nearly two decades,. He spent 17 years working for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources as a recreation and district manager - planning, designing, and creating partnerships to modernize management and development of many of the trail networks along the Snoqualmie I-90 Corridor, later moving into a broader role as Trails Program Manager planning and activating projects statewide. Sam currently works for King County Parks as an Open Space Program team member working on land acquisitions, policy, site planning, restoration, and site activation focused on the Lower Snoqualmie and Issaquah Creek watersheds.

Ken Konigsmark, Board Member & Former Executive, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

Ken has a 30+ year history with IATC, serving as President, VP Advocacy, and a board member from 1990-2021, while also working full-time for the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust from 1993-2003 as a "loaned executive" from Boeing where he focused on land conservation and trail connections. He has also served for many years on the King County Conservation Futures Advisory Committee that recommends priorities for conservation funding and protection, including many now-conserved parcels in the Issaquah Alps area.

Ken was deeply involved in defining the Development Agreements that created both the Issaquah Highlands and Talus developments, providing higher density on 20% of the land for thousands of needed homes while preserving 80% of the land as untouched open space. Ken continues to advocate for protecting King County's rural and forestlands, sustaining the State Growth Management Act (GMA) and the Urban Growth Boundary now in place, and for continued conservation efforts to protect the best remaining lands in King County in the face of ongoing population pressures.

Jayana Marshall, Conservation Programs Division Assistant Division Manager, Washington Department of Natural Resources

Jayana comes to DNR’s Recreation and Conservation Division from DNR’s Tribal Relations office, where she has served as Deputy Director since 2022. Before arriving at DNR, Jayana worked as Chief of Staff for the Medicine Creek Enterprise Corporation, an organization created to manage the business affairs of the Nisqually Indian Tribe and surrounding community. This position is critical to the success of DNR’s conservation programs and Jayana's experience, particularly in working with Tribes and respective Natural Area Preserves and Natural Resource Conservation Areas, has been an excellent asset to the Division.

Kristen Ohlson-Kiehn, Recreation & Conservation Division Manager, Washington Department of Natural Resources

Kristen has been the Division Manager of DNR’s Recreation and Conservation Division since 2022. Kristen has invested 29 years in the field of natural resource management. Her initial work occurred at the Rainforest Alliance, a non-profit conservation organization, and then followed with a Master's of Forestry at Yale School of the Environment. After moving to the Evergreen State, she began her state service at DNR in 2002. Kristen started in Northwest Region in roles as a State Lands Forester, Region Planner, and Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plans Forester.

She further expanded her skills by working on Blanchard Forest Strategies and Reiter Foothills Recreation Planning projects. In 2011, she moved to Olympia, where, with another outstanding group, she advanced the Long-term Marbled Murrelet Conservation Strategy, established the Projects and Planning section in the Forest Resources Division, and lead a team of high-performing planners to undertake a number of additional projects, including the Sustainable Harvest Level for 2015-2024, the Trust Land Performance Initiative, and the revitalization of the Trust Land Transfer tool.