FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — For the first time in the organization’s history, a full-time Executive Director will lead the Friends of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve’s board and its fundraising efforts.
President of Friends of New River Gorge NPP, Deb Lamey announced that Roy Mark Boog Ferrell Jr. has been named the first full-time Executive Director for the group that is the primary philanthropic partner of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
“We are both pleased and excited that Mr. Ferrell has become part of our team,” said Lamey. “Boog’s background in fundraising and working with nonprofit groups will help us grow and expand our efforts to support the park and its mission.”
According to a news release, Ferrell has experience in both the private and public sectors, with a recent focus on supporting businesses in the Athens, Texas area where he served on the board of directors for the Athens Economic Development Corporation since 2021.
The release also stated that Ferrell has additional experience serving an Atlanta, Georgia-based nonprofit, Sixty Feet that supports children in Uganda. He had taken on various roles within that organization since 2011.
“With experience leading both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, coupled with a deep appreciation for the cultural and natural wonders of the New River Gorge, I believe I can serve the mission of Friends, and ultimately the park and this community, well,” said Ferrell. “I am honored to have the opportunity and excited to dig in.”
New River Gorge National Park Chief of Interpretation Eve West said the park is very excited to be working with the Friends of the New River Gorge under Ferrell’s new leadership.
“He’s going to be working on a lot of different things, so I think one of the primary things with the Friends is hoping Boog can do is to reach out and look at some potential fundraising for them,” West said.
She said the nonprofit group supports the national park in a variety of different ways and his contribution will only add to that.
“They help us out a tremendous amount, and I always tell people, because people ask us all the time what they can do to help the park and I say, join our Friends group, because they help us, so this is a win win for everybody.”
Ferrell told MetroNews that after coming to West Virginia and falling in love with the New River Gorge area and all of the potential it holds, this quickly became a dream job opportunity for him.
“I think it’s a really exciting time to be working with parks in general, especially New River Gorge National Park and its moment that it’s having, and also the lifespan of this organization, I’m just ready to do some big things,” Ferrell said.
He said he visited the park for the first time five years ago, and everyday he’s learning something new about it and the many natural resources it has to offer.
Ferrell said the creation of a five-year strategic plan is a major box they must check off on the to-do list for the Friend’s organization as it’s something that the group has longtime been lacking.
And with that, he said they plan to prioritize many different projects.
Ferrell said they also plan to focus on recruitment efforts within the organization.
“Some of the things we’ve already done already is just engaging people that are nominally friends of the park and making them officially friends of the park by giving people more volunteer opportunities through the organization and to get them engaged to work with the park they love,” he said.
He said another focus is, of course, on fundraising initiatives for the park.
Ferrell said plans are already underway for a major fundraising event at the end of the summer right before Gauley season.
He said they are also working hard to create an endowment plan for some lasting and sustainable support for the park that will provide more funds for ongoing maintenance and long-term educational projects.
Ferrell said there’s a lot of preservation initiatives already underway within and outside of the park and efforts to get the most out of all the unique resources it has to offer, and it’s their mission to better be equipped to support those efforts.
“For us, we have our small part to play in just supporting this wonderful park, and so, there’s so much going on and I think this first year and just settling into this position is finding our best fit where we can do the thing that we are best gifted to do as the Friend’s of the park organization.”