Voting Board Members
Matt Comisky, American Forest Resource Council
Matt Comisky joined the collaborative in 2014 representing the American Forest Resource Council. With a B.S. in Forest Engineering from the University of Washington and several decades of experience in private land and public land management, Matt’s role through AFRC is to advocate for sustained yield timber harvests on public timberlands to enhance forest health and resistance to fire, insects, and disease through lobbying in legislative sessions.
Collin Emmerson, Sierra Pacific Industries
Collin Emmerson joined the collaborative in 2024 representing Sierra Pacific Industries Aberdeen and Centralia Sawmill Divisions. He is currently the Timber Procurement Manager, but has held other roles including Safety and Environmental Coordinator and Environmental Engineer. In college, he worked for SPI doing jobs including cruising timber for inventory, labor SPI’s fabrication division, and assisting with windows service for Sierra Pacific Windows. Collin has a Master of Science Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor of Science Environmental Engineering, both from the University of Nevada Reno.
Ron Hurn, Interfor
Ron Hurn joined the collaborative in 2024 representing Interfor US Timber in Port Angeles, WA. He is the Timber Manager. Ron has worked in the timber industry on the Olympic Peninsula for 35 years, and has purchased numerous US Forest Service sales over his career. He has also sat on numerous boards that that work with the US Forest Service timbers sales program. They are currently operating one US Forest Service timber sale, and 2 timber sales with the Department of Natural Resource’s Good Neighbor Authority program.
Patricia A. Jones, PhD, Olympic Forest Coalition
Patricia Jones joined the collaborative in 2016 and represents the Olympic Forest Coalition. Patricia has been an advocate for environmental justice and access to safe drinking water locally on the Olympic Peninsula, and at the state, federal and international level for the last 40 years. She holds a PhD and Masters of Law in International Water Law from the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science in the U.K.; a law degree (J.D.) from the Washington College of Law, American University; and a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) in international studies from the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. Patricia brings her sharp insight into shareholder advocacy to all the collaborative discussions.
Thomas O’Keefe, PhD., American Whitewater
Thomas O’Keefe joined the collaborative during its genesis in 2014 representing American Whitewater. Trained as a river ecologist in riparian-forest interactions from the University of Wisconsin, Tom seeks to apply principles of watershed ecology and management to outcomes that benefit the rivers and communities of the Olympic Peninsula. Tom is a passionate whitewater kayaker who has personally explored all the major river systems of the Olympic Peninsula.
Jon Owen, Wild Olympics Campaign
Jon Owen is the Conservation Co-Chair and a cofounder of both the Olympic Forest and Darrington collaboratives. He has been a leader on public lands, conservation and forestry issues in Washington State for over 30 years. He works in rural communities on locally led conservation, forestry, and salmon habitat restoration efforts, focusing on the public lands and rivers in the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. Jon is the Campaign Director and a Co-founder of the locally-led Wild Olympics Campaign. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government.
Tom Uniack, Washington Wild
Tom Uniack has been with the collaborative since 2014. As the Executive Director of Washington Wild and a member of the collaborative, Tom’s decades of environmental advocacy bring passion, strategy and momentum to the conservation of Washington’s public lands and to his work in the collaborative. Prior to gaining his Master’s from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, Tom worked with the Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C. for seven years. Tom and his wife, Stephanie, are the proud parents of son Luke, and twins Charlize and Sierra.
Jill Silver, 10,000 Years Institute
Jill joined the collaborative in 2014, bringing with her a 30-year career in riparian and aquatic habitat protection and restoration, watershed assessment, and development of watershed-scale invasive species prevention programs. She holds a B.A.S. in Environmental Studies and Sciences from The Evergreen State College in Olympia and serves as the executive director of the 10,000 Years Institute. In the collaborative her focus is on the protection of ecosystem services and functions in forests, rivers, wetlands, and the nearshore environment, and creating jobs in stewardship and restoration in rural communities on the coast.
Non-Voting Members
Andrea Roper,
Office of Representative Derek Kilmer
Kelly Lawrence,
Olympic National Forest
Susan Beall,
Olympic National Forest
Consulting Foresters
Miles LeFevre & Sean Jeronimo
Advisory Council Members
Connie Gallant,
Wild Olympics Campaign
Tim McNulty,
Olympic Park Associates
Bernard Bormann,
Olympic Natural Resources Center
Ashley Blazina-Cooper
Washington State Department of Natural Resources