Orion Hatch
Executive Director
Orion Hatch joined the Snake River Fund team in 2020. As Program Director, he channeled his love of the river and enthusiasm as a naturalist into thoughtful community engagement culminating in 2022 with Jackson Hole’s inaugural Snake River Fest.
As Executive Director, Hatch works to foster partnerships, cultivate support, influence policy, and engage the public all in the name of stewardship of and public access to the Snake River and its headwater tributaries.
Hatch has a degree in Hydrogeology from the University of Massachusetts and takes a keen interest in the geologic and fluvial forces that have helped shape the landscape. His science-based stewardship, love of recreation, and his attachment to the global river community continue to serve him well in his position as Executive Director. You can catch him running his Shredder down the Gros Ventre, dropping a line in the Greys, or swimming after his surfboard in Lunch Counter.
Joe Smith
Programs and Events Director
Joe Smith is an enthusiastic naturalist, educator, and river guide who has lived in and around Jackson Hole since 2011. Having grown up along the banks of a historically polluted river in Central Massachusetts, Joe has an immense appreciation for the relatively pristine Snake River Headwaters.
Joe earned his bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Studies at the University of Massachusetts while focusing his studies on watershed science and management. At the same time, he began working as a whitewater guide. While he was pretty terrible back then, he’d argue that he is now the best raft guide ever.
In addition to sharing his passion for river recreation, Smith is also a community organizer, taco enthusiast, and aspiring angler.
Boots Allen
Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator
Boots is a third generation guide on numerous waters in the Greater Yellowstone Area including Wyoming’s Snake and Green rivers and Idaho’s South Fork. His 30-plus years of experience in the fly fishing industry go beyond rowing a drift boat. Boots is also a well-established writer and speaker with four books, scores of articles, and dozens of presentations to his name. Much of his work revolves around issues of climate change, invasive species, congestion, and multi-use access that most western rivers face today. Boots is excited to bring his passion for stewardship and access to the Snake River Fund.