MFPP Staff
We’ve taken the lead in combining the expertise of forest scientists, lawyers, foresters, and economists, with conservationists to develop needed policy and recommendations for reform.

The following are some of the key players in our organization.

Nancy Gilliam, Ph.D., Executive Director
Dr. Gilliam initiated the Model Forest Policy Program and directed our first assessment of the effectiveness of existing forest law, as well as the design of a model law governing private forested lands. Dr. Gilliam holds a Masters Degree in Counseling and a Ph.D. in Psychology, and has over 25 years of extensive experience in research, group leadership, organizational development, group process training, and in conducting interviews. She has monitored timber practices and sales, provided detailed input to the Forest Plan Revisions, and inventoried and helped draft protection policies on the unprotected wild lands of the Jefferson National Forest. In 1998, she initiated a bill that passed the Virginia General Assembly requiring a legislative study of the impacts of chip mills on the economy and environment of Virginia.

Bud Watson, Research Director
Mr. Watson, an attorney with a natural science background, has concentrated on evaluating land development impacts on water quality and the development of effective measures to alleviate these adverse environmental impacts. He was the first director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Virginia office, where he litigated water quality cases, one of which reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Also in that capacity he participated in the drafting of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, and then became the first director of the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department, which wrote and implemented the regulations that implemented the land use and water quality protective measures of the act. Before joining MFPP Mr. Watson served as a forest policy consultant to the Dogwood Alliance.

Related Links
Advisory Committee
Steering Committee