CHUCK JARECKI

Director Emeritus

Starting out in a Piper Super Cub, Chuck got his private rating in 1960. Seeking further flying knowledge, he gained his commercial and glider licenses in 1961; then seaplane and instrument ratings. He bought a brand-new Cessna 180 in 1976 and began exploring North America from the air. He and his wife Penny have a map of the Continent, criss-crossed with their flights.


Chuck can count the number of controlled airports he’s used, preferring more remote areas. From Nome, Alaska, to Panama; and to the northern tip of Labrador in eastern Canada he’s accumulated over 5,000 hours. His passion is for the backcountry and the recreational experience it offers. He still enjoys his 180 on wheels but added a 1975 Cessna 185 on amphibious floats several years ago.

Chuck brings a wealth of knowledge on natural resource management to the RAF. His career spanned thirty years as owner/operator of a 7,000 acre cattle ranch in northwestern Montana. He’s received awards for excellence in grazing land management and soil stewardship. He served on a National Academy of Sciences committee, writing a book on evaluating rangeland health. Chuck is the go-to guy on weed control, having served ten years on Montana’s noxious weed advisory committee.

His professional associations include Society for Range Management, Montana Stockgrowers Association, past president of the Western Montana Stockmen’s Association, and Montana Beef Council-all of which offer vast background in public lands issues and environmental concerns.

Besides being a founding director of the RAF, the  Montana Pilots Association (MPA)  tapped into Chuck’s experience, seating him on its board of directors.

Chuck’s involvement with the RAF has been extensive. In addition to sweat-equity projects like the campground, shelter, and airstrip improvements at Ryan Field near Glacier Park, Chuck compiled the RAF’s “Recreational Airstrips, Issues, and Opportunities.” He drafted language for the recently-passed US House Resolution supporting recreational aviation and airstrips; and led the cooperative effort between the RAF and MPA to preserve six airstrips within the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument.

What motivates Chuck to work tirelessly for the RAF? “I didn’t want the next generation of pilots to say, ‘Why didn’t someone do something to preserve those airstrips when they had the chance? Now it’s too late.'”

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Posted in Former Director

Recent Posts

IF WE COULD . . .

By Kodi Myhre • December 23, 2025
At about this time, every year, we have this conversation at the RAF about what our year end letter (code for asking for your financial support) should say to you, and about the RAF and the accomplishments of the past year.

WORTH THE READ: STEF GOZA GUEST EDITORIAL

By Taylin Trafton • December 23, 2025
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BILL DUGAN IS NEW NEBRASKA LIAISON

By lellington • December 21, 2025
Bill credits aviation for much of his success in business and the ability to serve his companies and family. What began in a Champ, and a Tri-Pacer owned by five people, turned into what Bill calls, “a key business tool” in which he accumulated 9,000 hours – in a Cheyenne, a Pilatus, and a TBM, where ninety-five percent of his flying was for business. “My retirement enabled me to recall ‘Why I Learned to Fly’, a slogan from an old RAF video.” Bill’s son, Patrick, purchased the C185 they now share. “While attending a business function, some associates arrived in corporate jets. As they joined up on the tarmac, the jet pilots gathered around Patrick’s 185, and one of the passengers asked, ‘What’s special about this?’ No explanation needed for this RAF audience,” Bill says. “My involvement in the RAF is, in a partial way, repaying the rewards aviation has endowed me with. Having been involved in many worthwhile nonprofits, this is one where financial support is only part of the picture. Physically participating in great projects that have a lasting effect, with good people, returns a great personal benefit,” he says. “My only regret is that I wasn’t there at the start.” Bill and his wife Jane are privileged to be able to split time between their long-time home in eastern Nebraska and Scottsdale, Arizona. While still serving on several boards, he enjoys golf “about every third shot,” biking, cars, and reading, but always looks forward to the time he can be involved in the RAF. “It’s flying with a purpose,” he adds. Bill can be reached at bdugan@theraf.org

Jake Hampton

December 15, 2025
AR Ambassador

RAF ADDS MICHIGAN LIAISON SCOTT ANTTILA

By Taylin Trafton • December 11, 2025
A Christmas gift of flight lessons from his parents started Scott Anttila’s aviation journey in 1985. “I learned at Johnson Field, a small grass strip tucked into the woods in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and that early exposure to simple backcountry flying stuck with me,” Scott says. Growing up in the U.P., he spent a lot of time outdoors and found that flying was another way to get to the places he liked to explore—especially the ones most people never saw. As he earned more ratings and eventually moved to the Detroit area for work, Scott realized he needed a way to stay connected to northern Michigan. He bought an airplane and used it to get back to the smaller airstrips and lake country he enjoyed. Along the way, he also flew gliders out of Frankfort, soaring along the Sleeping Bear Dunes and towing sailplanes over the Great Lakes. “Those flights gave me a different appreciation for the landscape and made me even more interested in the small, out-of-the-way airports scattered around the state,” he says. Visiting those kinds of places, Scott first came across the Recreational Aviation Foundation. He started using RAF-supported airstrips both inside and outside Michigan. “I noticed how well-kept they were and how much access they opened up,” he says, adding, ”Over the years, I’ve watched a number of grass strips close, which made the RAF’s mission feel especially important to me. Maintaining these airstrips keeps aviation connected to the outdoors and makes it possible for more people to reach the quiet, remote areas that inspired me to fly in the first place.” Scott joins the other two RAF Michigan Liaisons, General Grant and Tanmoy Ganguly. He can be reached at santtila@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.