Denman Forestry Issues Series:
Understanding Conservation Easements and Land Trusts

Speaker Biographies updated 1-15-2002

Constance Best, Co-founder and Managing Director, Pacific Forest Trust.

Constance Best is Managing Director and co-founder of the Pacific Forest Trust. PFT is dedicated to the conservation of private, productive forestland and holds conservation easements on 30,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest. Ms. Best has advised private owners of more than a million acres of forestland in California, Oregon and Washington on conservation and sustainable management strategies. Ms. Best is a recognized leader in advancing strategies that harness the power of commerce to accomplish conservation objectives. She is also the principal author of "America's Private Forests: Status and Stewardship, " and "Capital Markets and Sustainable Forestry: Opportunities for Investment." Previously, she founded and managed the company that created America¹s first all-natural soda, and in the process revolutionized the soft drink business. She is a small forestland owner.

Gene Duvernoy, President of Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC)

Gene Duvernoy, President of Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC), has devoted over 20 years to the preservation of major landscapes from a variety of perspectives, including research, program development and management. Under his leadership, CLC has developed into an organization with a national reputation for negotiating cutting-edge land transactions to preserve our region's major landscapes.

Prior to joining CLC, Gene's landscape preservation work included directing the King County Farmland Preservation Program and developing and implementing the County's Open Space Bond Program. Gene has a Masters in Business Administration and law degree from Cornell University, and an engineering degree from Carnegie-Mellon University.

James Nicol, Principal, Investment Strategy, Forest Systems, Inc.

A trained professional forester, Nicol has more than 17 years of experience managing forest assets. He is responsible for designing and developing Forest Systems' portfolio composition, performance management and research and risk analysis capabilities. Prior to joining Forest Systems, Nicol was a member of the Hancock Timber Resource Group's executive management team. In that capacity, he managed the largest institutional timberland portfolio in the world - serving as chief timberland investment officer for the California Public Employees' Retirement System, owners of more than $1.2 billion worth of forest assets. Earlier in his career, Nicol spent ten years in the Southeast and Northwest, working with both the Container Corporation and Weyerhaeuser.

David Rolph, Forest Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy of Washington.

Mr. Rolph provides scientific oversight for all of the Conservancy's forest projects in Washington state. His duties include working with site project managers to develop, implement, and fund appropriate forest conservation and restoration strategies. He also develops inventory and monitoring protocols, links the Conservancy with the scientific community, and works closely with public and private forest managers. Mr. Rolph has worked for over 10 years with The Nature Conservancy in various capacities, including managing preserves in Hawaii. Prior to working with the Conservancy, he held positions with the U.S. Forest Service and others performing field research on spotted owls, bald eagles, and aspen vegetation communities. Mr. Rolph has a Masters degree in Natural Ecosystem Management form the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources.