Management Team

The management team has collectively been involved in over $80M of debt and equity financing, retains a PhD in forest economics, involved in the management of more than 600,000 acres of timberland, managed $100M+ product lines, financed over 10 start-ups, is aligned with large investment management organizations, land trust, and timber companies.

Chris Fountain, Managing Director. Prior to joining Forest Legacy Investments, Mr. Fountain worked at Accenture for ten years. His background combines strategy, business process, financial modeling, product development, program & project management, and system integration experience for multiple Fortune 100 as well as start-up companies (including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Nike, Janes Publishing, Sony Music, Warner Music, AT&T Wireless, SAP and AOL.) Mr. Fountain managed programs of over 100 members and budgets exceeding $10 million. He oversaw seed and first round funding for multiple start-up companies. He specialized in performance based deals - creating opportunities to achieve strong ROIs on investments. In addition, Mr. Fountain has served on boards for United Way, Friends of the Children, and Seattle Art Museum.

Markland Fountain, Director. Markland has worked with many growing companies providing strategic direction and support to executive management in business planning, business planning, financial modeling, product development, strategic alliances, and organizational development and has been involved in over $40M of financing and transactions. Prior to working for Forest Legacy Investments he was General Manager of Kazi Beverage Company a “malternative” beverage company. His beverage experience extends to Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, one of the country's largest craft breweries. There he was a member of the team that oversaw a strategic investment from and alliance with Anheuser Busch and major funding from other private investors. Markland has also been a successful consultant and is a co-founder and a board member of Stardust Interactive Media, a video game developer.

Bill Turner, Ph.D., Director of Forestry. Dr. Turner has over nine years of experience in the forest products industry. He joined Forest Legacy Investments early in 2004 and is charged with oversight of the forest management and timberland valuation functions of the organization. Prior to joining Forest Legacy Investments, Dr. Turner was Forest Economist at Olympic Resource Management, who managed over 600,000 acres and served as the Western Timberland Manager for Hancock Timber Resource Group. He has extensive knowledge of the financial underpinnings of the timberland asset class and experience involving timberland acquisitions and divestitures, capital planning, and operations management. Dr. Turner also has experience in sawmill operations. He has a Ph.D. in Forest Economics from the University of Washington.

Advisory board members, legal & tax members available upon request.