The International Joint Commission (IJC) has announced that the appointment of Jane Corwin as the United States (U.S.) Section chair, and Robert Sisson and Lance Yohe as U.S. Section Commissioners has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The IJC prevents and resolves disputes between the U.S. and Canada under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. It also pursues the common good of both countries as an independent and objective advisor to the two governments.
U.S. and Canadian Commissioners work together to play a binational oversight role, in matters involving water quality and quantity issues on the topics. They also play a role in the basins where the governments have requested the IJC’s assistance.
Corwin served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 2009 through 2016, where she was the Minority Leader Pro Tempore and the ranking member of the Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Committee. Additionally, she was a member of the Environmental Conservation, Education and Mental Health Committees. Corwin has also served as president of the Philip M. and Jane Lewis Corwin Foundation since 2005. She was also the director of Gibraltar Industries out of Buffalo from 2014-2018. Corwin succeeds former U.S. Co-Chair Lana Pollack, who served from 2010 to 2019.
Sisson has been involved with the environmental organization ConservAmerica since 2006, where he has served as president since 2011. More recently, he was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the state’s Environmental Justice Working Group in 2017. Sisson has also been involved in the government of the Michigan city of Sturgis, where he has served as mayor from 2005-2007 and as a city commissioner from 2003-2008 and again from 2011-2016. Concurrently, he was a member of the boards of directors for both the Sturgis Economic Development Corporation and the St. Joseph County Economic Development Corporation. He succeeds former U.S. Commissioner Dereth Glance, who served from 2011 to 2016.
Yohe has been previously involved in Canada-U.S. transboundary organizations centered in the Red River basin for over 25 years. He served as the executive director of the Red River Basin Commission in Fargo, North Dakota from its formation in 2002 until 2014. Yohe was involved with its two predecessors, the Red River Basin Board and International Coalition for Land and Water Stewardship. He also served as a manager with the Southeast Cass Water Resources Board and as a member of the Red River Joint Water Resources Board’s Executive Board of Managers. In 2014, Yohe formed Trans Boundary Solutions, a consulting firm working with regional clients on both sides of the boundary, including the Prairie Improvement Network and the Assiniboine River Basin Initiative. He succeeds former U.S. Commissioner Rich Moy, who served from 2011 to 2019.