Celebrating Guild founding member Mark Andre

Written by Mark Andre and Michael Lynch

Join other Forest Stewards Guild members and staff in congratulating founding Forest Stewards Guild member Mark Andre on his recent retirement from City of Arcata, CA. Mark served the City of Arcata for 36 years as the City Forester and Director of the Environmental Services Department. During his time with the City, Mark managed the 2,500-acre Arcata Community Forest, a Guild Model Forest and well-known west coast example of community-based forestry. He was responsible for doubling the size of the Arcata Community Forest, helping establish the new Humboldt State University college forest, and crafting a working forest management plan that was embraced by the community and enhanced the watershed.

The Arcata Community Forest has been a showcase for exemplary forest management that balances economic, ecological, and social dimensions. Mark also served on the California State Board of Forestry for many years and helped promote the idea and practice of sustainable forestry throughout the region. Mark recently reflected that “Without a doubt, my Forest Stewards Guild affiliation has been one of the most important and rewarding aspects of my professional forestry career.”

Not really retried, Mark now works as an Associate Forester with BBW and Associates, an Arcata based forestry consulting firm that includes several Forest Stewards Guild members.

On behalf of the Forest Stewards Guild members and staff we thank Mark for his contributions to the field of sustainable forestry. To learn more about his contributions and long-held aspirations to “do things differently,” read this perspective from the Northcoast Environmental Center. It speaks volumes about how Mark and other perseverant founding and more recent Guild members can bring about change by not only doing things differently, but by inspiring others to start from a place that looks upon our forest management tasks and our relationship to forests differently than the mainstream of recent history.