Staff & Board

Paul Talley is the Executive Director and joined our team in June of 2024. He has over 20 years of experience working in and leading volunteer organizations in Colorado, Kansas, and Texas. Paul spent 7 years as the Sr. Business Operations Manager with the largest privately owned oil pumping unit company in the Southwest. During his time in the oil and gas industry, he oversaw 11 departments that managed over $12 Million in spending and $5 million in assists.

Most recently Paul was the Executive Director of Wilderness Trek, a 501c3 non-profit backcountry outfitter located in Santa Fe, NM. As the largest backcountry outfitter in New Mexico, Wilderness Trek took hundreds of teens a year on one-week backpacking trips in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Paul has worked closely with the USFS, BLM, and private landowners for the last 7 years across the southwest.

In 2018 Paul bikepacked the entire Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango by himself with a video camera. This experience led him to co-write, produce, and film an award-winning documentary about his Colorado Trail ride that debuted in 2022 at the London Mountain Film Festival where it won the award for “Best Living Word Film”. The film went on to appear at the Breckenridge Film Festival and won “Best Documentary” at the Deep in the Heart of Texas Film Festival.

Paul has enjoyed backpacking, mountain biking, hiking, and fishing along the Colorado Trail since his time as a backpacking guide in Salida in 1995 and 1996. As an avid backpacker, cyclist, photographer, and fisherman, Paul loves to spend as much time in the backcountry as he can.
Paul has been married for over 27 years to the love of his life and has two boys in college ages 20 and 18. He and his family recently relocated to the Salida/Poncha Springs area to work with the great staff and volunteers of The Colorado Trail Foundation

Tim Cutter is the Community Outreach Manager for the Colorado Trail Foundation. Having grown up in Colorado, the mountains ignited his love for the environment and connecting others to the outdoors. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies and Geography from the University of Colorado, he set out to volunteer, travel, and explore different careers. As a result, he comes with a diverse background of volunteerism, outreach, environmental science, outdoor industry sales, carpentry, and web development. Along his path, he has been fortunate to be on a wide spectrum of projects including restoring high altitude wetlands in the San Juan Mountains, recruiting event speakers for a reforestation event in Zambia, leading trail maintenance volunteers on Catalina Island, and studying soil compaction for a bioenergy project in Mexico. You are now likely to find him closer to home either meandering through the mountains with his wife and dog or debating about the best backpacking gear.

As the Community Outreach Manager, Tim applies his broad skills to broad responsibilities. Administration, project management, marketing, communications, events, merchandise, and fundraising all fall within his purview. If CTF has a project that needs additional help, Tim is the person to jump right in. He is always looking for the next project to dig into or a person to help. While in the office or assisting on the trail, Tim’s ability to learn and adapt is integral to the team. He looks forward to meeting the Colorado Trail Foundation family out on the trail and at events.

Kendall Chastain started as our Operations Manager in May 2025. She's a proud Colorado native, born in the trail town of Durango, and raised on the Western Slope. She attended college at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, where she received her Bachelor's in Environmental & Sustainability and Master's in Environmental Management, specializing in Integrative Public Land Management. She has worked seasonally for both the USFS and BLM, leading a Youth Conservation Corps crew, working on a Backcountry Trail Crew, conducting a visitor use research study on the Alpine Loop, and as a Park Ranger. Following her degree completion, she moved to the Front Range and worked for Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado as their Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator. She later accepted a job with Colorado Mountain Club, where she worked as the Senior Conservation Manager.

In her spare time, she does a lot of trail running, particularly when training for an ultramarathon. She also enjoys mountain biking, paddleboarding, uphill and downhill skiing, and camping with her partner, Jeff, and dogs, Buckwheat and Ghost. When she's in a more indoorsy mood, you can find her curled up in a comfy chair, listening to an audiobook and crocheting.

As the Business Coordinator, Devon wears many hats. You may find her serving as the main point of contact for phone and email inquiries, maintaining backend systems, supporting the Operations, Outreach, and Executive staff, working with volunteers, and of course, cheering on all CT users.

Originally from California, Devon went to CU Boulder to earn a BA in Communication and found herself not wanting to leave the state. Her professional career has led to a multidisciplinary profile with experience in non-profits, food retail, international education, medical services, youth garden education, holistic nutrition, and small business development.

She enjoys knowing a little about a lot and is honored to be part of the Colorado Trail Foundation team. When she is OOO, you can find her deep in a book, outside with her husband and dog, or exploring new places to fulfill the ever growing wanderlust.

I grew up in Peculiar, Missouri, just south of Kansas City. My parents worked in education and would take my brother and me on week-long adventures to National Parks in the summer. I studied Recreation Management at Missouri State University. In my junior year at Missouri State, I took a school ski trip to Steamboat Springs, CO, and found my passion for skiing. In my senior year, I became a ski instructor at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico and worked all of my winter break and spring break teaching ski lessons. After college, I moved to Estes Park, CO, and spent the summer as an outdoor education instructor, leading Rocky Mountain National Park trips. That winter, I moved to Winter Park, CO, again, working as a ski instructor. I worked for five years at Winter Park Resorts Ski School, three as an instructor and two as a supervisor. In 2019 I began working for the Fraser Valley Metro Rec District (FVMRD) as the Athletics Supervisor overseeing all youth and adult sports leagues and programs. While with the FVMRD, I developed several successful outdoor programs, including youth mountain bike camps and wilderness adventure clubs. In my free time, I enjoy hiking and mountain biking in the summer and skiing in the winter.

I grew up outside Kansas City, MO, and quickly learned that the outdoors is my passion with help from my family and the Girl Scouts. I graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S. in Recreation, Sport, and Park Administration with an emphasis in Outdoor Education and then from Northern Arizona University with a Master’s Degree in Parks and Recreation Management. I started working for youth camps while still in high school and for the Trips Department in college, and I have never stopped. I have guided in seven different states and on more than 100 trips! For the past seven years, I have worked as a state-licensed childcare director, where I was fortunate enough to incorporate Outdoor Education and lead backpacking trips and hikes (sometimes with 50+ kids). Something tells me my hikes are about to be much quieter, and I may get to see some wildlife! I enjoy hiking, paddleboarding, and skiing. My husband, Dan, and I love to visit our national parks, and we have been to 37 plus all the D.C. monuments and many, many state parks. We have also skied at 15 ski resorts/areas and counting.