Our People

Forest Systems’ combined forest investment and carbon commercialization expertise is unrivaled. We are a multi-national team with a demonstrated track record of managing working forests to capture traditional wood and land-based values and of developing large scale carbon commercialization opportunities.

Our leadership was instrumental in introducing the forest asset class to institutional investors more than 23 years ago and our carbon experts were responsible for developing ten percent of the world’s inventory of carbon off-set sites during the last six years.

We have consistently realized industry leading financial performance – generating returns that have eclipsed industry benchmarks.

 

Richard N. Smith, Managing Director

Smith is a professional forester and a highly experienced timberland finance specialist. He has more than 28 years of experience in the forest investment business and is widely recognized for his pioneering efforts to introduce the asset class to institutional investors in the early and mid-1980s. He founded Forest Systems in 1998 and prior to that conceptualized and developed John Hancock’s institutional timberland business, which he guided from a novel investment concept in 1984 and eventually transformed into the Hancock Timber Resource Group. At the time of his departure in 1998, the firm held a 65.0 percent share of the global forestland investment market with assets under management of $2.8 billion (3.0 million acres in the U.S. and Canada). During his tenure, the unit also generated aggregated real returns of 18.7 percent. James R. Nicol, Managing Director - Financial Strategy

A trained professional forester, Nicol has more than 25 years of experience managing forest assets. Most recently, he was responsible for designing and developing portfolio composition, performance management and research and risk analysis capabilities for Forest Systems' $800-plus million client investment programs. He also was responsible for partner relations, acquisition strategy and due diligence. Under his direction, the firm acquired and sold more than 2.5 million acres of U.S. forestland with a value exceeding $2.5 billion. Prior to joining Forest Systems, he was a member of the Hancock Timber Resource Group's executive management team. In that capacity, he served as the director of portfolio management and led the development and oversight of the California Public Employees' Retirement System’s $1.2 billion forest investment portfolio. R. Todd Jones, Managing Director – Carbon Markets

Jones is recognized globally as an authority on the carbon offset sector. He has been the lead negotiator in closing transactions valued at more than $100 million dollars in global cap and trade markets – successfully negotiating the supply-side of transactions with entities such as Cargil, BHP Billiton, AES Corporation and Nuon. Jones has extensive international experience in Europe, South America and Asia. Scott A. Ritchey, Managing Director – General Operations and Finance

Ritchey has extensive experience building international operations, including organizations in Central and Latin America, Europe and Asia. Over the last five years, he has been involved in all aspects of the carbon project development business, including financing, commercial/contract negotiations and project implementation. Ritchey previously worked in other industry sectors, including real estate and technology, and was a CPA with Ernst & Young LLP. M. Alan Bishop, Director – Brazilian Operations

Bishop is responsible for developing and implementing the company’s business strategy in Latin and South America and has more than 30 years of international business experience. For the last four years, he has focused on developing business opportunities in Brazil in the forestry and agricultural sectors. He has extensive corporate finance and executive management experience with five start-up companies, guiding each through all stages of development. He also has extensive contacts within federal, state and local governments in South America. John McMorris, Director – Regulatory Development

McMorris is a recognized expert on carbon industry regulatory and project development matters. He previously founded two CDM project development companies that created approximately 10 percent of all global CDM projects. He also has extensive U.S. and international experience in operations, business development and technology development, with a special focus on establishing partnerships and developing intellectual property. Mark Belton, Director, Governmental Relations

Belton is a recognized expert on carbon forestry and played a significant role in the establishment of the New Zealand Permanent Forest Sink Initiative – the legislative program that established the basis for carbon forestry in New Zealand. In addition to his experience in New Zealand, he has worked in Australia and other locales in the Southern Hemisphere and Europe. Prior to joining Forest Systems, he operated his own private forestry consulting firm and served as a senior consultant to New Zealand’s ministry of forestry. Mark Mohler, Director – Strategic Alliances

Mohler is responsible for identifying and developing strategic partnerships on behalf of the company. He has extensive experience in the formation, funding and development of cleantech enterprises and has served a variety of companies as a senior executive, legal counsel and board member. Mohler also holds a law degree and handles in-house legal matters on behalf of Forest Systems. Prior to joining the company, he was a partner within an AmLaw 100 law firm and general counsel to a public company. Lew Smyrnios, Director, Platform Development

Smyrnios leads the company’s systems and decision support efforts. Prior to joining Forest Systems, he was vice president of product management at a carbon offset project company. In that capacity, he was a member of the management team that developed the growth plan and infrastructure to support the firm’s IPO in 2005. He also was responsible for end-to-end development and sourcing of GHG emission reduction offsets. He previously worked at a technology incubator, where he was involved in the start-up operations of several enterprises in the imaging and bio-tech industries. Smyrnios has several patents pending. Dan Stransky, Director, Forest Operations

Recognized as one of the most experienced field level managers of forest investments in the world, Stransky oversees forest operations for the firm, including land management, procurement and product merchandizing. During the last decade, he managed western operations for Forest Systems – overseeing the day-to-day management of 100,000 acres in California, Oregon and Washington. Prior to joining the company, he directed a large staff of foresters who operated 175,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest and Canada on behalf of institutional investors. Earlier in his career, Stransky worked in various forest operations and wood merchandizing capacities with Weyerhaeuser and Boise Cascade.