College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

TOM BERRY | BS ‘67 

I retired from wholesale lumber trading in 2016.  Previously, I worked as a procurement forester in northern Michigan and then in economic development with the forest industry in the Lake States. I have recently moved to Watertown, SD to be nearer to family and better fishing opportunities.  We spend our winters in Arizona. I have been active in SAF and for many years have been on the board of South Dakota Project Learning Tree.

KEN FREYE | MS ‘76

We closed our company, Dirigo Partners, LTD., in April of this year due to health issues with my business partner.  I agreed to continue to help our primary client part-time on a major project with the goal of being completely retired in early 2022.  

My wife, Cheryl, and I have enjoyed the free time to hike, bike and travel with two trips to California to visit my son and family and a three-day family Rim-to-Rim hike of the Grand Canyon.  At 71 I’m not the oldest to do the hike but our daughter-in-law was a few weeks pregnant so there may be a claim for the youngest hiker.  I also spent some time bird hunting with my setter, Chloe Belle, this fall and continue to shoot sporting clays competitively, having achieved the ‘AA’ classification.

CHARLES CHESNEY | BS ‘77

I have completed the fourth ecological monitoring mission in the Ahtanum Basin of Washington over 20 years. At five-year intervals since 2006, I have safely solo worked/walked/waded 15 miles of the stream channel network for PESSCA (performance evaluation of a stream channel condition assessment) to check, and evaluate, the validity of my long ago interpretations of channel sensitivity to inputs of water, wood, sediment, heat, and perturbation.

Next, a contest for valid channel wood models from evidence-based practice. For contestants, sponsors, or ideas, contact me. Thanks to Dr. Alan Sliker (wood technology) for greatness.

BRIAN OSWALD I BS ‘79

Brian Oswald, Joe C. Denman Distinguished Professor of Forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University, was named the Dwight Patterson Alumnus of the year by the Northern Arizona University Alumni Association in October, 2021.  Brian received his MS in forestry at NAU in 1981.

TIM BARDEN | BS ‘80, MS ‘83, MBA ‘84

Tim graduated in 1980 with a BS in Forestry, 1983 with an MS in Forest Business Management and 1984 with an MBA in Materials and Logistics Management. After graduation, he spent over 37 years with the Department of the Navy, Navy Exchange Service Command before retiring in 2021 as a Branch Director for Contracting.