The Board of Directors is comprised of professionals from across the watershed who are committed to clean water. Riverkeeper is grateful to the Board for their service and dedication in helping us achieve our mission.

Ricky Martini

Board Chair

Ricky Martini is from central Tennessee. His favorite part of the Tennessee River watershed are the Buffalo River and Duck River tributaries. When not in Tennessee, Martini tours with Lyle Lovett as his Production Manager.

Mark Martin

Treasurer/Secretary

Mark Martin is the prosecuting attorney for Tennessee Riverkeeper. He was born in Alabama and began practicing law in 1981 after graduating from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. Over the course of his legal career Mark has worked on a diverse array of legal issues, ranging from criminal defense to protecting Alabama’s rivers and creeks. In his off-time, one can find him paddling the rivers and creeks of the Black Warrior and Tennessee River watersheds. An Eagle Scout and an avid kayaker, Mark feels very strongly about preserving the quality and integrity of the South’s waterways.

Mark Martin also has prior experience enforcing environmental laws in the Tennessee River watershed. Mark was named “Legal Hero” by the Sierra Club in 2006 for his work in using citizen gathered water monitoring data as evidence of discharge violations from a large hog farm. Over-application of waste on hard pan fields caused runoff into Crow Creek, a tributary of Town Creek, a prominent Tennessee River tributary. Mark represented the Sierra Club and two citizen plaintiffs in a Clean Water Act citizen suit against Whitaker Farms. The resulting consent decree required the owners to pay property damages and significantly improve their operation. An un-lined waste holding pond was closed and replaced with an above-ground tank. More efficient waste application methods were adopted and a nutrient management plan was developed and implemented.

Mark Martin continues his acclaimed environmental litigation in this watershed via his work with Tennessee Riverkeeper.

Doug Martinson, II

Board Member

Doug Martinson II was born and raised in Huntsville and is a third generation Huntsville High School graduate. Since 1990 when he joined Martinson & Beason, P.C., Doug has been a leader in the Huntsville community. His practice focuses on estate planning and probate, wills and trust, guardianship and elder law as well as corporate and business planning and disputes.

Doug graduated from the University of Alabama in 1986 with a degree in Finance. In college he was involved with student government, serving as President of the College of Commerce & Business Administration. When the C&BA Dean retired, Doug was selected for the Dean search committee. He was a member of the prestigious Jason’s society, Anderson’s society, and Omega Delta Kappa. Additionally, he was an officer and was selected as best active for his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta.

At Washington & Lee University School of Law, Doug served as President of the Student Bar Association and Chairman of the Legal Research Association. In 1989, he was selected to receive the Am.Jur. Award for Legal Research.

Doug is a leader in the Huntsville community: past president of the Huntsville School Board, past president of Rotary Club of Huntsville and past president of Huntsville Young Lawyers. While serving on the Huntsville City School Board, Martinson worked with other elected officials to bring home over 82 million dollars for school construction for his district including new buildings for Huntsville High, Lee High, Goldsmith Schiffman Elementary and Blossomwood Elementary as well as renovations and additions to numerous schools. As Rotary president, Doug spearheaded a project which provided $75,000 for the purchase of medical equipment for a pediatric oncology hospital in Guatemala to treat indigent children there with cancer. He has also served on the Library Foundation Board.

In his spare time, Doug referees ice hockey and enjoys reading, snowing skiing and playing golf and tennis. Although today he mostly referees youth league games, he refereed the Division II championship in 1994 and still referees NCAA Division I College Hockey. He and his wife Lauren have two sons, Clay and Reed. Both are active with baseball, football, basketball, tennis and soccer. They attend First United Methodist Church in Huntsville.

Amanda Cockrell

Board Member