A seven-member volunteer Chimacum Ridge Community Forest Board of Managers is in place to oversee the establishment and operation of a community forest following the purchase of Chimacum Ridge Forest by Jefferson Land Trust from EFM by the end of 2023.
Working closely with a new staff Forest Manager, the Community Forest Board of Managers will guide recreational, cultural, economic, ecological, and educational planning for the community forest, balancing the many potential uses and benefits that the forest offers.
From 2023-2025, the Community Forest Board of Managers will be a working board that participates in the operations of the community forest, helping with the launch of the Community Forest and with the creation of the processes and policies that will allow the Community Forest to succeed. The Community Forest Board of Managers is expected to transition to a Governing Board by the end of 2025.
Tim Lawson moved to Port Townsend in 2004 and set up shop as a furniture maker. In 2007 he co-founded the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and in 2011 became the Executive Director. Since retiring in 2017, Tim continues to teach at the school and helps organize the annual Port Townsend Woodworkers Show. As a woodworker, he’s passionate about using locally sourced lumber. Tim feels that a community forest on Chimacum Ridge is a compelling way to provide sustainable, carefully harvested lumber to local craftspeople and local builders and he wants to help make that happen.
In prior lives Tim worked as a field geologist in the UK, conducted mineral exploration in NW Queensland, and led software engineering teams in the UK, Japan, and the U.S.
Tim is a member and vice president of Jefferson Land Trust’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of LEO (the League of Extraordinary Observers) that works to photograph and document conservation projects throughout Jefferson County.
David Gilluly and his wife, Elaine, moved to Port Townsend in 2022, following his retirement from a diverse and fulfilling forestry career focused on applying innovative information technologies to sustainable forest management across the US and abroad.
David brings his passion for woodworking and a wide variety of outdoor recreation, including hiking, kayaking, backpacking, mountain biking, and trail running to his role with the Land Trust and Chimacum Ridge Community Forest.
In addition to his role with the Chimacum Ridge Community Foret, David volunteers with the Land Trust, assisting with youth education and helping care for preserves. He also volunteers at a variety of community events such as the Wooden Boat Festival and the Port Townsend Film Festival.
Devon Buckham has lived on the Olympic Peninsula for the last 23 years. He and his wife are grateful to be able to raise their young children in this amazing place. As a local educator in Chimacum, Devon has seen the firsthand impact of connecting younger generations with the important work being done by Jefferson Land Trust.
Excited to be part of Chimacum Ridge Community Forest, Devon sees it as an incredible opportunity to build deeper connections with the land.
Kris Lenke moved to the Port Townsend/Chimacum area in 1996 for a position as Special Services Director for the Chimacum School District. She served in similar positions in two other districts before retiring.
Kris grew up in eastern Washington where she was actively involved in Girl Scouts and Spokane Mountaineers. These experiences were the cornerstone for her appreciation of the outdoors and volunteering. She’s a longstanding board member for the local Back Country Horsemen of Washington chapter, Buckhorn Range, which helps to build and maintain trails both in the back and front country.
As a close neighbor to the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest property, Kris has walked and ridden her horse there since arriving in the area. She was an active participant in all of the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest advisory groups.
After a career as an auto mechanic, along with raising children, mending fences, digging thistles and other weeds, trimming sheep hooves, volunteering in a variety of ways, playing the oboe, and occasionally racing cars, Owen and his wife Sarah moved to Port Townsend. Here, he has enjoyed 20 years (and counting) of continual learning and collaborative teamwork in a variety of roles with Land Trust people. His involvement ranges from serving as Conservation Projects Committee chair and Board president, as well as spending time on almost every other committee, supporting staff however he can, and joining Sarah helping care for two of the Land Trust nature preserves as preserve stewards.
Owen’s related experience includes a childhood exploring the outdoors, working on a dairy farm in high school, and riparian restoration along a fish-bearing creek on their farm in the Willamette Valley. He has found invasive weeds to keep him busy on every property they’ve had. Sarah also volunteers in a variety of ways with the Land Trust and in the community.
A neighbor of the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest, Dan Hysko is a farmer. He and his family grow perennial trees and shrubs, produce annual fruit and vegetables, and raise animals on their diversified small farm in Beaver Valley. Dan moved to Chimacum in 2010 and has since worked on local farms, in education, land restoration, construction, landscaping, and for the Chimacum Corner Farmstand. An active member of the Chimacum Grange, he is passionate about building a strong and healthy community that’s connected to the land. He and his wife, Sierra, and their son spend as much time as possible walking in the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest and in the Olympic National Forest.
As a third generation Chimacum High School graduate, Mike Gould learned the value of education in Chimacum Schools in the 1960s and 70s. He was kicked out of kindergarten by Mrs. Earl for reading baseball box scores as his career aspiration became clear: professional athlete. Fortunately, his Chimacum education prepared him well for his chosen career. Athletes need to be able to hit, throw, catch, shoot, and run; since Mike couldn’t do any of these things, he embarked on a radio sportscasting career. Luckily, Chimacum taught Mike to talk.
Professionally, Mike has spent more than 40 years in the communication and research fields, working in radio, advertising, research, and public relations. Gould founded a media research company in 1999 and continues to serve as President/CEO.
For some reason, Jan married Mike in 1988 and although no one understands why, she has stayed around. They have three grown children and none of them are much good at sports either. Jan and Mike make their home on a 19-acre forest/farm parcel on the old Gould Dairy south of Chimacum — the fourth generation of Goulds to do so.
Jefferson Land Trust seeks to recruit members for the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest Board of Managers that fully represent the multiple interests, lived experiences, and deep expertise of our community. To promote equitable access to all our volunteer opportunities, Jefferson Land Trust has established an Access and Equity Fund that reimburses volunteers for costs such as travel, childcare, and elder care if these are barriers to participation. For a copy of this policy that details eligibility and a summary of the benefits it offers, please contact Blaise Sullivan at Jefferson Land Trust via email at bsullivan[at]saveland.org or by phone at 360.504.0794.
