Chair: Jamey Osteen
Brantley County
Jamey is a Senior Roadway & Drainage Designer for a large engineering firm in Jacksonville, Fl. He commutes daily from his home in Southeast Brantley County. He serves on Brantley County's Planning Commission. He has worked in South Georgia & North Florida for over 25 years in engineering, surveying, and developing. Jamey's years of experience allows our staff & board to hear a voice from the "evil developers," more to the point a voice that says, the law allows us to... His no nonsense way of explaining the difference between a law's intention and how a law is enforced in the field.
Jamey grew up in northern Ware County on a fork of the Hurricane Creek. He is passionate about protecting the Satilla & her tributaries so that others will forever be able to take their kids to a creek and fish. He is also passionate about counties purchasing access to the river so that any and all can have access to our southern treasures.
Chair-Elect: Vacant
Treasurer: Billy Michael Lee
Brantley County
Mike is an officer at Atlantic Coast Federal in Waycross, GA. He lives on a small creek that runs into the Satilla River. He is a member of the Economic Development Board of Brantley County. Mike is a veteran of the war in Viet Nam. Mike not only loves the Satilla River, he has and will fight for her. He attends commission meetings and stays current on county affairs. Mike is a founding member of the steering Committee of Save Our Satilla, and has remained committed through thick and thin. He was the treasurer during our organizational phase, and remains a strong board member. He brings to our Board a lifetime of knowledge in business and financial affairs, and a straight-shooting way of keeping us on time and on target.
Secretary: Wesley Woolf
Chatham County
Wesley Woolf is an attorney and director of the Southeast Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation in Atlanta, Georgia. He manages the conservation policy and education work of the office, including wetland conservation, endangered species recovery, and public lands protection. From 1998 to 2002, he served as the initial director of the Southern Environmental law Center's Deep South Office in Atlanta, Georgia, and from 1993 to 1998, he served as Vice President for Environmental Policy for the Georgia Conservancy. Prior to 1983, Wes practiced local government and environmental law as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Macon, Georgia, environmental and civil rights law for a private firm in Athens, Georgia, and commercial litigation and local government law with a private firm on St. Simons Island, Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of Georgia in 1981, worked thereafter for two years as the Legislative Aide to the state General Assembly House Natural Resources Committee and graduated from the School of Law at the University of Georgia in 1986.
Jim Bailey
Camden County
Jim was born and raised in St. Mary's and grew up on the Crooked River. He has a degree in electrical engineering and spent most of his career in Atlanta and Colorado, working with Hewlett Packard and other electronics manufactures. He returned to Camden County in 1991 and managed a subdivision for five years. Jim is currently involved in the restoration and management of timberland adjoining the St. Marys, Altamaha, and Satilla rivers. Kayaking the rivers of southeast Georgia is one of Jim's major pastimes.
Don Berryhill
Ware County
Don is a retired science instructor and consultant. He earned a B.S. andMasters degree from Appalachian State University and a Ed. S from Georgia Southern University. Don was employed as a science instructor at severalcolleges including Waycross College, Valdosta State University, and the University of Georgia. He was a science consultant at Okefenokee Regional Education Service Agency in Waycross where he designed staff development programs for area teachers, planned local, district and state science fairs and developed environmental education facilities and programs on school sites and a facility in the Okefenokee Swamp. He conducted field trips for student groups into natural areas such as the Okefenokee, marine marsh, estuary and barrier island communities, forests, lakes, rivers, and the Broxton Rocks. Don retired in 1996. Since retiring, Don does volunteer work for The Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge and Georgia DNR Fisheries division and Forestry division. He continues to respond to requests from public schools for educational programs. Don also does extensive work on the grounds and gardens of the First United Methodist Church. He enjoys camping, exploring Georgia rivers and hanging out on the Satilla, St. Mary's, and the Altamaha. Don maintains a skull collection of local vertebrates and for the past 2 years has been working on the reconstruction of the skeleton of "Oscar" the mascot of the Okefenokee Swamp Park. Don has three sons and lives in Waycross with his wife, Sandra.
Lee Hatfield
Ware County
Lee is a teacher at Ware County High School where she also serves as the Science Department Chair. She currently teaches Advanced Placement Biology and Chemistry. Prior to teaching at WCHS, Lee taught college freshman Biology and Microbiology for five years. She graduated with a BS degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from Georgia Southwestern College in 1989. Lee then attended the University of Georgia where she worked as a graduate teaching assistant and research assistant in Microbiology for two years. Lee has worked on numerous watershed projects as both a graduate student and research assistant including soil and water analysis for Lake Blackshear, Lake Sinclair, and the Oconee River.
Liz Jacques
Ware County
Liz has been teaching science in South Georgia for 20 years. She is presently teaching at Brantley County High School but spent most of her teaching career at Ware County High School. Since Liz grew up in Blackshear, she has spent a lot of time on the Satilla River over the years, fishing, kayaking, and enjoying its beauty. She has seen some distressing changes on the Satilla and would like to educate her students to prevent further damage.
Joe Popper
Bibb County
A.J. Strickland
Pierce County
A.J. Strickland was born the son and grandson of Pierce County farmers on a piece of ground near the Raulerson Community, just a few yards from the Satilla River. He still lives on that homeplace with his wife of many years, Joyce Diane Raulerson Strickland, where they raised three lovely daughters who have now added four grandchildren to the clan. A.J. is the great grandson of Obediah Barber of the Okefenokee Swamp.
A.J. graduated from Pierce County High School and attended Waycross College and Georgia Southern, where he was on the gym team. He then entered a career in construction, and has been a general contractor for a number of decades. He is a licensed electrician. A.J. also served in the National Guard.
A.J. is a shriner, an active member of the Blackshear Exchange Club, and he and Diane attend First Baptist Church in Blackshear. He has served as a County Commissioner in Pierce.
A.J. has hunted and fished the Satilla River all of his life, and has seen profound and numerous changes in her flow and quality. His family is deeply connected to the river: portraits of family photographed on the banks and bars of the river adorn their home. He is knowledgeable about how the swamps and branches interact with the river and understands the healing that needs to take place. He is committed to the cause of restoring and protecting the Satilla.
