Officers and Directors
McChesney “Ches” Goodall, co-founder of Virginia Forestry and Wildlife Group, has managed forestlands in Virginia for more than thirty-five years and is guided by an ethic of managing land under a holistic, conservationist ideal. Until recently, Ches was coordinator of the Albemarle County Acquisition of Conservation Easements program, which protected nearly 10,000 acres of farmland in central Virginia. His family owns a large farm in Highland County that is under an easement with the Nature Conservancy. This easement preserves much of the mature forestland, rare and threatened habitats, and riparian zones along Laurel Fork. He received his Bachelor’s degree in plant ecology from Duke University in 1979 and his Master’s degree in forest management and ecology from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke in 1984. He lives in Richmond with his wife of twenty-two years.
Hullihen Williams Moore, as vice president, is a member of The 500-Year Forest Foundation executive committee. Hullie brings a wealth of board experience that includes the Shenandoah National Park Trust. He practiced law in Richmond for 25 years and served as a member of the Virginia State Corporation Commission for 12. He is acclaimed as a nature photographer for his book “Shenandoah.”
Fay Paurillo joined Hantzmon Wiebel in 2008. In addition to being licensed in the United States, she also holds a CPA license in the Philippines, where she worked as a college accounting professor for almost eight years. She enjoys getting to know clients and strives to always give exceptional client service.
Outside of the office, she enjoys taking small weekend trips to Virginia Beach or Cape Charles with her husband and four daughters. Additionally, Fay says, “I love to cook and my husband loves to bake. We both love preparing a spread (or a feast as our girls call it) for any occasion or holiday, even if we don’t have guests. We just love to cook and eat.”
Karin Warren, board secretary, is the Herzog Family Chair of Environmental Studies & Science at Randolph College. She earned a B.S. in Meteorology from Cornell University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley, where she held a Department of Energy Global Change Fellowship. At Randolph College, she developed the BA and BS degree programs, and has chaired the Environmental Studies & Science department since 2002. Her areas of interest include energy and sustainable development, climate and global change, community resilience, Environmental Studies & Science pedagogy, and quantitative environmental methods.
James Easley Edmunds, II is a fourth-generation farmer, raising cattle, grain, hay, and timber on family farm. He is also a member of the Virginia House of Delegates District 60, where he is currently serving his 7th term, and is a member of several committees including the Natural Resources Committee. James has been named a Distinguished Advocate for Virginia Business by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
David O. Ledbetter, JD, is special Counsel with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, he is a specialist in environmental law and previously served as the Foundation’s secretary and pro bono attorney. David has been associated with the organization since its inception.
Alexander Macaulay is a Richmond native and grew up hearing many lobbying and legal “war stories” from his father and grandfather. That led to volunteering in campaigns and a job as a Page in the Virginia House of Delegates. He then worked in the Governor’s Office, House Clerk’s office, and Department of Information Technology. He also worked in the campaign of Gov. Gerald Baliles and as a legislative assistant to Del. Alan Diamonstein. He has had a lifelong fascination with trees since raking (many, many) leaves as a child, reading about Ents in Lord of the Rings, and earning the Forestry merit badge in the Boy Scouts. As a lawyer-lobbyist he has represented the Piedmont Environmental Council and the American Battlefield Trust. He majored in history at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and graduated from law school at the University of Virginia.
Danielle Racke is educational coordinator for the University of Lynchburg’s Claytor Nature Center, working to connect young people with nature through camp and other activities. She has B.A. degrees in Music and in Biology from Knox College; an M.S. in biology from Western Kentucky University; as well as an M.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia. She is pursuing an MBA from the University of Lynchburg. Among her many professional activities, she is chair of the certification advisory board of the Virginia Association for Environmental Education and a voting member of the Virginia Resource Use Education Council. She is the author of numerous research treatises and has taught and mentored student researchers in biology, education and environmental science.
Jeffrey L. Smith, a board member of The 500-Year Forest Foundation, was the Foundation’s program director for five years and brings much in the way of institutional history and continuity. He is on the forests work group and consults on fundraising and communications. He is executive director of Rush Homes, a Lynchburg-area nonprofit that builds housing for the physically challenged.
We welcome Mary Wickham, who joined the 500-year Forest Foundation Board in January. Mary has a background in law, education, and nonprofit management. She served as the Head of St. Andrew’s School and Executive Director of the Sacred Heart Center, both in Richmond. An avid hiker and nature enthusiast, Mary is a Virginia Master Naturalist with the Pocahontas Chapter and an active volunteer with the James River Park’s Invasive Plant Task Force. Mary has two grown sons and lives in Richmond with her husband George. She can frequently be found “forest bathing” either in Richmond’s green spaces, on property bordering the Shenandoah National Park near Syria, Va., or in Cedar Mountain, N.C.
Past Directors
Ted Harris, Durham, NC
David O. Ledbetter, Richmond, VA
Frank Biasiolli, Charlottesville, VA
Kim Biasiolli, Charlottesville, VA
Lincoln P. Brower, Roseland, VA (1931-2018)
Paul D. Cronin, Rectortown, VA
Peter Dutnell, Albemarle County, VA
Richard “Dickie” Foster, Virginia Beach, VA
Melissa Gildea, Reston, VA
Lewis B. Goode, Jr., Virginia Beach, VA (1929-2014)
Harold H. Kolb, Jr., Covesville, VA
William H. Martin, Lexington, KY
J. James Murray, Jr., Charlottesville, VA
Stephen P. Nash, Richmond, VA
Thomas O’Halloran, Clemson, SC
Florena Fay Paurillo, Charlottesville, VA
Carolyn L. Phillips, Batesville, VA
Paul F. Revell, Weyers Cave, VA (1950-2016)
Ginny Sancilio Cross, Virginia Beach, VA
H.H. Shugart, Charlottesville, VA
Mark Snyder, Eugene, OR
Kay Van Allen, Lynchburg, VA
Nancy L. Weiss, Charlottesville, VA
