Host Committee

Chair & Facilities - Michel Vallee, R.P.F. has been teaching silviculture and soil science at Vancouver Island University (aka Malaspina) for 20 years. Prior to this Michel worked as a consulting forester throughout BC and Alberta and, while at VIU, has been involved in the forest sector as a partner in a forest products company specializing in forest resource management, log buying and selling, and custom cutting for Asian markets. Michel is a long time member of the Canadian Institute of Forestry and has served as Section chair and member of the National Board of Directors.
Michel.vallee@viu.ca Tel: 250-753-3245 loc 2340

Finance & Promotion - Jeff Monty, R.P.F. is the Manager of Scaling and Cruising for the Revenue Branch of the BC Ministry of Forests and Range, a long standing member of the CIF and a recipient of the Tree of Life Award; Jeff founded the Klondike Section and is the current Chair and Director of the Vancouver Island Section.  Previous to working for the Ministry of Forests and Range, Jeff was President of the Tree Canada Foundation. Jeff.Monty@gov.bc.ca

Program - Brian Titus, Ph.D. was born and raised on southern Vancouver Island, and graduated from St. Andrew's University, Scotland, and the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Edinburgh. He worked with the BC Ministry of Forests and Range in 1979-80, and joined the Newfoundland Forestry Centre of the Canadian Forest Service in 1985, where he worked as a regeneration specialist for 11 years. He moved to the Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, in 1996 where he specializes in nutrient cycling and forest ecology, especially as they relate to silviculture, NTFPs and now bioenergy. Brian has been a member of the CIF/IFC since 1985, Chair of CIF/IFC Forest Ecology Working Group (1987-1989), Vice-Chair and Chair of CIF/IFC Forest Science and Technology Board (1988-1990), member of the CIF/IFC Standing Committee on Policy Development (2003-05) and a member, Vice-Chair and Chair of the CIF/IFC Southern Vancouver Island Section (2002-07).

Brian has been an associate editor of New Forests (1988-2006) and the Canadian Journal of Forest Research (2000-06), and a professeur associé of the Faculté de foresterie et de géomatique, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, QC, and an adjunct professor at Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC. Brian.Titus@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca

Program - William (Bill) Dumont, R.P.F. is a professional forester with more than 35 years of experience in BC and internationally. Through most of his career, Bill has been immersed in the complex world of managing BC's coastal rainforests and SE Asia's tropical rainforests. He was actively involved in the Central Coast land and resource management planning process and helped create the Coast Forest Conservation Initiative that turned conflict over coastal forest management into collaborative solutions.

Bill's first worked in the coastal woods as a chokerman. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree from UBC and spending three years as a CUSO forest officer in West Malaysia he returned to the coastal industry in 1974. He immediately found himself in the midst of tough debates as resident forester for Rayonier Canada in an area that included South Moresby Island.

Not much had changed by 1981 when he began with Western Forest Products where he worked for more than 20 years, half of this time as the company's chief forester. Bill helped Western maintain a positive corporate image with audiences at home and with customers around the world through his commitment to consultation and sustainable forest management. He established capacity and new relationships for WFP with many coastal first nations including joint commercial ventures and capacity building.

After leaving Western he spent time again in SE Asia managing change in Sarawak's forestry and  environment departments and returned to BC where he has been a consultant for the past 5 years dealing with forest products customers, negotiating Forest and Range agreements with First Nations and many other forest management projects.

Bill has been named Distinguished Forester by the BC Professional Foresters, as well as receiving the Bill Young award for Excellence in Integrated Resource Management from the BC Professional Biologists and Foresters, the Canada Recreational Fisheries Award and the BC Environment Minister's Award.  He is a past President of the Association of BC Forest Professionals. dumont@hotmail.com

Field Trip, Spousal Program, and Entertainment - Don Pigott has been a silviculture and tree improvement consultant for the past 27 years. Prior to that, Don worked in MacMillan Bloedel's Forest Research Department for 13 years finishing his career there as Tree Improvement Supervisor. His company, Yellow Point Propagation specializes in all aspects of tree seed, tree improvement, and gene conservation. He has worked on projects on Norway, Chile, and China.
ypprop@shaw.ca

Exhibitors - David Barker, MSc, RPF, CEA(SFM) is a BC and Alberta registered professional forester with over 30 years of both domestic and international forestry/environmental experience.

Dave's career began locally on Vancouver Island in the forest industry.  He first worked as a logger, then began mapping and timber cruising.  Over the last three decades, his experience expanded into other sectors, such as agro-forestry.  His current services now include technical areas such as economics, valuation, auditing, silviculture, forest inventory, forest management planning and harvest management.  Business management areas of service include project management and marketing.

Dave, his wife and three children moved to Costa Rica for two years in the late 1980's, where he obtained a Master's degree in Sciences, specializing in silviculture and agro-forestry economics. This education was taken in Spanish.
During the 1990's, Dave started his independent consulting practice (David Barker & Associates Ltd., or DBA) and expanded his scope of work into environmental monitoring and auditing.  This included both domestic and international projects.  The international work has focussed on Mexico and Central America with projects in assisting forestry investors, valuation of plantations, natural forests and in environmental auditing.

Dave has been on a CIF host annual meeting committee in the mid 80's, an ABCFP annual meeting committee in 2005/06 and is currently on the exhibitors portfolio for HAMPCO 2009.

He lives in Saanich, BC and is active in the Prospect Lake District and Community Association concerning environmental issues regarding Prospect Lake water quality.
davebarker@shaw.ca

National CIF Liaison - John Pineau has been National Executive Director of the Institute since September 2006. Prior to that time, John worked as a full-time consultant to the Canadian Ecology Centre - Forestry Research Partnership as Extension Manager, and with the Lake Abititi Model Forest on a variety of projects including four years as Chair of the Education and Public Awareness committee. During his career, John has worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in a variety of locations and capacities including as Park Naturalist, Communications Officer, Park Planner and G.I.S. Specialist. John was also employed by Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. in Alberta as G.I.S. Manager and Biologist from 1994-2000.

John Currently resides near Mattawa, Ontario with his wife Elizabeth and their four children. He has a degree in Biology from Trent University (1983) and a diploma in GIS Application Development from Fleming College (1991). In his spare time, John is an enthusiastic wilderness canoeist who also enjoys golf and tennis. He is a folk musician, playing guitar and singing, especially around campfires. He has also recently become a dedicated, if somewhat challenged carpenter.
jpineau@cif-ifc.org