The Northcoast Environmental Center has hired longtime activist Greg King to be its executive director, filling a void open since former leader Tim McKay died last summer.

King is perhaps best known from his efforts to map, explore and name the Headwaters Forest more than a decade before it was sold to the state and federal governments. But it was his skills as an administrator, writer and founder of two nonprofit groups that made the center's board of directors choose him for the job.

King said he intends to spend his first year at the highly visible organization plumbing the staff, board and the community on what the group should prioritize in the coming years.

”What is the North Coast going to look like and need in terms of environmental protection?” King said.

The Santa Cruz native and Arcata resident also hopes to expand the staff of four and the board of the environmental center.

King expects to continue McKay's focus on the Klamath River, which he said is one of the most critical regional issues. He also thinks that growth, transportation, habitat protection and water quality will continue to be pervasive issues in the future. King said he would like the organization to do more proactive work.

”We want to make things better,” he said, “not just say how things are bad.”

The center's board combed through a number of candidates for the position before choosing King for the position this week.

He knows the issues, has the background, has administrative skills and works with nonprofit groups, said board President Claire Courtney.

”He was just such a good fit for what we need,” Courtney said.

She added that King will likely bring some organizational stability to the center, and be able to do something for the group as a whole, not just its mission.

Interestingly, the decision comes as the center is moving out of its leased digs at 575 H Street in Arcata into a historic house it bought on G Street on the north end of town. That move should take place within a couple of months, Courtney said. The center is for now no longer considering building at a site it bought just off the Arcata Plaza, as construction prices have risen significantly, she said.

King has been the interim host of the EcoNews Report on KHSU for several months, a show McKay hosted for years. King was also a writer for the Lake County Record Bee and The Bohemian, experience that may help with the center's publication, EcoNews. He founded the conservation groups the Smith River Project in 1999 and the Siskiyou Land Conservancy in 2001.

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