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 in guiding PFT's planning and projects.

Charles Swindells, Chair. Mr. Swindells graduated from Northwestern School of Law and is an attorney specializing in land conservation and development. Prior to starting his solo practice, he was a staff attorney with 1000 Friends of Oregon, a forest and farmland conservation, urban planning and transportation advocacy group. He now serves on the 1000 Friends Board and is the co-founder and Board Chair of the Children's Healing Arts Project, an art therapy service provider to Portland-area children's hospitals. He is also a woodland owner and manager.

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.

Gregory Tebbe, Treasurer. 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 bachelor's degree from Harvard College.

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, President and co-CEO. 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. In 2009 she and PFT co-founder Constance Best were awarded the U.S. EPA’s Climate Protection Award for their work advancing the critical role forests play in the fight against global warming.

Constance Best, co-CEO. Ms. Best is 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 pop, a revolutionary development in the beverage industry. 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.

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 Bachelor of Arts degree 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.

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, President and co-CEO. See Board biography.

Constance Best, co-CEO. See Board biography.

James Burnham, Executive Assistant. Mr. Burnham holds Masters of Public Affairs degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology degree from the University of Vermont. Prior to joining PFT he worked as an Executive Assistant to the Dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Dean of Lesley University’s School of Education. He has also worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy in the Natural Heritage Program.

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, he 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.

Jolanta Zakrzewski, Accountant. Since 1991, Ms. Zakrzewski has provided business and finance solutions as an accountant. She graduated from Warsaw Business School and later worked for the California Alumni Association at
U.C. Berkeley and for Robert Half International before joining PFT in 2007.

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.

Cari McLaughlin, Communications Associate. Ms. McLaughlin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Communication and a Minor in Art from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Prior to joining PFT, Cari spent several years in publishing, producing books aimed to inspire and educate young adults about current events and environmental issues.


Conservation & Stewardship

Matt Fehrenbacher, Director of Stewardship. Mr. Fehrenbacher holds a Bachelor of Science degree 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.

Megan Wargo, Klamath-Cascade Program Director. Ms. Wargo holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University and a B.A. in environmental studies, economics and policy from Claremont McKenna College. She has previously worked as a Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land’s Sierra Nevada/Northern California team, a Land Protection Specialist for the Piedmont Land Conservancy in Greensboro, NC and a Stewardship Associate at the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust in Homer, AK.

Jessica Neff, Stewardship Manager. Ms. Neff earned her Masters of Community and Regional Planning degree 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, Senior Conservation Associate. Mr. Leddick holds Master of Forestry and Master of Environmental Management degrees from Duke University. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree 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

Linda Coffee, Development Manager, Foundation Giving. Ms. Coffee has worked in a fundraising capacity for more than seven years. She has worked on individual and institutional giving with several conservation organizations in the Bay Area, including Golden Gate Audubon Society, Sierra Club, and The Trust for Public Land. Linda holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Finance from California State University, Chico.

Alex Page, Senior Development Associate, Individual and Corporate Giving.
Mr. Page earned a Bachelor of Arts degree 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

Garret Johnson, Director of Federal Affairs. Prior to joining PFT, Mr. Johnson served as Senior Business Advisor at The Nature Conservancy, where he played a key role in land transactions and forest certification projects protecting more than 4.3 million acres of forestland. He was a co-winner of The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Achievement Award in 2005, and selected as a Fellow for the Conservancy’s 2006-2007 John C. Sawhill Leadership Development Program. Before working in conservation, Mr. Johnson served as Vice President of The Economic Alliance for Michigan and as a Policy Advisor for the Michigan House of Representatives. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Astrophysics and Mathematics, both from Michigan State University.

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, Ph.D., Director of Ecosystem Service Programs. Swedeen has 20 years of forest conservation and management experience as a wildlife biologist, policy analyst, and ecological economist, and has applied her expertise to a wide array of issues, including endangered species conservation, forest carbon protocol development and valuation of ecosystem services. She joins PFT after working for the Washington Departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife, and as a private consultant. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from The Union Institute, a master’s degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Western Washington University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Indiana University.

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 Analyst. Mr. Chiono holds a Master of Science degree in Forest Science from Yale University and a bachelor's degree 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.