Remembering Jim D. Thiemens – WFPA Honorary Trustee

Jim D. Thiemens 1947 - 2025

Jimmy Dean Thiemens was a WFPA Board of Trustees member from 1998 to 2006, during the Forests & Fish negotiations and approval of the 50-year Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan. That year, he also took the position of Vice President and General Manager of Green Diamond Resource Company in Shelton, WA, responsible for all Forest Operations in Oregon and Washington. Green Diamond was the first company to receive approval for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the northern spotted owl. In 2006, completed a 50-year Aquatic HCP and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, which Jim helped negotiate and develop.

Jim started his career working for Weyerhaeuser Co. in Coos Bay, Oregon, as a truck boss and logging foreman. In 1973, he joined Potlatch Corp. as an Area Forest Manager and Woodlands Manager in Bovill, Idaho, where he worked on New Forestry and roads management in the early 1990s. By 1995, Jim moved to Alaska and was Vice President of Operations with Koncor Forest Products Company of Anchorage. He was responsible for logging operations in South Central and Southeast Alaska, as well as significant overseas project development and marketing, making multiple trips to Russia and China. Jim was a two-time President of the Western Forestry and Conservation Association, past secretary-treasurer of The Society of American Foresters, school board member of a private school, and President of Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protective Association, a private fire protection organization. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Washington Forest Protection Association, where he led the development of a strategic plan and the selection of the new Executive Director, Mark Doumit, who served from 2006 to 2021, until his untimely passing.

Jim resided at his family homestead, which he rebuilt in the early 2000s on Coeur d'Alene Lake, near Harrison. His mantra of freedom, beauty, and peace was exemplified in the house he built in the forest, overlooking the lake. He had a quick wit, temper, and used colorful language, as some may remember, but always had a good sense of humor, such as playing Darth Vader during a "skit" called the BFD at a presentation given to WFPA's Board of Trustees, showing how staff fluidly worked together to hammer out the issues of the day. I'm sure he's harassing those who have gone before him somewhere on the other side. Happy trails, Jim.