The PA Parks and Forests Foundation Monday announced the appointment of Gus Frederick and Mary Soderberg to its Board of Directors.

Frederick serves as GIS/IT Support Technician for the Lehigh County Authority. Soderberg is the former Pennsylvania Secretary of the Budget and currently serves as Vice President of the Friends of Pine Grove Furnace, one of PPFF's 38 affiliated chapters.

“We are excited to have the enthusiasm, knowledge, and skills sets that Gus and Mary bring to the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation,” said Marci Mowery, president of the Foundation. “They will be critical in helping us to ensure that there is a place—and an experience—for everyone in Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests. We'll look to Gus to bring a 'Millennials'" perspective to our programs and Mary's extensive financial experience and her involvement with one of our very active and successful chapters will provide practical leadership to our decision-making."

The PPFF Board of Directors unanimously elected Frederick and Soderberg, and they take their places on the panel in January 2015.

Gus Frederick: Gus served as an intern for the Foundation during the spring of 2012 as he pursued his Masters of Science in Geoenvironmental Studies at Shippensburg University. His service to the Foundation during that time made his election to the Foundation board a simple question; and his obvious skills and technical ability meant his immediate selection by the Lehigh County Authority for his position there was equally unsurprising.

Mary Soderberg: Mary has served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a budget and financial advisor since the late 1980s culminating in her appointment as Secretary of the Budget in July 2008 and Budget Advisor to the Office of the Auditor General in 2013. Fortunately, Mary's love of the outdoors led her to the Friends of Pine Grove Furnace where she has helped to coordinate successful volunteer events including the popular Furnace Fest each fall.

For more information, visit the PA Parks and Forests Foundation website.

2/2/2015