Sandy Beder-Miller has a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from University of Massachusetts (1977) and a Masters of Statistics (1979) from North Carolina State University. Sandy retired in August 2018 after working as a Forest Biometrician, Computer Programmer, and a Statistician for the U.S. EPA in Duluth Minnesota. She came to the pulp and paper industry in 1988 for Potlatch Corporation in Cloquet, MN first using her computer skills before settling in as a Pulp Mill Relief Supervisor. She later worked for a Boise Cascade Pulp and Paper mill in Eastern Washington in both Pulp and Paper making roles. She moved to a Pulp and Paper instrumentation supplier, BTG Americas Inc., in May of 2000 as a Senior Applications Specialist traveling North and South America specializing in fiber line applications and served on BTG’s global fiber line team advising the company on new products and performing some of the field testing. Sandy received the Howard Rapson Memorial Award from the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada in 2015 for the best chemical bleaching paper presented at a technical conference. Sandy was excited to utilize her industry resource experience and statistical expertise as a member of the Flathead Basin Commission when she was appointed to the committee by the Governor in 2021 and is thrilled to continue with the Western Montana Conservation Commission.
Sandy has been married for 45 years to Larry Miller, a Forest Geneticist (now retired). Together they have raised 3 daughters (ages 44, 42, 39 years). They moved to Yaak, Montana in 2014. Sandy has become active in local community activities such as Lincoln County WINGS and is on the planning committee for the Yaak WINGS Annual Auction event. She is currently on the fund-raising committee for the restoration of the 99 year old Yaak Community Hall and previously served as a trustee on the Yaak Elementary School Board for 4 years. She is seen daily on the Yaak River Road getting in her 4-mile walk year-round.