Russ married Vital Ground Board Member Carolyn Dobbs (1942-2014) 42 years ago. They both were faculty members in environmental studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., for 40 years, and both are Faculty Emeriti. Their inseparable love of, exploration of and research in natural resource management issues and strategies in North America, Ecuador and Great Britain has included a focus on wildlife habitat protection. Russ was a not-so-silent partner in accompanying Carolyn during her tenure as a Vital Ground trustee and was elected to complete her term on the board. Russ has a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Washington and has a long history of public service in a wide variety of both governmental and non-profit community development initiatives in the state of Washington. He is currently board chair of the South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust.