PR & Partnerships Manager
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
NOLS’ Hamlin named ACA Wyoming State Director
LANDER—The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is pleased to announce that Philanthropy Stewardship Coordinator Mark Hamlin has been selected by the American Canoe Association (ACA) to represent Wyoming in the newly established ACA State Director Program.
The mission of the ACA State Director Program is to increase the effectiveness of the ACA at the state level by facilitating communication between local paddlers and the ACA’s National Office. The state directors will serve as proponents of the ACA’s mission by fostering community responsibility toward protecting and preserving state paddling environments, assisting others with acquiring the necessary skills to safely enjoy local waterways and promoting paddlesport competition at the local and state level.
Hamlin is a seasoned paddlesport professional who has provided leadership and expertise to nonprofit paddlesport organizations for over 20 years, with extensive experience in the development of paddlesport programming, education and advocacy. He instructs NOLS paddling courses from Australia to the Yukon and dozens of rivers in between. Having worked several NOLS Instructor Courses, he has molded generations of NOLS river instructors.
Hamlin has taught and supervised hundreds of ACA sea kayaking, canoeing, swift water rescue and river kayaking programs as well as introducing and implementing the first Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) curriculum for the ACA.
“The ACA has been such an important part of my own education as a paddler as well as the foundation for my 20-plus year career in professional paddlesports instruction,” Hamlin noted. “The opportunity to volunteer some of my time to represent the ACA in Wyoming as the state director was an easy choice. I’m excited to collaborate with other boaters to promote paddling in this beautiful state.”
With six ACA Instructor certifications and a long and impressive career in paddlesports, Hamlin is an invaluable asset to both NOLS and the ACA. He is heading into the field this summer for several weeks to instruct midshipmen on a NOLS Naval Academy Canoe Expedition traveling the Hess River in the Yukon Territory of Canada.
“As an explorer at heart, my favorite thing about paddling is the perpetual excitement about what is around the next bend. It doesn’t matter whether it’s exciting rapids, mellow pools, beautiful scenery, new friends or impassable obstacles. I’m always curious and ready for what the next turn will bring,” Hamlin noted. NOLS congratulates Hamlin on this next turn.
