The Executive Committee (EC) is made up of volunteer forestry colleagues from all over New England. The EC are all SAF members in good standing and work together to serve the New England members. If you would like to contact NESAF, please find an EC member below appropriate to your question. General questions can be directed to our Chair or the website administrator.
Bernardston, MA
Chair
William Hill
Term: 1/01/21-12/31/21
foresterhill@comcast.net
Bill has recently retired as the State Lands Forest Manager – Massachusetts Bureau of Forestry. Prior to that he worked in the western U.S. (Idaho and the Black Hills of South Dakota) working in government and industry forest management and forest inventory positions. Bill earned an AAS in Forestry/Land Surveying from Paul Smith’s College and a BS in Forest Resources Management from the University of Idaho. Bill served as MA representative to NESAF (2015-18); was the South Dakota State Society Chair in 1994 and 1998; and has been a SAF Certified Forester since 1998. He is a forest land owner in Bernardston, MA. and is a member of the American Tree Farm System.
Winterport, ME
Immediate Past Chair
Jake Metzler
Term: 1/1/21 – 12/31/21
jake@fsmaine.org
Jake is currently the Director of Forestland Conservation for the Forest Society of Maine. In that role he gets to work with landowners large and small throughout the state helping answer land conservation questions by crafting and stewarding projects that help ensure that forests remain sustainable, productive, and vibrant for all their users. Jake has previously served SAF through positions on the Maine Division Executive Committee and attended the SAF Leadership Academy in 2006. Jake earned both his B.S. and M.S. in Forestry from the University of Maine.
Hardwick, VT
Chair Elect
Diana Frederick
Term: 1/1/21 – 12/31/21
diana.frederick66@gmail.com
Diana retired as a State Lands Stewardship Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation in the Barre Office. She started with the Dept. as a Protection Technician (Insect, Disease & Fire Control) before moving to State Lands management. Diana earned a BS in Forestry in 1979 from the then UVM School of Natural Resources. She served the Green Mountain Division as treasurer, chair-elect, chair and past chair in the late 1980s. Diana and her husband live in Hardwick, VT where they own 30 acres of forested and open land. They are members of the VT Woodlands Association and are enrolled in the State’s UVA Program. She has 2 grown daughters and 2 young granddaughters she loves to spend time with.
Chelsea, ME
Secretary
Mallory Bussell
Term: 01/01/21-12/31/21
mallory.bussell@gmail.com
Mallory is a forester for Prentiss and Carlisle and holds a BS of Forestry from the University of Maine.
Thetford Center, VT
Treasurer
Donn Downey
Term: 01/01/21 – 12/31/21
donn@forestmetrix.com
Donn is a consulting forester and the forestry lead for Forest Metrix with an unruly mutt who chases him around the woods.
NYSAF
Council Representative, SAF District Six
Mariann Johnston
Term: 1/1/19 – 12/31/21
mjohnston@esf.edu
Mariann is a faculty member at the SUNY-ESF Ranger School in Wanakena, New York, where since 2008 she has taught forest ecology, natural resources management, and other courses in the college’s A.A.S. programs in Forest Technology and Environmental & Natural Resources Conservation. She previously worked as a research scientist at the University of Idaho, conducting forest health and nutrition studies throughout the interior northwest. She currently lives on a farm in northern New York with her husband and two teenage sons, where they spend their summers producing log-grown shiitake mushrooms and hay. Mariann has a B.S. in Forest Biology from Colorado State University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Forest Resources Management from the University of Idaho.
Pembroke, NH
Website Administrator
Wendy Weisiger
Term: 4/1/2015 – 12/31/21
wendy.weisiger@gmail.com
Wendy works as the managing forester for the Society for the Protection of NH Forests overseeing 59,000 acres of conservation land on 195 properties. She has been employed there as a forester since 2004. She holds a BS in Forestry from the University of NH and is a licensed NH professional forester and SIT. She has served as the Granite State Division chair, attended the 2018 SAF Leadership Academy and in 2016 she was awarded the NESAF Mollie Beattie Young Forester Leadership Award.
Williston, VT
Forest Science Coordinator
Anthony D’Amato
Term: 1/1/15 – 12/31/20
Awdamato@uvm.edu
Tony is a Professor of Silviculture and Applied Forest Ecology and Director of the Forestry Program at the University of Vermont. He received his B.S. in Forest
Ecosystem Science from the University of Maine, M.S. in Forest Science from Oregon State University, and PhD in Forest Resources from University of Massachusetts. He was a faculty member for seven years in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota prior to joining the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont in January 2015. In 2017, he was awarded the Mollie Beattie Young Forester Leadership Award.
Hamden, CT
News Quarterly Editor
Joseph Barsky
Term: 1/1/ 2015 – 12/31/20
nesafnq@gmail.com
J.P. is an Agricultural Research Technician at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He holds a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering/Forestry from the University of Maine
Weare, NH
Membership Chair
Susan Francher
Term: 1/1/21-12/31/21
francher@comcast.net
Susan (a.k.a Forest Diva) is the Administrator for Planning & Community Forestry, NH Forest Legacy Program Coordinator in the NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources at the State of NH Division of Forests and Lands. Susan is the 2016 recipient of the James W. Toumey Outstanding Achievement in Service Award. Susan also served as general chair for the 2018 NESAF Annual meeting.
Oakland, ME
Awards Chair & NESAF Archivist
Ken Laustsen
Term: 1/1/20 – 12/31/21
KALaustsen@twc.com
Ken is a retired Biometrician from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry, Forest Health and Monitoring Division where he spent nearly 20 years. Prior to that he worked for Great Northern Paper Company in Millinocket, Maine as a Woodlands Analyst, Operations Forester, and Staff Forester. He has been a SAF member since 1974. He is a SAF Fellow, has served as a SAF Certification Review Board Committee member, a SAF Forest Technology School Accreditation Committee member, and the 2020 Tri-Chair for the Providence National Convention. He is a Maine licensed forester and SAF Certified Forester, USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory & Analysis, Techniques Research Band Member, Statistics Band Member, and was awarded the USFS Director’s Award for Excellence, 2001. Ken holds a B.S. in Forest Management from the University of Maine, 1974 and an M.F. in Forest Management, University of Maine, 2010.
Stratham, NH
Continuing Forestry Education Contact
Andrew Fast
Term: 1/1/20 – 12/31/21
Andrew.fast@unh.edu
Andy has been a County Forester with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension since 2008. He has experience in a range of land management related positions in the northeast and western United States with the U.S. Forest Service, Marin Conservation Corps, and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He has a M.S. in Natural Resource with a concentration in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire.
New Haven, CT
Connecticut State Representative
Joe Orefice
Term: 1/1/20 – 12/31/21
joseph.orefice@yale.edu
Joseph Orefice, Ph.D. serves as a Lecturer and Director of Forest and Agricultural Operations at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). He teaches courses in agroforestry and forest management and he also oversees forestry operations and applied educational opportunities on the 10,880 acre Yale School Forests system. His research focus is in temperate agroforestry and applied forest management. Joe’s most recent work has been in maple syrup production systems and temperate silvopasture. His passion outside of academia is farming, where he integrates agroforestry research into on-farm practices.
Leominster, MA
Policy Chair
Mike Fleming
Term: 1/1/19 – 12/31/21
mjmefleming@verizon.net
Mike is a consulting forester and works part-time as the Conservation Agent for the Town of Shirley, MA. Mike retired from the MA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (formerly Dept. of Environmental Management) in 2015 after 38 years in various positions (YACC Forester, Service Forester, Management Forester). Mike also served as the SuAsCo Watershed Team Leader with the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs/MA Watershed Initiative (1998 -2003), a broad partnership of state & federal agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, local officials, and individuals working on watershed related issues, and was appointed as one of two gubernatorial appointees to the SuAsCo Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Council. From 2003 to 2015 Mike served as a Planner and MA Forest Legacy Program Coordinator, a USFS funded program with a goal to protect important forest resources. Mike previously served SAF in various Yankee Division SAF EC positions, as MA Chapter Chair, and NESAF MA Representative. Mike earned a BS in Forestry from UMass Amherst (1978), is a Massachusetts Licensed Forester and SAF Certified Forester.
South Berwick, ME
Maine State Representative
Karl Honkonen
Term: 1/1/19 – 12/31/21
karlwhonkonen@fs.fed.us
Karl Honkonen joined the US Forest Service/Northeast Area, State and Private Forestry
Program in March 2014 as a Watershed Forester. Karl is responsible for improving
water quality in forestry operations in six New England States and New York. Prior to joining the Forest Service, Karl worked in a variety of positions, including jobs
as an Environmental Specialist at FEMA, a Forensics Specialist during Hurricane Sandy
recovery; a High School Science Teacher in Maine and Surrey, UK; and an
Environmental Consultant. Much of his expertise in watershed management came from
his 20-year career with Massachusetts environmental agencies.
Orange, MA
Massachusetts State Representative
Joelle Vautour
Term: 1/1/21 – 12/31/21
joelle.vautour@gmail.com
Joelle works as a State Lands Management Forester for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Bureau of Forestry. She began her career as a private consulting forester and has a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.
Milton, NH
New Hampshire State Representative
Jonathan Nute
Term: 1/1/18 – 12/31/21
nutea@comcast.net
Jonathan is retired after 29 years as UNH Coop. Ext. forester in Hillsborough County, NH. He was the Tree Farm Secretary from1989-98 and GSD/SAF news correspondent from 1989-2008. He also served as NHTOA treasurer from 1991-94, chair of the GSD/SAF in 1994, and the GSD/SAF continuing ed. coordinator from 1996-2003. He received the GSD/SAF outstanding forester award in 2004.
North Kingstown, RI
Rhode Island State Representative & Elections Coordinator
Robert MacMillan
Term: 1/1/19 – 12/31/21
rmacmillan@provwater.com
Rob is the senior forest supervisor for Providence Water. He was recognized by National SAF with a Presidential Field Forester Award in 2017.
Vermont State Representative
Jas Smith
Term: 1/1/21 – 12/31/22
jasssmith123@gmail.com