Bryan is a third-generation Californian born in San Jose. He grew up on the southern beaches of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. He has lived and worked throughout the west, making his home in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. He became a Canadian citizen in 2000.
Bryan felt the lure of the mountains at an early age and spent much of his youth fishing and hiking in the Sierra Nevada range of eastern California. He has hiked extensively throughout western North America, the culminating trek being the 342 km John Muir Trail along the spine of the Sierras when he was 19.
Hiking soon branched into ski touring, rock climbing and ice climbing. Bryan has climbed many of the highest peaks in the west including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and Mt. Whitney. He has also taught these skills at the University of Idaho’s outdoor recreation program.
Bryan studied forestry at the University of Idaho and has spent much of his working career in the woods. He spent two years as a timber faller in northern Idaho and eastern Washington. For many years, he has worked as a timber cruiser. Traveling in by foot, 4x4, snowmobile, boat, helicopter and fixed-wing, Bryan has walked through some of the most remote, rugged and beautiful country the west has to offer.
Bryan has spent most of his professional forestry life in consulting. His clients have included the Ehattesaht, Haida, Homalco, Oweekeno, Port Gamble, Quinault, Toquaht, Tseshaht, and Tulalip First Nations; as well as many county, state, provincial, federal, private and industrial clients. He recently served as an Operations Manager in the BC Forest Service and is presently the forester for the Teal-Jones Group in Sandspit, BC. Bryan is a registered professional forester in British Columbia and is chair of the Association of BC Forest Professionals Standing Investigations Committee, which investigates complaints pertaining to professional conduct and practice. Download Bryan's resume.
Much of Bryan’s energy has focused on theological studies and pursuits. He has studied at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon and Regent College in Vancouver, where he earned the Master of Christian Studies and Master of Divinity degrees. His thesis, The Interpretation of Figurative Language in the Bible, examined seventeen categories of figurative speech in their original Greek and Hebrew language literary genres. Bryan has pastored churches in New Westminster and Moscow, Idaho, where he was also a commissioned chaplain in the Latah County Sheriff’s Department. He has written one book, The Hidden Life, which discusses issues surrounding Christian ethics and conduct.
Bryan has played the bagpipes since he was eleven and has won prizes at the amateur competitive level. He frequently plays at various civic and social occasions.
