wicola

WE HAVE OUR PROJECT COORDINATOR!

Derrick Passe has been hired as the Kawishiwi Watershed Protection Project coordinator.

Passe will begin work February 9.

"We had outstanding candidates," said Jo Kovach, WICOLA President. "But we liked Mr. Passe's experience in project management and volunteer leadership. He is an excellent communicator, knows the watershed firsthand and is highly experienced with interactions between government and private interests."

A certified professional engineer, in 1993 Passe founded Passe Engineering Incorporated (PEI), which later became Anderson, Passe and Associates, an engineering consulting firm. Passe grew the company to 30 employees with offices in Minneapolis, Spring Lake Park, MN and Hudson, WI. The company provides civil engineering, surveying, and land planning services. Projects have included roadways, water supplies, sanitary facilities, storm water management, wetland alterations and building site design.

In 2005 he began working with Engineers Without Borders in Guatemala, where he assessed, designed and implemented sustainable water development projects.

Passe recently earned a master's in Water Resource Science with a hydrology emphasis from the University of Minnesota. His thesis topic was "Providing Safe Drinking Water in Guatemala through Collaboration, Metering and Monitoring."

And enthusiastic outdoors man, Passe is President of the Kekekabic Trail Club. USFS Liaison, where he has recruited, trained and led up to a hundred volunteers annually to maintain historic trails in the BWCAW. Using GPS equipment, he mapped the PowWow, Snowbank and Kekekabic Trails and worked with the Nation Park Service to identify locations for the North Country Trail throughout the Arrowhead.