Day 1: Monday More Than Trees

Larry’s father started Krueger Lumber Company, and he was raised in a logging and sawmilling family. After earning his degree in business administration and finance, Larry continued his education in forestry and natural resource management. He thrives on all that forestry offers as a field: the challenges, the beauty, the diversity, the travel and the opportunity of working in the hardwood lumber industry. He serves on the board of directors for the Great Lakes Kiln Drying Association, working to build expertise for professionals in the kiln-dried lumber business. Larry is a Past President for the Lake States Lumber Association. His service includes working on the Wisconsin DOT Freight Advisory Committee, a group that discusses Wisconsin’s long–term transportation issues.  

Tom Hittle is chair of the Wisconsin Council on Forestry. Professionally, he spent 38 years with Steigerwaldt Land Services, a Wisconsin based forestry and real estate consulting business. He also held several positions where he was responsible for land and resource management, project coordination and client services, forestry and GIS operations, and real estate appraisal services. Tom managed over 350,000 acres of client-owned timberland in a range of forest management and timberland real estate roles that support efforts on behalf of small and large private forest lands for county, state, federal, tribal, utility, investment, and conservancy clients. Tom’s experience included due diligence for timberland acquisitions, resource analysis and forest management planning, systems development and implementation, and management scenario modeling on a variety of consulting projects. In 2013 Tom was appointed by Governor Walker to serve on the Wisconsin Council on Forestry; in 2019 he was appointed by Governor Evers to his current position as the Chair of the Council. He served as State Chair for the Wisconsin Society of American Foresters (SAF) and State Chair for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters. Tom is a recognized SAF Fellow, a title bestowed to SAF members for long–standing service to forestry at the local, state, and national level and as an ambassador for forestry advancement.  

Heather Berklund is the Chief State Forester in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Forestry, where she has worked for over 25 years. Appointed in 2020, Heather is the first-ever female state forester for Wisconsin. She has helped lead and implement many initiatives in sustainable forestry and wildland fire protection. She’s worked beside numerous partner organizations to support industry, forest resources, and the public. She’s an active leader at the national and regional level, involved with regional committees addressing forest markets, forest inventory, and wildland fire. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Deputy Division Administrator for Field Operations, overseeing statewide policies for bureau and field staff. Heather also held several supervisor roles as an Area and Team leader for the division and spent the bulk of her field career as a forester managing the diverse public lands, tax law program, fire suppression, education and outreach, and private landowner programs. She works toward investing in our current and future workforce, adapting and aligning program work and policies to meet the current and future needs of the public and the long-term health of our forest resource and industry. 

Cassie Mordini is the Director of the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation. Created by the Department of Tourism, the Office is charged with supporting and uplifting Wisconsin’s diverse outdoor recreation industry for the benefit of all. Mordini joined the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation in February 2020 as one of the original staff hired to the newly created Office and became director in January 2024. During her first four years, she was integral to building the infrastructure of the Office. Mordini brings her nearly two decades of experience in the outdoor industry – spanning retail, nonprofit and government – to the director role where she leads strategy and program development. She feels truly privileged to channel her experiences and passion into her work strengthening the outdoor industry.

Scott Suder is the President of the Wisconsin Paper Council, and he directs all legislative, regulatory, media, political and member relations strategies. Scott is the primary representative for the statewide trade association in all internal and external matters, supervising the entire WPC team. Prior to joining WPC, Scott served as the Manager for State Government and Stakeholder Relations, U.S. Public Affairs for Enbridge Energy. Before that, Scott served for 14 years as a Wisconsin State Legislator representing the 69th Assembly. During his tenure as a State Representative, he served in several leadership posts including as Majority Leader. He is also a former member of Wisconsin’s 115th Fighter Wing, serving in the Wisconsin Air National Guard in the wake of the September 11 attacks; decorated combat veteran, Scott served 3 tours of duty in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Paul is Green Fire’s Policy Director, working closely with the organization’s working groups’ chairs and its Board to represent Green Fire to Legislators, their staff, the Governor’s staff, state agencies and other statewide conservation and environmental groups statewide.  He shares Green Fire’s expertise and knowledge with policy makers and keeps Green Fire members informed about the priorities and legislation of the policymakers. Prior to coming to Green Fire, Paul was Director of State Legislative Affairs in the Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin. He started his career as a legislative aide to the Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, then moved on to be the Legislative Liaison for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Over his 34-year career he worked to pass hundreds of new laws including the Acid Rain law, the Recycling Program, the first groundwater bill in the United States, and the Knowles Nelson Stewardship program. Additionally, Paul contributed to changes to numerous forestry, parks, deer and wildlife management programs, as well as state air quality standards. His policy advisor career spanned six DNR secretaries.