Lt. Governor Sheila Simon chairs the thirteen member Wabash and Ohio Rivers Coordinating Council.  The Council is comprised of seven citizen members that are appointed by Governor Pat Quinn and the remaining five members are designees from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Department of Agriculture.  Additionally, several institutions and federal agencies serve on the Council as ex-officio members.  

If you are interested in applying for an appointment on the Wabash and Ohio Rivers Coordinating Council, please nominate yourself at www.appointments.illinois.gov.

Meet the Wabash and Ohio Rivers Coordinating Council

Mr. Thomas Anderson, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Mr. Anderson is a farmer in Saline County where he is director of the local Soil and Water Conservation District.  He serves as Township Trustee for Long Branch and is also involved in the Shawnee Research, Conservation and Development area.  As a life-long resident of Illinois, he would like to help advance the development, management and improvement of natural resources for multiple uses to further the economic and social well-being of the state.

Dr. Clark Bullard, University of Illinois

Dr. Bullard is a Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.  His conservation achievements include Director since 1970 of the Committee on the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River, which secured Illinois’ only Wild and Scenic River Designation. He also serves on the board of directors for Prairie Rivers Network and National Wildlife Federation and previously served on the board of directors for the Coalition on American Rivers.  He has also served as conservation chairman of the Champaign County Audubon Society and delegate to the Illinois Audubon Council.  He was elected delegate to the Illinois Conservation Congress in 1993 and 1994. 

Mr. Keith Hocking, Illinois Farm Bureau

Mr. Hocking is a grain farmer in Wabash County and serves on the Wabash Valley Junior College Agricultural Advisory Board and the Drainage District Commission. He is a volunteer fire fighter in Keensburg where he has served as fire chief and is the Treasurer of the Greater Wabash Regional Fire Department.  Hocking also served as the President of the Wabash County Farm Bureau, President of Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers in Wabash County, Director of the Wabash Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Commissioners, and President of his local FFA Chapter.  He has also served on the Illinois Farm Bureau’s Profitability Task Force, the Illinois Farm Bureau Floodplain Task Force and was an FFA State Farmer.

Mr. Carl Reisman, Reisman Law Office

Mr. Reisman is the principal lawyer of Reisman Law Office in Urbana, IL.  While professionally, his practice focuses on workers’ compensation, his interests include endangered species and environmental protection.  He has served for three years on the Urbana Human Relations Commission, is board chair of the Primary Communications Project, and has advised many non-profits.