Contact Us

Friends of Frederick County works hard to bring information from decision makers about actions that will improve or harm our quality of life in Frederick County.  Please get on our mailing list by sending us an email at:  friends@friendsoffrederickcounty.org. Please feel free to call us or stop by anytime too.

Friends of Frederick County office is located at:       

4 East Church Street, Frederick MD  21701  friends@friendsoffrederickcounty.org    tel:  240 529 1655 or 240 626 5209

Who are we?

Friends of Frederick County is guided by 7 board members and an extensive diversity of community leaders  and citizens throughout Frederick County to base our decisions and   positions to foster  and protect our environmental health while maintaining social stability and economic prosperity.  The board meets bi-monthly, and we host a public forum on issues on the first Monday of every month in the Community Room at 4 E Church Street  ( www.friendsoffrederickcounty.org/issues-insider-forum)

FoFC’s 2009-2010 Board of Directors:

• Ballard “Jim” Jamieson, Jr, Chairman Jim is an attorney with a background in environmental, natural resource and land use law.  He began his career with the Natural Resources Defense Council and later served in the Office of the General Counsel of the President’s Council on Environmental Council in the Carter Administration. Jim has taken an active role in land use planning and farmland preservation in Frederick County.
• Amy Simmons, Vice-Chairman   Secretary/Press Relations Amy is the Communications Director for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), where she oversees media and public relations.  She came to NACHC from Capitol Hill, where she was the Communications Director of the House Financial Services Committee (minority) and Chief of Staff and Press Secretary for U.S. Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-MA).  She has worked for the Washington Post, and as a writer for United Press International, Tribune Broadcasting, and Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist, the late Jack Anderson.
• Richard Wiles, Board Member/Press and Policy, Public Education Richard is Vice President for Policy and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group, a nationally known non profit organization in Washington DC whose mission is to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. He is a former senior staff officer at the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture.
• Janice Wiles, Executive Director (June 2007-present, Chair 2006-2007, Secretary 2004-2006) Janice comes to Friends of Frederick County after almost 3 decades of land use planning and mapping, wildlife and watershed management, developing environmental education campaigns, and cultivating citizen participation and effectiveness in natural resource conservation in Brazil.  She served as NASA’s liaison to the Brazilian Ministry for Science and Technology on a project studying land use changes in the Amazon Basin and their impacts on local, regional and global climate. She is a graduate of the 2005 Leadership Frederick County class and is a Sustainability Commissioner for the Frederick County Commission on Environmental Sustainability.
• Bob White, Board Member/Policy and Government Relations Bob is a member of the Frederick County Planning Commission, having served from 1992-1998 and 2002 to the present. He also served on the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals from 2002 – 2005. He has served on the Governor’s Select Panel on the I-270 Corridor, as a member of the county’s Citizen’s Zoning Review Commission, and on the commission that developed the county’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. He also served on the two Commissions that subsequently have recommended changes to the APFO ordinance. In the 1980’s he helped found the Citizens for Responsible Growth and served as its treasurer. He was also one of the founders of the Citizens for Quality of Life of Frederick County (CQL), and served as its President from 1997 until it merged with Friends of Frederick County in 2008. His background includes years as a journalist, editor and managing editor of several newspapers in the state of Oregon. It includes former service as a legislative aide to Congressman Wendell Wyatt (R-OR). From 1970 until his retirement at the end of 2007 Bob was a lobbyist and the Executive Director of Government Affairs for the National Electrical Contractors Association. He and his wife Karen have been residents of Frederick County since 1977. His hobbies include photography and playing bluegrass, old-time and irish music (he has recorded 15 commercial albums with the band Country Ham).
• Richard Maranto, Board Member/Our CommonWEalth archivist, Treasurer Rich is President of RAM Digital, a multimedia company that develops media applications for government and private industry. He is the co-founder and Chairman of Citizens for the Preservation of Middletown Valley (CPMV), a local organization that advocates for responsible land use in historic Middletown Valley. Rich has recently established a new company, Goes Green Network, which will launch a local, green and sustainable energy portal, Maryland Goes Green (mdgoesgreen.com) in early 2009.
• Harriett Crosby, Board Member/Environmental Educator Harriett is owner and innovator of the Fox Haven Learning and Education Center in Jefferson.  She has created a vibrant organic farm operation, planted thousands of trees to buffer pristine streams, restored habitats, contributed to revitalize the Chestnut tree population in this region, protected precious springs and is developing an environmental education program to bring local knowledge to our younger generations – and their parents.  Harriett’s breadth of appreciation and respect for the natural world and its interconnection with human life links to the teachings of Dalai Lama, Tibetan legends and the Lakota traditions in South Dakota.  She is co-founded the Institute for Soviet American Relations (ISAR) over 20 years ago to address the real threat of nuclear war through exchange and mutual understanding among young adults;  ISAR has become a leading organization supporting growth in democracy with widespread international support and nine offices.  Harriett worked as an Outward Bound instructor and has herself climbed peaks all over the world.  She currently works to address environmental protection issues with Friends of the Earth.

FoFC is currently evaluating qualified candidates for board participation.