Mike Barnes

Since 1997, Cascadia Forest Goods has marketed wood products from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests, as well as recycled and salvaged wood. "We sell products from forests that have been properly cared for, at close to market price -- in some cases below market price," say CEO Mike Barnes. "Our Restoration Fir Flooring is wood from understory thinning." A Portland native, Barnes lived as a monk for eight years of high school and college at Mount Angel Seminary. Following two years of grad school in Seattle, he spent time with priests doing social justice work in Panama, Colombia and Mexico. On his return, he became a professional organizer, working for grassroots democracy in Chicago and other US locales. "I returned to Portland in 1979," he says. "I was one of the founders of Oregon Fair Share." In 1993, Barnes was invited to direct the Ecoforestry Institute, a training center in southern Oregon. He started CFG there, then moved it to Eugene in '98, when his daughter reached school age. "We're busy now," he notes. "For the first time, we have a positive cash flow." Learn more about CFG at www.cascadiaforestgoods.com.

happening people photograph and story by Paul Neevel Eugene Weekly / 26 November 2003