Staff
Jennifer Gunter MRM
Executive Director
With over 20 years of experience working in community forestry and community economic development, Jennifer is a passionate advocate for community-based resource management. The granddaughter of a woodsman, Jennifer was born and raised in New Brunswick and moved to British Columbia in 1996 to pursue a Masters in Resource Management from Simon Fraser University, focusing on community forestry. After completing her studies, Jennifer moved to Kaslo, BC where she lived for 15 years with her family on a small farm. Relocating to Victoria in 2014, Jennifer continues to devote her energy to building sustainable local economies and to forest management that benefits local people while creating more resilient ecosystems. One of the co-founders of the BCCFA and long time Executive Director, she has had the pleasure of working with the Board of Directors, staff and membership to help it grow from an organization of just 10 member communities to one of over 50.
Susan Mulkey
Manager of Communication and Extension
With a background in social work, mediation, and six years as a tree planter, in the early 1990s Susan dove into the deep end of land use planning as the assistant mediator with the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE) West Kootenay Land Use Planning table. She found the complex, multiparty process compelling and subsequently shifted her career focus from families to forestry and communities.
In 1996 she facilitated the formation of the Kaslo and District Community Forest, and the awarding of a 15-year volume based tenure to a non-profit society, that migrated to a long term CFA in 2008. She participated in the creation of the BCCFA in 2002 and continues to be an enthusiastic student of community forestry. Susan lives in Kaslo, BC.
Carly Dow
Administrative Assistant
Carly has a background in Environmental Science, with a focus on conservation biology, administration, and public outreach. She has over a decade of experience working with a variety of environmental organizations, her roles ranging from field work and reporting, to eco-education and communications, to graphic design and administrative assistance. Carly is passionate about her
work in this sector, and is also a professional musician and published poet. She currently resides in the
Kootenay region of BC and enjoys spending her time hiking and paddling.
Board of Directors
Harley Wright
PRESIDENT
Harley Wright was born in Redvers, Saskatchewan and moved to Barriere, British Columbia in 1963. Starting work in the local area sawmills in 1968, he stayed 49 years in the industry until retirement. Forestry taught him management skills, log scaling, and machine operating, and his career included many years as the Health and Safety Advocate. Harley is presently Chair of the Lower North Thompson Community Forest, President of the BC Community Forest Association, member of TNRD Advisory Planning commission, and Vice President of the North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo. He is currently residing in rural Barriere, BC, where he enjoys free time and the outdoors.
Duncan McKellar MBA, BScF, RPF
VICE PRESIDENT
Duncan’s career spans over thirty years and includes employment in operational forestry, information technology, environmental engineering, and health care. Positions include Business Management Consultant, Director of Professional Environmental Engineering Services, Project Manager of Patient Flow and Health Records, Director of Product Management and Client Solutions, Regional Fiber Allocation Manager, Timber Supply Analyst, Regional Forester, Divisional Forester, and Forest Operations Manager. Duncan’s education includes a BSc. in Forestry from UBC, an MBA from City University and a Project Management Certificate from the Vancouver School Board. He is also a Registered Forest Professional and has been a member of the BCCFA Board of Directors since 2013.
Crystal Fisher
TREASURER
Born and raised in the small community of Burns Lake, BC by a grass-roots logger, Crystal is an entrepreneur in the aftermarket parts industry, and a mother of 2 ambitious children. A passionate community advocate, Crystal spends her spare time volunteering for several organizations, with a special dedication to Female Hockey. Appointed by the Village of Burns Lake to represent the community at large, Crystal has chaired the Burns Lake Community Forest Board of Directors for 4 years, where she focuses her energy on community transparency, involvement and benefits. Crystal joined the BCCFA Board in 2016 and enjoys the challenge of looking at Community Forestry from a provincial perspective.
Daniel Gratton B.A., B.Sc.F., RPF
SECRETARY
Daniel has served as the Forest Manager of the Creston Community Forest since 2008 and Director with the BC Community Forest Association since 2018. After leaving the prairies, Daniel realized his passion for resource management after a few seasons of tree planting in BC,. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1997. Most of his forestry work experience has been in the Kootenays in consulting and with industry. A strong proponent of forest education, Daniel is a Regional Coordinator with the BC National Forest Week Coalition hosting fieldtrips for elementary and high school students in the Creston Valley. He and the rest of the Creston Community Forest play an instrumental role in developing hiking and mountain bike trails for those living in and visiting the Creston Valley.
Dave Lasser, RPF
DIRECTOR
Dave has over 40 years of experience in all facets of the Coast forest industry. His early years involved engineering and harvesting, and he later moved into senior roles in helicopter logging, forest operations management, sawmill start-up, and production management in 2 large Coast mills. Dave has been a member of many government and industry committees and associations over the last 30+ years. He has lived on the Coast his entire life, and in Sechelt for 26 years. Dave has been Operations Manager of the Sunshine Coast Community Forest in Sechelt since 2011, and BCCFA Director since 2014.
Albert L. Gerow
DIRECTOR
Albert currently works as an Economic Development Officer for the Burns Lake Band. He is a former Chief of the Burns Lake Band, and a member of the Carrier Nation of the Central Interior of BC. He has a wide breadth of experience within the Forest Industry, from harvesting to finishing. He served as Director of Operations for the First Nations Forestry Council, overseeing some 120+ First Nations Forest licenses, with access to over 14 million m3 annually. Albert is a former Assistant HR Manager at Babine Forest Products, instructor at the College of New Caledonia, elected School Board Trustee, and Councilor for the Village of Burns Lake, BC. Albert has a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Victoria. He is a Certified Lead Auditor in the International Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001), a Certified Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia Internal Auditor (OH&S) and is a Certified Individual Employment Counsellor.
Dave Gill, RPF
DIRECTOR
For the past 7 years, Dave Gill has been the General Manager of Ntityix Resources LP, a Westbank First Nation-held natural resource company located in the central Okanagan Valley. He and his team coordinate the planning, operations, silviculture, and community and local stakeholder engagement on Westbank First Nation’s (WFN) Community Forest. Dave is a Director on the BC Community Forest Association and the Silver Lake Forest Education Society. Since graduating from UBC Forestry, Dave has worked for industry, his own consultancy, government, and First Nations in various locations across British Columbia. For the past 20 years, he and his family have called Kelowna home. Today, Dave’s primary interest is in advancing ways to incorporate Indigenous and community values into all aspects of forest management on WFN-held tenures and to continue earning the support of and developing opportunities for the WFN Community.
Shelley Desautels, B.A. AdvDip GIS
DIRECTOR
Shelley is the owner of a small mapping company as well as the Advanced GIS Certificate instructor at Okanagan College in Salmon Arm. Over the last 7+ years, Shelley has worked in forestry as a GIS Mapper and Analyst, making a point of building connections with members of BC’s community forests, and managing the GIS data and mapping for Esk’etemc Community Forest. Shelley has her Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Earth Science, as well as an Advanced GIS Diploma from BCIT. She is currently completing her Masters of GIS from VIU, looking at identifying a more suitable H-Line in the Interior for snow-sensitive zones, using Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification. Shelley has been on the Board of Directors since 2019.
Dan Macmaster RPF, MSFM, B.Ed, Hon B.Sc.
BCCFA DIRECTOR
Dan is the forest manager of the West Boundary Community Forest and lives in Grand Forks, BC. He wears a number of hats including the position as Fibre Manager at Vaagen Fibre Canada in Midway, BC, and Head of Forestry for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB). Dan was instrumental in establishing a First Nations Woodland Licence for the OIB, as well as developing numerous non-replaceable forest licences on the Band’s behalf. He believes in multiple objectives across the landscape including wildfire risk reduction, improving forest health, establishing recreational and education values, enhancing wildlife habitat, and working closely with local communities and the OIB to ensure local decisions and jobs are staying local. Dan is an Executive on the Board of Directors for the Interior Lumber Manufacturing Association and has established on Outdoor Education Centre outside of Greenwood for community groups and students to learn about sustainable forest management. Dan has been on the Board of the BCCFA since 2019.
Colin Macleod
Colin Macleod grew up in the forests of the Cariboo and has lived, worked and played throughout Northern BC for most of his life. After studying ecology and Community Economic Development at SFU and UNBC, Colin worked at Haida Gwaii Community Futures and later as a forest tech in the Bulkley Valley doing silviculture, layout and beetle probing. His deep appreciation for trees and wood led to an apprenticeship as a log-builder and custom wood finisher, and he has been a builder for the past two decades, showcasing local woods in a way that is both meaningful and sustainable. This passion for forests and for community, and belief in the potential of community forests has inspired him to serve as a Director of Wetzin’kwa Community Forest since its inception in 2006 and to join the BCCFA board in 2018.