PROCHNAU FOREST CONSULTANTS - Key Persons

Andy Holmes

Andy Holmes has collected on-the-ground forest measurements in the forests of the Olympic and Cascade mountains and lowlands since the early eighties. Andy got his boots wet starting in the forest as a teen with the Youth Conservation Corps. After graduating with an A.A.S. in Forestry, he worked as inventory technician with Milwaukee Land Company. Several other jobs in the public sector as survey chainman with Department of Transportation, forest fire fighter with Department of the Army, and Forest Worker with Department of Natural Resources, all provided Andy a solid base of experience to start his own business. Through the 1990s he built his consultancy, Sound Forest Practices, and a list of satisfied private industry clients as a high-production timber sale cruiser and appraiser. With over 300 MMBF in scaled cutouts, Andy has client-produced data which shows his estimated tree volumes to be within 1% of total net recovery, including a maximum variance of just 16% on a single timber harvest! The new millennium brought further expansion as Andy was in varied positions such as timber manager, crew supervisor, data analyst, and land agent at a timberland brokerage firm. Using market research and self-cultivated knowledge of tree growth and volumes, his appraisal skills helped clients assess values of large forest blocks throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 2004, Andy began working for municipalities in the context of urba forestry. Increasing forest conversions created the need for arborist services such as tree protection plans, property inspections for code compliance, and hazard tree identification. He expanded his client base to include land developers and continued building his knowledge and value as a tree consultant. After several years as a certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessor, Timberland appraisal and commercial forest operations brought Andy out of the City and back in the woods. With almost 30 years of observing and reporting on trees from all sides, Andy has developed expertise in his field and a more balanced awareness around issues involving trees and land. In 2013, he teamed-up with Prochnau Forest Consultants to bring his skills to a larger client base.

Kat Danielson

Job Titles:
  • Office Manager, Is in Charge of Day to Day Activities Including Log Accounting and Trust Fund Management for Clients
Kat Danielson, Office Manager, is in charge of day to day activities including log accounting and trust fund management for clients.

Steven W. Prochnau - President

Job Titles:
  • President
  • Founder and Owner, Is a State Certified, General Classification, Appraiser and Oversees All Appraisal Work.
Steve Prochnau has a varied background in the timber industry.  He has worked as a consultant to the forest industry, investment groups, environmental organizations and governmental entities for most of his career.  He has worked extensively throughout the Western U.S. along with assignments in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and the Russian Far East.  Prochnau began working in the woods during summers at age 15 for Jackson & Prochnau, Inc. He worked as a Compassman on timber cruising projects located mostly in Oregon and Northern California.  In those days a Timber Cruiser generally had a Compassman work with him to run the compass line, hang flagging and measure trees.   Prochnau also worked as a Chainman on surveying crews and after high school worked  as a logger on the rigging crew in the Oregon Coast Range.   This was in 1971 and the timber was old growth "yellow fir' on steep tower logging ground.   Logging systems were  still transitioning to more modern equipment and Prochnau was assigned to a "wood" spar with a diesel log sled donkey.  The following year he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a Military Policeman on the Jersey side of the New York Harbor. After the military he worked as a logger again but this time on long-span skyline tower sides in the Washington Cascades.  Eventually he returned to Jackson & Prochnau as a Timber Cruiser.  Projects in those days included jobs on the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area in Washington state, acquisition cruising in Montana, and inventory cruising in Oregon and California.  His formal education was at the School of Forestry at Oregon State University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Forest Engineering in 1984.   Almost immediately after school he moved to Olympia, Washington to manage timberland harvest operations for a Chinese trading company called M-D Trading.  This was during the relatively early years of the log export market when China first entered the market.  Under M-D Trading, Prochnau ran harvest operations in the Cascades and the M-D export log yard out of Olympia.  This included management of contract loggers and road builders along with unit and road layout.  M-D Trading was sponsored by Citifor the giant Chinese log export company.  Eventually Citifor took direct control of M-D and Prochnau became more involved in timber and land acquisitions for Citifor throughout Western Washington. During the 1990's he managed the J&P Olympia office and oversaw timber cruising, timberland management and appraisal projects for the family owned consulting business. He traveled to Siberia twice during this period.  Once on behalf of J&P as a partner in a giant timber concession with the Siberian railway company BAM.  And again as an advisor to another group. His background to this point, especially the timberland management, started Prochnau on a path towards certified appraisal work.  Certified as a General Appraiser in 1992, Prochnau has since appraised hundreds of properties totaling several million acres. Projects include a number of large ownerships including 230,000 acres in Western Washington, 400,000 acres in Eastern Oregon and 800,000 acres in Canada.  In 2000 Prochnau officially took over as President of J&P and continued to oversee timber cruising, appraisal and timberland management projects for its Washington and Oregon offices.  In 2013 he resigned from J&P and formed Prochnau Forest Consultants (PFC).  PFC continues to operate out of the Olympia, Washington office and offers similar services to those offered by J&P prior to Prochnau's departure.  PFC's clientele includes a wide array of firms in the involved in the forest industry including, Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs),  Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Financial Institutions, Environmental Groups, and Governmental Agencies. Steven Prochnau, founder and owner, is a state certified, general classification, appraiser and oversees all appraisal work.