About Us

BWAM is a non-profit, member-driven organization created to improve the safety, health and enjoyment of the Five Valley area by promoting and enhancing bicycling and walking for everyday transportation and recreation.

Board of Directors

JOHN COUCH, President

MARTA MEENGS, Vice President
I live on North Avenue West, close to Higgins Avenue, with my husband, Tim Skufca and his son, Emerson. My daughter, Annalee, lives in the dorms at the UM. All four of us are avid walkers and bikers.

Walking all over Missoula has been one of my favorite past times since my arrival in 1999. I had truly never experienced a place that made it so inviting to walk and ride bikes. In the past I have worked as a nurse at Red Cross Blood Donor Services and Partnership Clinic's Healthcare for the Homeless Program. Presently I am working part time at St. Patrick's Hospital in the Oncology/Medical unit. I have been able to walk to all work locations and am very pleased to be able to join BWAM in their mission to increase the safety and ease of walking and biking in this great town!

JEAN BELANGIE-NYE, Secretary

Jean Belangie-Nye is passionate about safe bikeways and walkways. Jean would like to see the Bitterroot Pathway system connected to Missoula’s system in the near future. She chairs the Missoula to Lolo Trail Committee of BWAM. The MLTA is developing a bike-ped route from Lolo to Missoula. She chaired the Lolo Focus Group for Highway 93 South, serves on the Citizens Advisory Committee for Highway 93 South, and has been a member of transportation committees and study groups for the Bitterroot Valley and Missoula.

Jean is a native Montanan and teaches fifth grade at Lolo School and owns Nye Imagery. Jean lives in Lolo. She enjoys gardening, photography, printmaking, and is currently trying to finish the Eddie’s Club Book. In her free time, she and her friend Michael run her two standard poodles in Crazy Canyon. When she retires, she intends to start biking again.

BOB WACHTEL, Treasurer
Robert L. Wachtel (Bob) retired from the professional staff of The University of Montana at the end of 2005 after 32 ½ years working audiovisual support for instruction and special events. Bob was a regular bike commuter during his employment at U of Mt, cycling 2 miles each way year round. Retirement has allowed him to join the Missoula Bike/Ped Advisory Board, and participate in the formation and development of BWAM. Bob continues to avoid driving locally as much as possible. His wife is an avid walker and enjoys the ability to walk for many of her errands.

Bob continues to brew his own beer and process his own fruit wines from available local fruit. Other interests include flat water canoeing, playing classical and religious guitar, and independent consulting on computer systems and home entertainment systems as Wachtel Consulting, LLC.

ETHEL MACDONALD Director
Ethel MacDonald has been fanatic about not driving unnecessarily for over 30 years, and in the ten years since she retired from teaching in Arlee (where she carpooled every day) has averaged less than 3000 miles/year on her car (which includes at least one annual trip to Seattle). While she loves biking for everyday transportation everywhere she goes in Missoula, including up Pattee Canyon with her little dog in the basket ready to go run the Sam Braxton trail, France is her favorite place to tour (solo) by bike because of its great bike paths, quiet roads between interesting small towns, roundabouts, well-marked lanes and special bike routes.  

BOB REIDER, Director
Born in Ohio, moved to Alaska in 1990. Relocated to Missoula in 2001. Married to the fabulous Barb for 22 wonderful years. Love to bike and hike and ski and climb and .... Employed with REI for 19 years. I hope to help BWAM incorporate muscle powered transportation into the fabric of our community.

JIM SAYER, Director
Jim is a volunteer Board member of the Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula, which he co-founded with many other Missoulians in 2007.  Professionally, Jim serves as the Executive Director of Adventure Cycling Association, the largest bicycling non-profit in the U.S. (with more than 42,000 members) which focuses on bike travel nationally and even globally. Jim also serves on the board of America Bikes, a national coalition devoted to securing more federal resources for biking (and walking).

Jim has directed other non-profits involved in smart growth and transportation, including Greenbelt Alliance (in the Bay Area, dedicated to community development and open space preservation) and the Sierra Business Council (based near Lake Tahoe, a unique business leadership group working for a “triple bottom line” of economic, social and environmental prosperity in the Sierra Nevada mountain region).  He also served as senior legislative assistant to Senator Tim Wirth (D-Colo.), focusing on foreign policy and defense issues.  Jim did his undergraduate work at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), and his graduate work at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Harvard University.  In his spare time, he has served as a Board member of Amnesty International USA and the Ginetta Sagan Fund for Womens and Childrens Rights.  Most of his time he devotes to his family -- his wife, Wendy, and their three rambunctious daughters, Samantha, Keilan and Lucy.

GINNY SULLIVAN Director
Ginny Sullivan has lived in Missoula since 1989 (with a year-long foray to Louisiana while her husband attended LSU). Living in the friendly neighborhood near Greenough Park since 1990, biking and walking have become a major interest for the Sullivan’s. Ginny and her family are avid bike commuters and cycling recreationists. Working for Adventure Cycling Association as the Special Projects Director provides Ginny with the opportunity to learn about community successes, transportation innovations and new bike/walk trends. Ginny hopes to help the BWAM board grow their membership, take on bicycle safety education and help implement community programs that promote biking and walking in Missoula and beyond.