Origin
The idea for a national organization began with discussions over a couple of years that occurred in local packgoat clubs. It was the brainchild of Carolyn Eddy, George Bogdan, and Mike Silverman. Carolyn wrote an article in Goat Tracks Magazine in the spring of 1999, introducing the subject of a national packgoat organization. She discussed the vision and goals of the organization and was looking to see if there was support from the readership to proceed with the work of organizing.
Timeline
George Bogdan was an early advocate for packgoats in Idaho. He led a successful effort with the Treasure Valley Packgoat Club in Idaho to amend a Forest Service decision concerning control of goats on trails and in campgrounds in the Sawtooth National Recreation. He felt that the pressure exerted by an organized club had more influence than individual letters of protest.
The idea was to increase visibility and collective efforts to protect packgoat owners. Additionally, the founders saw the need to promote packgoat education, support youth involvement, bring packgoat clubs together and share events and breed information.
The North American Packgoat Association (NAPgA) name was chosen, and a mission statement was developed. Efforts continued to build a group of charter members. The summer of 1999, saw the first ever Packgoat Rendezvous in Carson, WA hosted by the Cascade Packgoat Club of WA. Here, a NAPgA forum occurred to discuss the fledgling national organization.
Summer of 2000, the sixty-three NAPgA charter members voted in the interim board of directors.
     Terri Summerfield, ID – President
     Gloria Flora, MT – Vice President
     Steve Semasko, WA Secretary
     George Bogdan, ID - Treasurer
     Marc Flora, MT – Board Member
The interim board of directors was established to draft the charter, bylaws and articles of incorporation. Communication was accomplished with emails and Goat Tracks Magazine.
On March 6, 2001, the articles of incorporation were filed with the State of Idaho and became effective, March 13, 2001. Throughout the following months, the interim board of directors met monthly working on establishing a nominating committee and working with that committee to bring a pool of candidates to the charter members for election.
November of 2001, saw the first permanent board of directors.
     Teri DiMaggio, AZ - President -3 yr term
     Rodney York, CA – Vice President -2 yr term
     Jerry Bullat, WA – Treasurer – 3 yr term
     Jan Huffaker, CO – Secretary – 3 yr term
     Marilynne Manguba, ID - Board Member- 2 yr term
Much of the history of NAPgA is archived in Goat Tracks Magazine, which was started by Ellen McMaster and John Mionczynski in Fall 1995.
On June 4, 2015, NAPgA was granted 501(c)(3) tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service.
The effort to establish NAPgA was due to the same issues that plagued us today. It seemed obvious in the 1990’s that a national organization was going to be necessary to help with these nationwide issues, as goatpackers otherwise had no voice in public land use management.
There were, and continue to be, many crucial board members and volunteers that have worked alongside NAPgA presidents to do the work of fulfilling the NAPgA mission. Below is a list of NAPgA Presidents.
    Teri DiMaggio, AZ 2001 to 2003
     Jan Huffaker, CO  2004 to 2006
    Larry Robinson, ID 2007 to 2012
     Charlie Jennings, UT 2013 to 2015
     Curtis King, WA 2016 to 2021
    Chris Gifford, WA 2022 to current
