Granite State Division

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chair

Ethan Belair
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
ethan.belair@tnc.org

Ethan Belair is the Natural Climate Solutions Forester with the Nature Conservancy’s Global Climate Science Team, which studies the impacts of implementing natural climate solutions, primarily in forests. His current work focuses on measuring and modeling how forests respond to human interventions from local to global scales. He is an affiliate faculty member at the University of New Hampshire, where he previously worked as a faculty member and extension forester. His prior work has centered on improving the practice of silviculture in forest management, and has included elements of forest biometrics, wildlife habitat improvement, remote sensing, and human demographics. He holds an M.S. in Forest Biology from Purdue University, and a B.S. in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire.

Past Chair

Gabe Roxby
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
groxby@forestsociety.org

Gabe has worked for the Forest Society as a field forester since in 2012. He graduated from UNH with a M.S. in Natural Resources and a focus in Forestry. Gabe attained his NH forestry license in 2019 and works with the other foresters on staff to manage the Forest Society’s lands throughout the state. He enjoys learning about the complexity of our forests in New Hampshire and educating anyone who will listen about sustainable forest management. Gabe served as the treasurer for GSD/SAF from 2017-2019 and currently serves on the NH Invasive Species Committee. Gabe lives in Henniker with his wife Kara and their three daughters.

Chair Elect

Alexa Denhoff
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
adenhoff@landvest.com

Alexa is a staff forester for LandVest

Secretary

Sam Taylor
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
samuel.taylor@dncr.nh.gov

Sam Taylor is a forester with the State of New Hampshire, Division of Forests and Lands, where he has worked since 2015. As the forestry and wildlife program forester for the NH South Region, he is responsible for forest management and wildlife habitat projects on NH Fish & Game Department wildlife management areas and several state parks and forests in the southern third of the state. Sam holds an A.A.S. in Forest Technology from the Thompson School at UNH. He has served as GSD-SAF secretary since 2016.

Treasurer

Susan Romano
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
susanromano2017@gmail.com

Susan Romano is a retired professor of forest/wetland ecology and GIS spatial analysis who failed retirement and now owns Saddleback Mountain Environmental, licensed as both a forester and a wetland scientist. Susan previously worked for Western Illinois University where her teaching and research centered around the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Southern Illinois University, a M.S. in Botany from Western Illinois University, and a B.S. in Forest Resource Management from Southern Illinois University. Susan’s husband, Mike Romano, is happily retired, and their son, Tyler, shares his talents in GIS and as a biologist with his work at Saddleback.

Policy Chair

Don Floyd
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
dfloydE6L@gmail.com

Don Floyd, retired as a professor of forest policy at SUNY-ESF and the University of New Brunswick where he was dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management. He and his wife, Sally Atwater moved south to Concord, NH in 2019 to enjoy warmer winters. Floyd is a former chair of SAF’s national forest policy committee and is an SAF Fellow. He is a board member for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and a former board member for Nature Conservancy Canada.

Tree Farm Committee Representative

Geoffrey T. Jones
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
geoffreytjones@gmail.com

Geoff Jones is a professional forester with 43 years of experience. He received a BA in Biology from KSC and an AAS in Forest Technology from the TSAS/UNH. He is the former director of land management with SPNHF, where he served for 30 years. In 2010 he founded Loveland Forestry, offering forestry and residential tree removal services to discriminating landowners. Geoff was a charter member of the New Hampshire Timber Harvesting Council; served on the UNH Thompson School Forest Advisory Committee from 1984-present; served on the 1997 and 2010 committees that developed the “Good Forestry in the Granite State” guidebook. He is author of several articles including the publication: “A Guide to Logging Aesthetics: Practical Tips for Loggers, Foresters, and Landowners”. Geoff is the recipient of many state, regional, and national awards, including: 1993 GSD/SAF New Hampshire Forester of the Year Award; 1994 NELA Outstanding Contributions to Forest Industry Education Award; 2006 NELA Outstanding Management of Resources Award; 2006 NESAF Austin Cary Practicing Professional Award; and the 2018 SAF President’s Award for “Outstanding Field Forester” (Representing New England, New York, & Quebec).
Geoff serves on the Stoddard conservation commission (since 1996) and has been the chair since 1999. He is a US Coast Guard Vietnam Veteran (1969-73).

Awards Chair

Matt Chagnon
Term: 1/1/22 – 12/31/22
matt.chagnon@unh.edu

Matt retired in 2019 after 39 years of teaching in the Forest Technology program at the Thompson School of Applied Science at UNH. He earned an AAS from that program in 1979 and continued at UNH to earn a BS (1986) and MS (1988), both in forestry. Matt is a past chair of the Granite State Division of SAF and served six years on SAF’s Committee on Forest Technology School Accreditation. He was the 2016 recipient of NESAF’s Ernest M. Gould, Jr. Technology Transfer Award. Matt is a member of the NH Timberland Owners Association and served on the board of directors. He is still active as a co-owner of Granite State Lumberjack Shows, producing the lumberjack events for the nationally televised Stihl Timbersports. Now that they are retired, Matt and his wife Rose spend a lot of time on their woodlots and with their grandchildren.

Granite State Division Business

Student Incentives Fund & Grant

Policy Letters 

• 2017_Biomass Letter 1-24-2017
• 2010_Comments on proposed BCAP rule 2-8-2010
• 2010_Good Forestry in the Granite State_4-23-2010
• 2010_Letter to DOER Commission re: Biomass_10-20-2010

Position Statements

• 2011_Northern Pass Project expired 5-3-2016
• 2008_Use of Working Forest Conservation Easements_expired 2013

EC Meeting Minutes

• November 13, 2007 (33 kb)
• April 10, 2007 (31 kb)
• March, 13, 2007 (32 kb)
• January 2, 2007 (31 kb) 
• December 12, 2006 (31 kb)
• November 15, 2006 (32 kb)
• August 8, 2006 (10 kb)
• July 12, 2006 (40 kb)

Links to Helpful Resources
Here are some useful links for anyone interested in forests or the timber industry in New Hampshire:

• UNH Cooperative Extension  
• NH Forester Licensing Board 
• NH Division of Forests & Lands 
• NH Project Learning Tree 
• NH Timberland Owners Association 
• Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests 
• White Mountain National Forest
• NH Tree Farm Program

* New England Society of American Foresters does not necessarily endorse the views or content on this webpage.