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.