About the Washington State Society of American Foresters
With nearly 750 members in 11 chapters (including three student chapters) throughout the state, the Washington Society of American Foresters is one of the largest state affiliates of the national Society. Foresters play a major role in managing Washington's 21 million acres of forest land. These forests provide a variety of benefits for Washingtonians and the nation in the form of wildlife, water, recreation, timber and other forest products.
Through their management of the 11 million acres of Washington's forest capable of growing commercial crops of timber, foresters help contribute to a significant proportion of Washington's rural economic base. Sixty-four percent of Washington's timberland is owned by the federal government and 36 percent by non-federal owners. Most federal timberland is now managed primarily for non-timber benefits with limited timber harvesting. Ninety-five percent of the state's timber harvest for the foreseeable future is expected to come from non-federal lands owned by wood products firms (22 percent), other private landowners (14 percent), and state and local governments (17 percent).
The forestry profession has adapted to changing priorities for Washington's forests. During the early days of economic and community development, the emphasis was on timber production. Today, foresters manage for a rich diversity of forest resources to achieve landowner objectives and meet society's needs and the needs of future generations.
The Washington State Society of American Foresters publishes the Western Forester in conjunction with the Oregon Society of American Foresters.
Download the WSSAF bylaws (pdf).
WSSAF 2009 Executive Committee
Chair: Doug St. John
Chair-elect: John Walkowiak
Immediate Past Chair: Zoanne Thomas
District Council 1: Chuck Lorenz
Secretary: Tom Hanson
Treasurer: Chuck Lorenz
Education Chair: John Bergvall
Science/Technology Chair: George McFadden
Membership Chair: vacant
Foresters' Fund Chair: Joe Heller
CFE: Ellie Lathrop
Northwest Office: Lori Rasor
Policy Chair: John Ehrenreich
Historian: Steve Ricketts
WASAF Foundation Chair: Dave Yates
Webmaster: Leslie Battten
Admiralty Chair: Mike Cronin
Central WA Chair: Erik Sjoquist
Evergreen Student Chair: No Info
Green River Student Chair: Lacy O'Grady
Longview Co-Chairs: John Gross, Eric Wisch
Mid-Columbia Chair: Andy Perleberg
North Olympic Chair: Lyle Almond
North Puget Co-Chairs: Paul Wagner, Ken Osborn
South Puget Chair: Dennis Dart
SW WA Chair: Adrian Miller
UW Student Chair: Matt Weintraub
The Executive committee meets approximately six times per year to discuss SAF happenings at the State level. If any of you have questions, ideas, suggestions, events, or anything else that you want to discuss, please let your Chapter Chair know so that they can bring it forward.
We are also available to answer questions at any time. If you need something, please let us know: we are here to serve you!.