Appendix C – Key Personnel Qualifications

 

Russ Vaagen is the Vice President of Operations for Vaagen Bros. Lumber, Inc.  He is the plant manager of the facility in Colville Washington.  Mr. Vaagen is responsible for the operation of the plant and assuring that the supply of raw material keeps the plant operating.  Mr. Vaagen is a graduate of Washington State University with a degree in Business and Forest Resources.  Mr. Vaagen has spent his life, since childhood, in and around the woods or the family mill.

 

Jim Doran, the Executive Director of the NEW Forestry Coalition and Project Coordinator, has managed several forest resource projects in the past, including the Okanogan Regional Small Diameter Wood Initiative, the Value Added Product Portfolio, the National Forest Foundation Community Capacity Project for the Coalition, the Chewelah and Orient Community Wildfire Protection Plan projects, and two Stevens County RAC projects.  Mr. Doran has also been a founder of the North Central Washington Business Loan Fund, a Board member for seven years and its President for three years.  He sat as a Board member of the Okanogan Economic Development Council for five years.  Mr. Doran was the Mayor of the Town of Twisp from 1996 to 2000.  Jim has been the coordinator for the NEW Forestry Coalition since its inception in 2001.  Mr. Doran is also a licensed attorney in the State of Washington.

 

            Lloyd McGee is the President of the NEW Forestry Coalition and Chairman of the Federal Lands Advisory Committee for Stevens County.  Mr. McGee is also a member of the Title II Resource Advisory council for Ferry, Stevens and Pend OÕReille Counties.  He has been a professional forester for twenty five years.  Mr. McGee is an employee of Vaagen Bros. Lumber, Inc. in Colville, Washington.  Contact at (509) 684-5071, 565 West 5th, Colville, WA  99114.

            Tim Coleman has been active in conservation work since 1971. As current executive director of the rural-based Kettle Range Conservation Group, he and a staff of six have worked diligently to protect roadless areas and ancient forest and sustain biodiversity in our national and state forests. Tim has a long history of volunteer service to non-profit conservation work including board and committee participation with the Washington Environmental Council, American Lands Alliance, Western Ancient Forest Campaign, Wild Washington Campaign and Loomis Forest Fund.  In 1998, the Washington Environmental Council awarded Tim the Environmental Hero award for his work on the Colville National Forest. Contact at (509) 775-2667, P.O. Box 150, Republic, WA 99201.

            Robert Playfair, Sr., President of the Washington State Farm Foresters Association and long time family forester has been involved in the ÒDemonstration forestÓ in concert with the Washington State University Extension Office for many years. Contact at (509) 935-6359, p.o. Box 1399, Chewelah, WA 99109.

                       

            Mike Petersen has been working on forest issues for over 20 years, primarily in the Northwest and Colorado.  He is Executive Director of the Lands Council, a regional conservation group based in Spokane. He is also President of the National Forest Protection Alliance, a 130 member coalition that protects forests at the National Level. Mike serves on the Ferry County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and is on the
advisory Board for the Program for Watershed and Community Health.  Mike has a M.S. in Masters in Mechanical Engineering.  Contact at The Lands Council, (509) 838-4912, 423 West 1st Avenue, Suite 240, Spokane, WA  99201.

 

            Maurice Williamson, President of Williamson Consulting; Education: B.S. in Forest Management, University of Missouri, 1970.  Experience: Forester I - Pre-sales, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 1970-1972; Assistant Superintendent, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 1972-1974; Assistant District Forester, Wyoming State Forestry Division, 1974-1976; Forester, Cambria Forest Industries, 1975-1976; Procurement Forester, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, 1976-1979;  Forester, San Poil Lumber Co, 1979-1981, Self Employed, Williamson Consulting, 1981-Present.  Affiliations: Society of American Foresters, Washington Farm Forestry Association (Past President), Washington Forest Protection Association (Trustee), Washington Contract Logger's Association, Advisory Boards CSS, RTI, Small Forest Landowners Committee.  Awards & Achievements: Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF) Certified Forester and Society of American Foresters (SAF) Certified Forester.  Contact at (509) 684-8550, 270 South Main, Colville, WA  99114. 

 

            John Eminger is the owner and operator of the 49 Degrees North Ski Basin.  Mr. Eminger is also the Chairman of the Title II Resource Advisory Council for Ferry, Stevens and Pend OÕReille counties.  Mr. Eminger has been an active forester for twenty years because his Ski Basin lies within the forested landscape of the Colville National Forest.  Contact at (509) 935-6648, ext. 614, P.O. Box 166, Chewelah, WA 99109.

 

            Peter Griessmann is the Extension Agent for the Washington State University, Colville Extension Office.  Mr. Griessmann has been a prime mover in forest education forums and publications for the fifteen years he has served in his capacity as Extension Agent.  Mr. Griessmann is very knowledgeable about  forest issues and the state and federal, as well as county, bureaucracies.  Contact at (5090 684-2588, 985 South Elm, Colville, WA  99114.

 

            Steve West is the owner of Columbia Cedar, Inc., a cedar mill located north of Kettle Falls, Washington.  Mr. West has had a thirty-year career in forestry and in forest products.  Contact at (509) 738-4711, 24419 No. Highway 395, Kettle Falls, WA  99141.