NNRG Staff Members

Denise Pranger, Executive Director

Denise has over 20 years of experience in non-profit management, including 10 years with NNRG. She is responsible for oversight of all NNRG programs, and specializes in Watershed Innovations, NNRG's ecosystem services research and development program. Denise has experience in forestry based carbon offset credits and was a member of the Forestry Technical Working Group of Washington's Climate Change Challenge, an initiative of Governor Christine Gregoire. Denise has been involved in the FSC movement since 1997 and spent several years as an auditor for the SmartWood program, an FSC accredited certifier, giving her extensive knowledge of regional FSC supply chains. Denise is currently serving as a Board Member for ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia beginning in 2004. As president of JLT Resources, LLC (a subsidiary of Jefferson Land Trust) and former Board Member for the Jefferson Land Trust, she is developing a framework that promotes the integration of natural resource economics and conservation.

Kirk Hanson - Interim Director, Northwest Certified Forestry

Kirk is a small forest landowner with a 30-acre tree farm near Oakville, Washington where he manages a regenerating forest and develops experimental agroforestry systems. Kirk has worked on strategies for combining rural economic development with environmental enhancement in the Pacific Northwest for over 10 years. In 1996 Kirk founded Permaculture West, a non-profit organization that provided educational and training programs on sustainable forest and farm management for private landowners. In 1999 Kirk worked with a private fisheries consultancy on Critical Areas Ordinance issues pertaining to farming and riparian areas in the Skagit Valley. In 2000 Kirk helped found the Small Forest Landowner Office in the Washington State Department of Natural Resources where he assisted family forest landowners across the state in finding financial and technical assistance. Kirk graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1995 with a B.S. in Sustainable Resource Management. His professional affiliations include the Washington Farm Forestry Association, Forest Guild and Family Forest Foundation.

Jake Robinson - Southwest Oregon Regional Director

Jake graduated from Southern Oregon University with a B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science and has been operating Yankee Creek Forestry out of Coos Bay, OR since 2003.  During that time he has worked with private landowners to create forest management plans and conduct forest stand improvement and restoration projects including; selective logging, planting, riparian restoration, fuels reduction, pre-commercial  and commercial thinning, harvest plan layout, wildlife habitat enhancement, and mitigation plans.  Jake has also worked as a sub-contractor on several innovative federal stewardship contracts doing harvest layout, cutting, and equipment operation.  Most of this work was done in the interior valley forest habitats around the Rogue Valley of southern Oregon. After moving to the coast two years ago, Jake took a temporary position with South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve as the Forest Science Coordinator where he developed the Reserve’s first upland forest management and restoration plan. This provided Jake an excellent opportunity to explore the coastal forest types in great detail, both in literature and the field.  As the Southwest Oregon Regional Director, Jake looks forward to working with NCF members, Preferred Providers, and NNRG's partners throughout the state. 

Stewart Matthiesen - Development Director / Policy Analyst

Stewart comes to NNRG with an MS in Organizational Management, concentration in Development Management, from the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont. After serving as NNRG's marketing intern in the Fall of 2005, he returned for a full-time staff position. A native of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, he brings a wide variety of experiences to NNRG. He graduated from Peninsula College with an AA-Honors (at age 17) and from Whitman College with a BA in Astrophysics and English.  He served in the United States Peace Corps for two years in central Russia, and has also worked as a rock climbing instructor, computer support specialist, state park aid, and city bus dispatcher. He is interested in sustainable development and the merging of environmental, social, and economic concerns in business and society and has been developing expertise in ecosystem services and carbon market policy.

Shelley French - Director of Operations and Finance

Shelley began her career as an accounting consultant, serving the financial and office management needs of business owners in the Seattle area. She owned and operated her company, SRF Resources, for 17 years. In 2003, her passion for nature along with her business expertise and advanced organizational skills led to the co-founding of Nature Vision, Inc, a non-profit environmental education organization in Redmond, WA. She was the CFO for 5 years and remains on the Board of Directors.

In addition to her background in business, Shelley is an experienced naturalist and environmental educator. She has presented over 20 environmental topics ranging from forest ecology to environmental stewardship, to multi-generational audiences. Shelley is a certified restoration ecologist, earning her credentials from the University of Washington Restoration Ecology Network. While attending the U of W, she participated in a yearlong team project to design and implement a riparian restoration project at the East Basin of Union Bay adjacent to the Center for Urban Horticulture. Shelley graduated from Bellevue Community College with an AA in Business and Accounting. She received a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies; Science, Technology and the Environment, from the University of Washington – Bothell in 2002.

Shelley shares a life philosophy, “When faced with a challenge, put your boots on and go for a walk in the woods.”

Click here to read an article that features one of Shelley's favorite wild edibles recipes.

  Hannah Yourd - Americorps / Stewardship Associate

Hannah grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota and recently graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa with a major in Biology and Environmental Studies. One of the highlights of her college experience was spending a semester in South Africa where she studied savanna ecology and wildlife management in Kruger National Park.  Last summer Hannah served as a Forestry Intern with the Student Conservation Association and Army Corps of Engineers in Minnesota. Hannah is based in Port Townsend and is very excited to expand her forestry experience through working with NCF members and NNRG's staff and board.

Dale Meltzer - Public Relations Intern
Dale recently graduated from The Evergreen State College with a B.S. In Environmental Studies. Dale’s passion for the environment was ignited while working at the Omega Holistic Institute, an intentional community in the Hudson Valley in New York. Following his tenure at Omega, Dale studied a variety of topics focusing on carbon sequestration, forest carbon stock, and community level sustainability. Dale is very excited to be working with NNRG and NCF members.

NNRG Board of Directors

President - Patti Southard, King County Recycling & Environmental Services, Seattle, WA
Patti has an extensive background in the sustainable wood products industry, having worked in sales for several years for Duluth Timber and the Environmental Home Center. At the Environmental Home Center, Patti led the wood products sales team and was responsible for bringing a wide variety of sustainable materials to the Seattle market. Her work with King County focuses on sustainable wood purchasing and recovery, with an emphasis on implementing the County's green building policies. Patti also chairs the Built Green program, a comprehensive residential green building standard, for the Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties.

Vice President - Marco Lowenstein, North American Wood Products, Portland, OR
Marco manages FSC and Latin American purchasing for North American Wood Products, a wood-products distributor based in Portland. Marco has worked in sustainable forestry and the certified forest products industry for the past 25 years. His experience includes positions as Western and Lake States Region Manager for the SmartWood program, an FSC certifier; Sales Manager of lumber and flooring dealers in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Director of Sustainable Forestry programs in New Mexico and Costa Rica; and Reforestation Crew Leader in Oregon. Marco has a BA in Biology from the University of California - Santa Cruz and a Masters in Forest Science from Yale University.

Secretary - Alicia Robbins, University of Washington - College of Forest Resources, Seattle, WA
Alicia is currently pursuing a PhD in natural resource economics at the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources and is a National Science Foundation graduate fellow. She has eight years of experience working in international and domestic natural resource management issues, and has held positions at the World Resources Institute and UW's College of Forest Resources. Her interest is in incentives-based policy mechanisms for natural resource management and hopes to contribute to the development of markets for ecosystem services. Alicia received her B.A. from Columbia University, a M.S. in forest economics and a M.A. in international studies from the University of Washington.

Treasurer - Mark Bowman, Enterprise Cascadia, Ilwaco, WA
Mark is the Vice President and Loan Officer for the North Olympic Peninsula, WA region of ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia (SBEC), a non-profit affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation of Chicago, IL.  He has been with SBEC for two years working on loans to small business owners and consulting with non-profits.  SBEC promotes conservation based development in coastal communities in Oregon and Washington and is headquartered in Ilwaco, WA.  Mark spent the previous five years as a small business owner in the tourism industry in Port Angeles, WA.  From 1989 to 1999, Mark was a Loan Officer and Branch Manager of Central Valley Production Credit Association located in Los Banos, CA.  Mark grew up on a poultry ranch in Turlock, CA.

Ian Hanna, FSC US, Port Townsend, WA
Formerly the Director of our NCF program, Ian is now the Development Director for FSC US.  Ian is a market development expert, with a broad background in ecosystem forestry, forestry-based carbon offsets, small-scale manufacturing, FSC certification, and wood product sales. His experience includes national level market development for FSC and reclaimed wood products as a manager for Certified Wood & Paper Association and Certified Forest Products Council. Ian also founded Windfall Lumber in Olympia, one of the first FSC certified businesses in the Northwest. Ian is also a founding member of the FSC Family Forests Alliance, a national network of small woodland owner advocacy organizations.

Jon Kaplan, Port Townsend, WA

Jon comes to Port Townsend and the Board of Northwest Natural Resource Group after living 40+ years in the state of New Mexico.  He has had a  varied business career including 15 years as the owner of a wood manufacturing business, and most recently, 15 years as a senior managing executive of a financial institution where his responsibilities included managing non-spread businesses and running the institution's marketing programs.  Now retired, he has still been known to get behind a running table saw and continues to marvel at the beauty and variety of the Northwest's forests and timber resources, and the dedication of the forest owners that steward them.

Allen Lebovitz, Willapa Land & Dendrology, South Bend, WA
Allen is an applied ecologist and forester who focuses on coastal Northwest watershed conservation, restoration and management. He is the owner of Coastal Watersheds Consulting which has been providing ecological services to conservation groups, government, and industrial timber companies in the Willapa Ecosystem for over 10 years.

Allen is also the founder of Willapa Land and Dendrology (WiLD), an FSC certified timber company. In addition to owning and managing land, WiLD is an FSC certified broker of logs and Allen has worked aggressively to develop certified markets for timber to improve the valuation of forest resources in the region. Allen has a B.A. in Biology and Public Administration from Northeastern and a M.E.S from the Yale School of Forestry.

Norman MacLeod, Gaelic Wolf Consulting, Port Townsend, WA
Norman MacLeod is the President and CEO of Gaelic Wolf Consulting, an Internet presence strategy and design firm located in Hockessin, Delaware and Port Townsend, Washington. His firm's clients include a broad diversity of organizations, from the Watersheds division of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to Forester Communications, a publisher and conference organizing firm working in environmental industries. As a member of the International Environment Forum, a UN recognized NGO, he is actively involved in balancing human needs with those of the environment in many nations and regions around the world. He is involved in international work for the education and support of AIDS orphans in Africa, particularly with supporting subsistence gardening for these young people in Swaziland.

Meredith “Meri” Parker, Ozett Associates, Neah Bay, WA
Meri is President of Ozett Associates LLC, a natural and cultural resources management consulting company specializing in tribal affairs.  She started her own company after retiring as Chief Executive Officer of the Makah Forestry Enterprise,  and 35 years overall with the Makah Tribe.   She has worked with representatives from many of the timbered tribes across the country as a member of the Board of Directors to the Intertribal Timber Council, a group of 60+ timbered tribes across the country.  She currently serves on boards of directors with the Makah Cultural & Research Center, Potlatch Fund, Makah Election Board, Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce, Green Crow, PEAK Leadership, Olympic Peninsula Tourism and Commission and with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.  

Meri has two sons and lives on the Makah Reservation in Neah Bay, WA.

Bryan Ripka, EcoTimber, Seattle, WA

Bryan Ripka is the Director of Commercial Development at EcoTimber, a pioneering company that specializes in FSC certified, recycled and rapidly renewable bamboo flooring made with adhesives that do not contain harmful VOC’s. His primary focus is in working with architects and designers helping them specify the right product for their commercial projects. Before joining EcoTimber he was the National Sales Manager for Built-e / ecohaus, a distributor of sustainable building materials based in Seattle, WA servicing dealers throughout North America. Bryan brings a wealth of experience in sales, focusing on environmentally sound and healthy building materials and in education of various green building programs. He is passionate about proving the business case for sustainability. As a student at Portland State University he became exposed to environmentally responsible construction methods through his coursework to achieve a degree in Urban Planning and Studies focusing in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) with a minor in Community Development. Bryan helped organize the first ever Green Homes Tour of Portland Oregon and was a member of the host committee that helped coordinate and bring the international conference, GreenBuild to Portland, OR. Additionally, he is a former member of the US Green Building Council’s Seattle and Portland Chapter Steering Committees.

David Troutt, Natural Resource Director, Nisqually Tribe, Olympia, WA

David has been the Natural Resources Director from the Nisqually Indian Tribe in Olympia, WA since 1987 where he has worked on salmon recovery and harvest issues, natural resource policy, and public and governmental relations.  David has also served as Chair of the Nisqually River Council since 2002 where he played a key role in development and release of the 50 year Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan which has received regional and national recognition as an innovative locally based solution to the difficult issues facing the watershed.  David has an MS from the University of Washington and, among many other roles, also serves on the board of directors from the Nisqually Land Trust, as Chairman of the Nisqually River Foundation, and was recently appointed by Governor Gregoire to the Ecosystem Coordination Board of the Puget Sound Partnership.

Michele Zukerberg, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA
Michele received her Master of Forestry degree from Duke University. She has over eight years of experience in research, restoration and management of natural resources. As a forester on public lands, Michele designed timber sales, silvicultural prescriptions, and performed contract compliance on harvest operations. She was previously the Forest Certification Coordinator for NNRG, served as an assessor for a number of Smartwood Chain of Custody and Forest Management operations in the Pacific Northwest, and represented NNRG in the development of the Forest Stewardship Council's Pacific Coast Regional Standards. Michele currently manages conservation lands for the State of Washington's Natural Areas Program.