Board - Staff

Board of Directors

The Pacific Forest Trust's Board is a highly experienced and respected group of business and forestry leaders who are actively engaged guiding PFT's planning and projects.

William W. Stelle, Jr., Chair. Mr. Stelle leads the Endangered Species Act Practice Group for the law firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis. Previously, Mr. Stelle served as Northwest Regional Director for the National Marine Fisheries Service; Associate Director for Natural Resources with the President’s Office on Environmental Policy; special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior; chief counsel and general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives with responsibility for the National Environmental Policy Act. He holds law degrees in Natural Resource Law and Coastal and Marine Law from the University of Washington and the University of Maine respectively.

Timothy N. Taylor, Vice Chair. Mr. Taylor is currently President and CEO of Built-e, Inc., a distributor of sustainable building materials through its Ecohaus stores, call center and website. Prior to forming Built-e, Mr. Taylor was the President and CEO of Laird Norton Company LLC. He also was a founding member of the Investors' Circle and serves on several other not-for-profit boards related to environmental, forestry and conservation issues.

Charles Swindells, Treasurer. Mr. Swindells graduated from Northwestern School of Law and is an attorney who specializes in land conservation and development law. Prior to starting his solo practice, he was a staff attorney with 1000 Friends of Oregon, a lobbying group for forestland and farmland conservation. His other commitments on non-profit boards include serving as Board President of Friends of Trees, which focuses on urban forest replanting and maintenance. He is himself a woodland owner and manager.

Andrea Tuttle, Secretary. Ms. Tuttle served as Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) from March 1999 to June 2004. Ms. Tuttle also served as Chair of the California Fire Alliance, member of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and Western States Forestry Leadership Coalition. Other service includes the California Coastal Commission and Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Her education includes a BA in biological sciences and Ph.D. in environmental policy from UC Berkeley.

Laurie A. Wayburn, Co-founder and President. Ms. Wayburn has over 20 years experience in conservation-based sustainable development both nationally and internationally. She serves on several boards to further conservation and stewardship including the Land Trust Alliance and the Sustainable Forestry Board. A frequent speaker and writer on the values of sustaining our nation's forests, she is co-author of America's Private Forests. She has also sought to further private forests through involvement with the Seventh American Forest Congress, University of California Center for Forestry, Oregon Board of Forestry Incentives Group and Society of American Forests Certification Task Force.

Constance Best, Co-founder and Managing Director. A recognized leader in advancing strategies that harness the power of commerce to accomplish conservation objectives, Ms. Best is the principal author of America's Private Forests: Status and Stewardship (Island Press 2001) and “Capital Markets and Sustainable Forestry: Opportunities for Investment." Prior to creating the Pacific Forest Trust, Ms. Best founded and managed the company that created America’s first all-natural soda and in the process revolutionized the soft drink business. She was PFT's founding chair and has served on the boards of the American Forest Foundation, Ecotrust, the Land Trust Alliance, Anderson Valley Land Trust and Investors' Circle.

William H. Banzhaf. Mr. Banzhaf has served as President of Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the non-profit organization operating the SFI forest certification system and successor to the Sustainable Forestry Board, since 2002. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Executive Vice President and CEO of the Society of American Foresters. From 1967 to 1998, Banzhaf served as President of George Banzhaf and Company, a natural resources consulting firm. Mr. Banzhaf is a certified forester with a graduate degree in forestry from the University of Michigan. 

O. H. Perry Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd is a socially responsible investor and entrepreneur. He has been instrumental in preserving more than 7,000 acres of land, from timberland in South Carolina to a barrier island in Georgia and a sheep ranch in New Zealand. Mr. Lloyd is currently converting his 50-acre vineyard in Potter Valley, CA to organic production.

Kirk Marckwald. Mr. Marckwald is the Founder and Principal of California Environmental Associates (CEA), a San Francisco-based consulting firm seeking to create economic incentives that will yield positive environmental outcomes. Prior to establishing CEA, Marckwald served as Under Secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency, Director of the Office of Appropriate Technology and held several positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior. In addition to PFT, Marckwald serves on the board of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and on the Point Reyes National Seashore Advisory Committee. He previously served on the California Board of Forestry. Marckwald holds a M.S. in Natural Resources Policy and Management from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Trinity College.

Timothy B. Pirrung. Mr. Pirrung serves as president of the executive search firm, Burgess Leighton & Associates. Previously, Mr. Pirrung worked with Coca-Cola and the U.S. Department of State. He serves on the boards of Tall Timbers, a Florida-based non-profit research organization focused on stewardship of wildlife and wild lands, and Island Conservation. His interest in forestry traces back to his service as general manager of a Georgia forestry and agriculture business which he and his brother still own.

Hal Salwasser. Mr. Salwasser is Dean of the Oregon State University College of Forestry and Director of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory. Prior to joining OSU in 2000, he spent 22 years with the U.S. Forest Service, most recently as Director of the Pacific Southwest Research Station. In addition to PFT, Salwasser serves on the boards of the World Forestry Center, Oregon Forest Resources Institute, National Advisory Board of the National Forest Foundation and the Conservation Education Committee of the Oregon Garden.  Salwasser holds a Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science from UC Berkeley.

Walter Sedgwick. Mr. Sedgwick is the Vice-Chairman of Tall Timbers Research, Inc., and a forest landowner dedicated to restoring and maintaining the southern long leaf pine ecosystem. He has more than 20 years of experience in managing family forestlands and has a strong interest in demonstrating the economic viability of stewardship forestry.

Gregory Tebbe. Mr. Tebbe retired from Goldman Sachs in 2007 after working for 21 years in the securities division. Most recently, he was managing the global foreign exchange and emerging market trading businesses within the fixed income, currency and commodities division of the firm. In addition to PFT, he serves on the boards of the Santa Barbara High School Education Foundation and the Harvard Tennis Team. Mr. Tebbe is also involved with various environmental and educational non-profits in the Santa Barbara area. He holds a bachelors degree from Harvard College.

William Hutton, PFT Counsel. An attorney who has pioneered the application of conservation easement law in the United States, Mr. Hutton is a member of the San Francisco firm of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy and Bass LLP, as well as a Professor of Law at Hastings College of Law, University of California.

Staff

The staff of the Pacific Forest Trust is a team of dedicated professionals who work collaboratively and with conviction to protect America's working forests.

Executive Leadership

Laurie A. Wayburn, Co-founder and President. See Board biography.

Constance Best, Co-founder and Managing Director. See Board biography.

Administration

Peter Kodzis, Director of Finance and Administration. Mr. Kodzis holds an Executive MBA degree from St. Mary’s College of California. Prior to joining PFT, Kodzis served as Executive Director of Odyssey Inc. and as Deputy Director of Program Management with RIDES for Bay Area Commuters. Mr. Kodzis also volunteers his time as a President of the Polish-American Educational Committee of San Francisco.

Sean O'Sullivan, Office/Information Technology Manager. Mr. O'Sullivan previously worked as a computer consultant in Healdsburg, Calif. and has extensive experience in web design and with numerous software programs and operating systems. Sean was an adventure tour guide in Alaska with Cross Roads Adventure Tours for five years and is currently working towards a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Communications

Christine Harrison, Director of Communications. A native of California's Sierras, Ms. Harrison is a communications professional with more than 17 years of writing, reporting, editing and management experience in public affairs, media relations and journalism. She has worked in print and electronic news, producing editorial content for outlets including KGET-TV, The Kern Valley Sun, The Bakersfield Californian and the Casey Journalism Center's Children's Beat. Prior to joining PFT, Ms. Harrison served as Director of Communications for The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she led media relations and other communication outreach at the local, regional and national level for eight years.

Conservation & Stewardship

John Bernstein, Vice President for Conservation. Trained as a physician, Dr. Bernstein has been involved with land conservation work for the past 20 years, most recently as Director of Conservation for the Land Trust Alliance. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Maryland Environmental Trust, one of the largest Eastern land trusts, where he brought the easement holdings of the organization from 60,000 to more than 100,000 acres. He holds a M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard University.

Jonathan Remucal, Project Manager, Stewardship and Climate. Mr. Remucal earned his Masters of Environmental Management in May of 2004 from the Nicholas School of Environmental and Earth Sciences in Durham North Carolina. Jon was a policy consultant here at PFT beginning in 2003 and helped draft the Forest Carbon Protocols for the California Climate Action Registry. Jon previously was a research assistant at Duke University where he worked for an international conservation education program and authored material on threats to biodiversity.

Matt Fehrenbacher, Stewardship Forester. Mr. Fehrenbacher holds a B.S. in forest management from Oregon State University in Corvallis and has more than six years of experience as a professional forester. Prior to joining PFT, Matt managed 100,000 acres of commercial timberland in Oregon – focusing on silviculture and salmon habitat restoration – on behalf of Campbell Group and Hancock Timber Resources Group.

Jessica Neff, Stewardship Associate. Ms. Neff earned her Masters of Community and Regional Planning in June of 2007 from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon. Jessica spent a year between her studies interning for the McKenzie River Trust in Eugene working as their Land Steward. After completing her internship, Jessica joined the Trust's Board of Directors.

Jesse Leddick, Conservation Associate. Mr. Leddick holds a Master of Forestry and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. He also holds a B.S. in Environmental Systems from the University of California, San Diego. Jesse previously worked in forest ecology research at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and later, as a research assistant at Duke University where he authored university-level educational literature on sustainable forestry and forest certification.


Development


Steve Van Landingham, Director of Development. Mr. Van Landingham has been fundraising for environmental causes since 1994, first with the California League of Conservation Voters and then for 11 years with Greenbelt Alliance. He has also held leadership positions with NAMES Project, Aids Memorial Quilt and the American Heart Association. Van Landingham holds a Masters of Divinity from Golden Gate Seminary and a B.A. in Speech Communication Consultancy from Oklahoma State University.

Laura Hamilton, Developoment Manager, Foundation Giving. Ms. Hamilton is a development professional with 10 years of experience with grant writing and fundraising.  She is the former development director of Stanford Jazz Workshop; previous to that, she worked for 651 ARTS and a number of small dance companies in New York City.  She holds a master’s degree in arts administration from Brooklyn College and a B.A. in dance from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Alex Page, Development Associate. Alex earned a B.A. in English and World Literature from Pitzer College where he was an active member in environmental programs and studies. He worked as an environmental educator in Claremont, CA and took that passion across the world as a Fulbright Fellow in South Korea. Prior to joining PFT, he volunteered on organic farms throughout New Zealand.

Policy

Paul Mason, Director, California Policy. Mr. Mason's background in forest conservation and policy work spans more than 15 years. During the 1990s he worked for the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) in Humboldt County, advocating for the protection of endangered species and ancient forests, notably the Headwaters Forest which was acquired from Pacific Lumber Company in 1999.  For the seven years prior to joining PFT in April of 2009, Paul represented Sierra Club California before the California Legislature and state agencies. He holds a bachelor's degree in Resource Policy from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.

Paula Swedeen, Senior Policy Analyst. Bio coming soon.

Emily Russell-Roy, Policy Project Manager. Ms. Russell-Roy holds a bachelor's degree in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies from Williams College. Emily has previous experience with forest management and conservation through fieldwork with the School for Field Studies in British Columbia, Canada. Prior to joining PFT, she worked on a climate initiative focused on developing policies and greenhouse gas emissions reductions programs for her alma mater.

Anton Chiono, Policy Associate. Mr. Chiono holds a M.S. in forest science from Yale University and a B.A. in environmental science and policy from Willamette University. Prior to joining PFT, Anton’s work spanned both the science and policy underlying natural resource management. As a researcher with the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, Anton explored the science behind the restoration of historic fire regimes in western forests. Anton’s tenure with The Wilderness Society and U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith provided him with experience in the policy and economics behind resource management. As a Udall Scholar, Wyss Fellow and native of the rural West himself, Anton is committed to preserving the integrity of the unique land, culture and character that exemplify the West.