THE OUTDOORS AFICIONADO

Maddy Ball

Conservation Program Director, Friends of the Cheat

SUPERPOWER: Underwater x-ray vision (particularly for spotting hellbenders)

Looking through family photos, Maddy Ball says there are few to be found of her and her dad without a freshly caught fish. “As I was growing up, I’m not sure if it was me or the fish being used for scale,” Ball says with a laugh. “Dad is a fisherman through and through, so we spent a lot of time camping and going to public land.” During a park ranger’s nighttime lesson on bats at a campground when Ball was 9, she thought, “Maybe I could make a career out of the outdoors.”

With her bachelor’s in natural resource management, she was drawn to West Virginia’s remoteness and topography as she searched for jobs. Since joining Friends of the Cheat in 2017, Ball has had an upward career trajectory, starting with entry-level field work and most recently becoming the conservation program director, a role in which she identifies and plans projects for her team, then assesses their data to determine necessary restoration acts. “It’s really rewarding to have your hand in each part of that process—from bushwacking paths to remote streams to sample for brook trout to, now, drafting how my crew is going to sample the stream with what equipment.”

She entered her field because she wanted to help save species, but she has found her work with people just as rewarding. “A lot of my job is working with private landowners, and we couldn’t do what we do without their help,” she says. “It’s rewarding to have the people tied in with the restoration work we do so they can become engaged with projects and see the change.” The change is significant: The Cheat River was not fishable 30 years ago, but today, it’s a place where anglers can cast a line and enjoy spending time because of the remediation efforts.

Ball also draws motivation from outreach events with kids. “I have notes on my fridge from the kids who have shared that they loved going outside and learning everything we taught them that day. They’re so smart, and they have all the tools when it comes to thinking about the future.”

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