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, was a member of the Forestry Technical Working Group of Washington’s Climate Change Challenge, an initiative of Governor Christine Gregoire, and is now serving on the Jefferson County Climate Action Committee.  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 has also served as a Board Member for ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia since 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.

Ian Hanna, Director - Northwest Certified Forestry
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 a board member of the FSC US Initiative and his professional affiliations include the Washington Farm Forestry Association, Oregon Small Woodlands Association, U.S. and Cascadia Region Green Building Councils, and Northwest Ecobuilding Guild.

Kirk Hanson - NCF South Sound Regional Manager

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.

Stewart Matthiesen - Development Manager

Stewart recently completed his MS in Organizational Management with a concentration in Development Management at 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 in 1997 with an AA-Honors (at 17 years old) and from Whitman College in 2000 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.

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.”

NNRG Board of Directors

President - Chris Robbins, The Wild Salmon Center, Portland, OR
Chris manages U.S. Northwest programs for the Wild Salmon Center based in Portland, Oregon. Previously, he worked in the Oregon chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He founded and operated Biota LLC, a Portland, Oregon-based natural resource consulting firm. Mr. Robbins joined NNRG in 2002. Prior to Biota LLC, Mr. Robbins worked for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington, D.C. where he oversaw plant trade and conservation research for TRAFFIC North America, the wildlife trade monitoring program of WWF and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Mr. Robbins has an educational and professional background in conservation biology and environmental policy, specializing in planning, research, outreach and communications. He has researched and published extensively on such issues as the forest products trade, wildlife conservation and sustainable agriculture. Mr. Robbins has a decade of experience working in the non-profit conservation community, assisting organizations with strategic planning and development.

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 - 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.

Treasurer - Mark Bowman, Shorebank 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.

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.

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.

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.

Michael Rylko, Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, Seattle, WA

-  on temporary leave of absence  -

Michael is the National Estuary Program Coordinator for the Puget Sound / Georgia Basin for EPA’s Office of Ecosystems, Tribal and Public Affairs. He is also the Regional Geographic Initiative Coordinator for the two most populated basins in the region — Puget Sound and the Willamette. His current work focuses on assisting with the design and development of localized watershed protection and restoration approaches in the Puget Sound & Georgia Basin. Michael negotiates, designs, and implements watershed restoration and protection projects and programs in the great Pacific Northwest across most scales of management and across most major land-use sectors. Before coming to Seattle, he was the Forest Team Province Lead for two northwest forest planning provinces - including the Rogue, Umpqua, and Willamette basins in Oregon. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master’s Degree from the University of Washington, School of Marine Affairs in Coastal Resource Policy.