Meet the NLI Board – Kennon McClintock

By Elissa Glassman

Kennon McClintock is District 5 director at Northern Lights. Since 2013, Kennon has served the communities of northern and eastern Boundary County in Idaho and the Yaak River Valley, Troy, and the northern Bull River Valley in Montana.

Kennon was born and raised in Barrington, Illinois, but his heart belonged to Idaho and Montana. He and his wife, Jody, enjoy living and working on their land in Moyie Springs, Idaho.

“Jody has a large garden and orchard, which she tends to during the growing season, while I spend my free time taking care of our forestland—planting, pruning, cutting timber, thinning, cutting firewood, and slash disposal,” Kennon says.

Kennon has been an NLI member since 1987. His deep connection to the electric industry stemmed from his father’s career in the nuclear power sector. This upbringing instilled in him a strong sense of responsibility and a desire to be involved in his community. His passion for preserving natural resources led him to pursue a degree in forest management at the University of Montana. His daughter, Molly, graduated from there as well with a
bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in forest resource management.

“I have worked as an industrial forester for my entire work career, starting in Libby, Montana, in the 1970s working for the St. Regis Paper Co.,” he says.

For 35 years, he worked as a silviculture forester for large companies, managing private forest lands in Northwest Montana and North Idaho.

Kennon moved to Moyie Springs in the late 1980s and worked for W-I Forest Products, Crown Pacific, and Forest Capital Partners in Bonners Ferry.

“Since retiring from the forest products industry, I have been working with the Nature Conservancy for the past 12 years, protecting working forestlands and working farmland in Boundary County from subdivision and development,” Kennon says.

Kennon also volunteers on several other boards: Curley Creek Fire District, Skin Creek Water Association, Idaho Forest Practices Act Committee, Idaho Forest Owners Association and Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative.

Kennon and his family enjoy hiking in the mountains in North Idaho and exploring and relaxing in British Columbia.

He has represented his district on the Northern Lights Board of Directors for the past 10 years.

“We are so very fortunate to live in this part of the country where we have reliable, safe power and a good cooperative like Northern Lights, which does a superb job managing the electricity needs of our area,” Kennon says.

Kennon enjoys the camaraderie and shared goals among the directors. He regards his fellow board members as rational, intelligent individuals who collaborate to ensure the efficient management of electricity in their area.

“I have always been impressed with Northern Lights and the way in which they operate in northern Idaho and northwestern Montana,” Kennon says. “They hire good people, train them well, and that is a key component to an efficient, productive business. My goal as a director for NLI is to continue to contribute to the success of our cooperative.”