Jim Stuhltrager is a fine example of the intelligent, articulate and dedicated people who are increasingly attracted to Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Jim was elected to our board in 2002 and soon became one of its most engaged members. Attending his first board meeting that fall, Jim volunteered to serve on REP PAC, and promptly was chosen as its chairman. In the two years since then, he has greatly enhanced the scope and effectiveness of the REP PAC by improving our questionnaire for Congressional candidates, systematizing our endorsement process, conducting our first-ever REP PAC fundraising drive this past spring, and commissioning our first professional poll—a survey of the environmental attitudes of voters in New York’s 24th Congressional district.

As this Green Elephant goes to press, Jim is leading REP PAC efforts to ensure primary victories in September of Congressman Sherwood Boehlert in NY’s 24th District and Dr. Joe Schwarz—a medical doctor, former state senator, and REP member—who is running for an open seat in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.

In addition to his high energy level and can-do attitude, Jim Stuhltrager has brought REP a wealth of legal and environmental experience. He earned his B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics at Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. at Widener University School of Law. Between 1998 and 2004, he served as a staff attorney at the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Law Center in Wilmington, Delaware, where he concentrated on water quality, air quality and endangered species issues.

Prior to entering law school, Jim spent eight years in the U.S. Navy, earning the rank of major. Just this summer, he returned to serve the military in a different capacity, as general counsel to the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Jim lives in Holmes, Pennsylvania, with his wife Kristin and their children. When he is not engaged in legal and environmental work, he enjoys hanging out on the inland bays in Delaware. When he sent us this picture, he noted: “In my right hand I held a ruler, as I was making sure that this crab was ‘legal' to eat!” Typical lawyer.