About Hood Canal Environmental Council

Donna Simmons - HCEC Director

Donna’s longtime environmental activism began in the early 1970’s with concerns about unsustainable timber harvesting in the Olympic National Forest, resulting in the creation of the Wonder Mountain Wilderness and Special Management Recreation Area in the upper Skokomish watershed. Donna served on the Washington State Ecological Commission 1984-1992 where she helped to create the Hood Canal Coordinating Council (HCCC) in 1986. There, she headed the Public Education Program, later serving as the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director.

To protect water quality and related natural resources in the Hood Canal watershed, Donna has served on the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group board, the Water Resource Inventory Area 16 Committee, the Mason County Conservation District Board of Supervisors, and the US Forest Service Citizen Advisory Board. She was also employed for 2 years by Long Live the Kings on salmon recovery issues. She has received awards for her many years of work from HCCC, the Washington State Department of Fisheries, Washington State, Trout Unlimited, and the PNW Region USDA Forest Service. Donna served as HCEC President for several years until 2024.

Don Seavey, HCEC Director & Treasurer

Don Seavy was born in Seattle, grew up in Los Altos, California, and fell in love with the salt water while spending summers at his grandparents' in Lakebay, Washington. These summer experiences influenced his career choice. Don earned his PhD in Zoology with a minor in Oceanography from Oregon State University in 1977. He taught majors Biology, Marine Biology, Oceanography, and Natural History at Olympic College, Bremerton for 40 years. He created a learning community, Life on the Edge, that included himself and two other professors. He taught Natural History and the other two colleagues taught their disciplines. Each year different colleagues chose to participate, so in addition to Natural History there was a variety of disciplines offered such as geography, geology, chemistry, interpersonal communication, and art. They integrated the three disciplines with lectures and a field trip once a week. Don and his wife, Barbara, have been living off the grid in the middle of a beautiful forest south of Seabeck for more than 30 years. This has been an exponential learning curve. The benefits of living in nature far outweigh the challenges of living off the grid! Don has two sons who reside in Northern California and Seattle.

Phil Best - HCEC Director & President

Phil Best grew up in Silverdale, attended Olympic College, obtained a JD degree from the University of Washington, worked for the Washington State legislature, then started his legal career in Bremerton. While in law school, Phil married Karen, a high school classmate, and they moved to Seabeck in 1967 to raise their family. In 1969 Phil helped create the Hood Canal Environmental Council in recognition of the ongoing need to protect Hood Canal from developments such as the proposed dredging of Stavis Bay for a marina south of Seabeck. Phil worked with Gary Cunningham and others to create the Kitsap Land Trust (which later merged with three other land trusts to form the Great Peninsula Conservancy) to permanently protect special places through agreements by willing landowners. He has focused on environmental law and community involvement and served as Kitsap County commissioner (1995-1998). Phil is grateful for the enthusiastic work by many willing community members, including the other HCEC directors, who help protect Hood Canal. As he wraps up his legal career, he enjoys travels with Karen, their “Fjordheim” retreat on Hood Canal, boating and photography. He currently serves as president of HCEC and editor of the newsletter.

Mike Beaulieu - HCEC Director

Mike grew up in the outdoors of Washington State and British Columbia, graduated from Washington State University, received his commission from the US Navy’s Aviation Officer Candidate School in July 1986, and served all over the world, including tours or deployments in the US, Japan, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He has a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy, is former Commander, Defense Contract Management Agency, Aircraft Propulsion Operations and retired as Captain from the Navy in 2015. Mike, along with his wife Pam and their kids, lived and recreated in many beautiful places during his Navy adventure, and always made time to be outdoors. He realizes the our natural areas are at risk of changing in profound ways as once pristine natural habitat shows increasing signs of stress from careless individuals, poorly thought out regulations, and relentless population growth. It’s no longer possible to pick up loved ones on a Friday afternoon, and head into the backcountry without a campsite reservation, obtained weeks in advance! Mike is a Director and former Secretary of HCEC, and also
volunteers on the Citizens Advisory Group of the Hood Canal Coordinating Council to help advance a shared vision to protect and recover Hood Canal's environmental, economic, and cultural wellbeing.

Karen Best - HCEC Director

Karen's parents exposed her to camping and hiking, so she has always loved nature and the outdoors. She worked two summers at Paradise Inn on Mt. Rainier. She graduated from UW School of Nursing, was a Public Health Nurse in Seattle, and later taught Sexuality Education and AIDS Education in Central Kitsap.

As Phil Best's spouse, Karen Best became involved at the inception of HCEC when their second daughter was newborn in 1969. While leaving the environmental matters mostly to Phil, Karen has "picked up the pieces," writing thank you notes for contributions, preparing newsletters for mailing, and delivering newsletters to businesses around Hood Canal for distribution to customers who happen by. Karen also serves as "chief listener" and sometimes "suggestion contributor." Karen and Phil use their Hood Canal home now for a retreat for all the family, 4 kids, 11 grandkids, and 9 great grandkids, instilling a love for Hood Canal and its creatures. Hood Canal is one of the most beautiful places in the world - a best kept secret. Yet we want all to know how special and relatively healthy and teeming with life she is, fragile and needing our care, wise decisions, and involvement.

Bruce Morse - HCEC Director

Bruce has a MS and Ph.D. in Forest Entomology. His professional career focused on developing software products and delivering solutions that integrated spatial and database technologies affecting government, utilities, telecommunications, and aviation. In retirement, Bruce continues to apply his skills to collaborate and improve large, complex programs and organizations. Bruce retired to Gig Harbor from Denver, Colorado in 2020 and has been active in conservation ever since to preserve the natural beauty of Puget Sound.

He volunteers with the following organizations and projects: Tahoma Bird Alliance Board and Chair of Conservation Committee; Washington Department of Natural Resource’s Eelgrass Restoration and Monitoring program: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Mussel Toxicology study; Pierce County Oyster Restoration project; Key Peninsula - Gig Harbor - Island (KGI) Watershed Council Co-Chairperson; Gig Harbor History Museum Researcher and Archivist; Burley Lagoon Heritage Alliance; and HCEC Board.

He and his wife, Beth, live on Burley Lagoon and have two married daughters, Jessica in Boise, and Sarah in Portland.

Janet Wold - HCEC Director

Janet Wold has a Masters degree in Aquatic Entomology and Fisheries and brings to HCEC over five decades of leadership in natural resource management, aquatic science, and public land stewardship. Her career with the USDA Forest Service spanned from field biology to executive leadership, culminating in her role as Forest Supervisor of the 898,100 acre Stanislaus National Forest adjacent to Yosemite National Park. Her work has included fisheries research, stream restoration, hydropower coordination, collaborative watershed initiatives, and leading interdisciplinary teams of engineers, biologists, planners, and public affairs specialists. Since retiring in 1997, Janet has continued to serve as a volunteer and board member for environmental organizations, including HCEC.

Her deep knowledge of Pacific Northwest ecosystems, combined with her passion for public service and environmental education, make her a vital contributor to the Council’s mission of protecting Hood Canal’s ecological integrity and cultural heritage.

Janet and her husband live at Squamish Harbor just southwest of the Hood Canal bridge in Jefferson County, where she keeps an ever-watchful eye on activities of interest to HCEC.

Terry Reeve - HCEC Director

Terry Reeve is a Seabeck native, University of Washington grad, Peace Corps volunteer in South Korea, and managed commercial salmon processing on the Yukon River. On behalf of the University of Alaska, Marine Advisory Program (MAP), Terry engaged in quality training for Yukon River commercial fishermen to to help fishermen learn how to increase the quality of their fish, and worked with salmon fishermen in Alaska to direct market their catch.

He served as coordinator and planner for the Quinhagak ecotourism/archeology project in southwestern Alaska, which involves birding, tundra walks, village visits, and participation in archeological digs on the Kuskokwim River in Alaska.

Terry is now retired back home at Seabeck, where he resides with his wife, Youn-hee.

Paul McCollum - HCEC Director

Paul McCollum's experience with and knowledge of native tribes has proven very valuable to the HCEC board. From 2007 until retiring in 2022, he was director of the Natural Resource Department of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe.

Previously he worked in Alaska as a fisheries biologist and then as a consultant to remote Native Village Councils, helping them to fight the oil industry and other environmental threats to their villages. He adopted and raised 3 children from Nepal and helped to support several Nepali orphanages and projects concerning women and children.

With a very supportive tribe, he led the fight to secure a $20 million cleanup of Port Gamble Bay from what Washington State had first proposed as a $1 million project. Paul greatly admires the Port Gamble S'Klallams for their deep caring about Mother Earth and climate change.

Tanuj Bansal - HCEC Director

Tanuj Bansal recently added Hood Canal as a residence, with his wife Kim, driven by their love for nature, mountains, salt water and everything else Hood Canal has to offer, including oysters, crabs and shrimp. Tanuj is an AI and Cloud marketing executive.

He is also actively bringing his professional skills to HCEC as a new board member. Tanuj has an MS in Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA from University of Michigan. He loves to hike and is an avid book reader/listener.

As the only non-retired member of the board, Tanuj has found time to write blogs, attend board meetings, and propose new ideas.

Bernadette Olson - HCEC Director & Vice President

Bernadette Olson is originally from France, and resides with husband Ron in the Nellita-Holly area. She was a liaison representative from the Holly area to the Board and investigated timber harvesting near Holly. She has followed and evaluated for the HCEC Board the proposed Shoreline Master Plan revisions for Kitsap, Mason, and Jefferson counties; reported on a proposed commercial geoduck farming at Harding Creek; delved into Seabeck Heron Rookery issues; and is helping save a salmon stream at Holly (among other things).

Bernadette has an Electrical Engineering degree, working in the field for 12 years, and is co-founder of holography company Laser Reflections.

She volunteers on the construction crews for Habitat for Humanity. Her loves are backpacking, gardening, trail building, and kayaking. She loves everything “Hood Canal” including the cockles and piddocks!