Grant County’s Jim Kelly is the new chair for Oregon Board of Forestry
By Logan Bagett on Friday, April 16th, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
KIMBERLY, OR – The Oregon Board of Forestry’s new chairperson will welcome three new members at the April 21, 2021, board meeting.
Governor Kate Brown recently named Jim Kelly as the chair of the Oregon Board of Forestry. He replaces Tom Imeson, who served as the chair for more than eight years.
“With climate change and increasing wildfire, and the other critical forestry-related concerns Oregon is facing, the Board of Forestry’s work is more important than ever,” Kelly said. “My goal as the chair is to ensure the board is fulfilling its obligation to the people of Oregon, and that we provide the State Forester with both the direction and support needed for the Department of Forestry to be successful.”
“In my role as the board secretary, I work closely with the board, especially the chair,” explained State Forester Peter Daugherty. “I am looking forward to supporting Jim, and the board as a whole, as they build their team and work through the many complex forest policy issues that come before the board.”
Additionally, the board’s April 21, 2021, meeting will be the first for the new board members. Karla Chambers, Ben Deumling, and Chandra Ferrari will join Chair Kelly, Joe Justice, and Brenda McComb, nearly completing the Board of Forestry’s roster. There is one position still vacant.
The public is invited to watch the meeting online starting at 9 a.m. Board materials and a link to the livestream are available at https://www.oregon.gov/odf/board/pages/bofmeetings.aspx.
Biographies
Jim Kelly, of Kimberly, joined the board in September 2018. He owns and manages a grass-fed beef ranch in rural Grant County. Previously he founded Rejuvenation Inc., a hardware and lighting company. He co-founded the Oregon Business Association and served on its board for 17 years. Kelly also co-founded the North Star Civic Foundation, a small Oregon non-profit involved with public policy issues. He has also served on the boards of 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Portland Housing Authority, and Business for Social Responsibility.
Karla Chambers, of Corvallis, has spent her career in food and agriculture, and her farming operation was the first in the U.S. to be third-party certified sustainable. She has served on the Oregon Board of Agriculture, the Portland Branch and Head Office of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Board, the Ford Family Foundation, and the Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response. She currently serves on the Hampton Resources Board. Chambers earned degrees in agriculture and resource economics and finance from Oregon State University.
Ben Deumling, of Rickreall, manages the family-owned Zena Forest, a 1,300-acre tract of forest in the heart of the Willamette Valley and has been actively engaged in forest policy matters for many years. He also runs Zena Forest Products, which is an onsite sawmill and millwork shop that processes hardwood logs into high-quality lumber and flooring. Deumling earned his bachelor’s degree in natural resource policy in the western U.S. from Whitman College.
Chandra Ferrari, of Salem, is a senior policy advisor and attorney for Trout Unlimited (TU), where she specializes in the implementation and development of legal and policy reforms to protect and restore water quality and fish and wildlife habitat throughout Oregon. Previously, she was TU’s California Water Policy Director where she worked with diverse coalitions to enhance instream flows, promote multi-benefit projects and preserve recreational opportunities. She also worked as an attorney for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, specializing in endangered species listing and permitting matters. Ferrari earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science and management from the University of California – Davis and her law degree from the University of Pacific School of Law.
