Board of Directors

Tom Allen grew up in Portland, is a graduate of Bowdoin College, attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. From 1997-2009 he represented Maine’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before serving in Congress, Allen practiced law for 19 years with the Portland law firm of Drummond Woodsum. Later he was the president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. He served two terms on the Portland City Council and a term as mayor. Tom resides in Portland.

Seth Sprague recently retired as the head of Black Point Corporation, the Sprague family office. During his 22-year presidency, he worked to conserve and maintain over 2,000 acres of largely undeveloped property in Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough. The Tree Growth Tax Law has been critical to the Sprague family’s efforts to continue the vision of Phineas W. Sprague, a Boston businessman, ardent outdoorsman, and conservation pioneer.

Jennifer Dann grew up in Aroostook County, earned a degree in Environmental Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver. Jennifer spent 25 years in New Mexico primarily working for the civil engineering division at Kirtland Air Force Base on environmental compliance, community and land planning, and energy initiatives. She later worked for New Mexico State Forestry as the Urban and Community Forestry Manager. She and her husband, Chris Apblett, moved to Orono in 2020, and serves as a member of the Orono Tree Board, a board member for the Orono Land Trust, and the steward for the Piney Knoll Conservation Area.

John Melrose and his wife Molly settled in Vassalboro in 1976 and live on about 135 acres of which about a third is rented as hay and corn fields and the remainder is woodlands. He holds a  bachelor's degree in Public Administration and a masters in Community Development from the University of Maine. John began his career at the Maine Municipal Association and then for 20 years owned and directed the private consulting firm specializing in government relations, association management and economic and community development.  He served eight years as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation in the King Administration. For 16 years John served as steward for the Vassalboro Wildlife Habitat which is owned and managed by Kennebec Land Trust (KLT).

Jeff Williams grew up in Hollis where he started working on a wholesale produce farm which lead to a life-long interest in the outdoors. He earned his BS in forestry at the University of Maine and worked summers as an arborist for the City of Portland. After graduation Jeff started working with the late Everett Towle, Maine Woodland Owners past president. He is the owner and head forester of Maine Forest Management. He and his wife and daughter live in Limington.

Doug Baston is a ninth-generation Mainer who lives in Alna, where he chaired the planning board for 20 years. He has woods in Jefferson and Vienna. He graduated from the University of Maine and the University of Maine School of Law, and works as a consultant in the energy efficiency industry.

Kyle is a licensed forester and the Vice President of Baskahegan Company. He is responsible for management policy, forest certification, land acquisitions, carbon offsets, wood sales, and general company administration. He grew up in Southeastern Connecticut and earned a forest management degree from the University of Maine in 2007 which was followeed by time as a forest manager in the Adirondacks. In 2009, Kyle came back to Maine to work for Orion Timberlands serving as, among other things, the forester for Downeast Land Trust. In 2014, Kyle became the Land Trust Forester for Downeast Land Trust. He started with Baskahegan in 2016.

Hannah Carter is a native of Caribou, Maine and is dean of University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Carter received her Ph.D and master’s degree in agricultural education and communication, specializing in agricultural leadership and Extension education, from the University of Florida. She is a graduate of the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Jim Clair is CEO of CSSHealth, a healthcare technology company based in Tampa, FL and Buffalo, NY and also owns or co-owns a number of companies in Maine under the umbrella, Clair Group of Companies. From 1984 to 2001, he served on the nonpartisan staff of the Maine Legislature. Jim holds master’s degrees from Syracuse University and the State University of New York, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts. Clair and his wife Jennifer split their time between China, Maine, where they own 155 acres of woods, and a home in Portland, Maine.

Mark Doty earned his BS degree in Forest Engineering from the University of Maine. His career started as a forester with Scott Paper and he retired in 2018 from Weyerhaeuser as Public Affairs Manager. He now works as a forester. He served as President of the Maine Forest Products Council, as well as Vice President of the New Hampshire Timber Owners Association and Vermont Woodlands Association. He has also served as a board member of the Vermont Forest Products Association, Maine SFI Implementation Committee, Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, and Sportsmen/Forest Landowner Alliance. He and his wife Lilly live in Madison. 

Richard Nass and his wife Joan have been growing trees and living and exploring 135 acres along the Salmon Falls River in Acton for the past 45 years. He has a degree in Math from Union College and earned an MBA from University of New Hampshire. After military service and years working for General Electric and in the New Hampshire Legislature, Richard served eight years in the Maine House of Representatives and another eight years in the Maine Senate, followed by two years in the House Speaker’s Office. Richard served two years as Maine Woodland Owners President.

Paul Sampson grew up on a 100-acre farm with a father who was an architectural woodworker. From an early age, he was taught to grow and harvest trees, saw and dry lumber, make cabinets, doors and moldings from that lumber. He and his wife, Jula, have run their millwork business, A.E. Sampson & Son, in Warren since 1987. Always willing to learn, Sampson attended his first Maine Woodland Owners event in the mid-1990s, and has been “hooked on the organization ever since.” After volunteering for the Midcoast chapter leader position, he joined the board of directors.