ABOUT DAVE:

Dave and Tom decided to work independently to assist landowners in 1994.  Current management areas cover several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Southern New York State.  Both Tom and Dave are members of the Society of American Foresters, The Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and The Pennsylvania Council of Professional Foresters.  These organizations' strict ethics and rules for membership provide a solid base and rigid guidelines for their work.  The standards of their profession, when properly adhered to by its members, provide private landowners with an excellent source for professional representation.  For many landowners, a timber sale is a life-changing event, a project many older landowners may experience only once or twice in their lives.  Improper administration of that event can result in a bad experience and unsavory feelings.  Tom and Dave strive to eliminate the fear and hesitation associated with harvesting and managing timber resources.  

            Dave O'Barto resides with his wife Rochelle, sons Tate and Jace, and daughter Shae in Westmoreland County, in Latrobe.  Also a Penn State University graduate with a four-year, Bachelor of Science, Forest Science degree, Dave began his career working as a forester and timber buyer for an independent sawmill.  While at the mill, he learned the many insights into the industry side of forest management and timber purchasing from private landowners. 

This experience helped Dave learn to better relate to the private landowner's needs, and to better help them understand the process of timber harvesting.   A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, he also has acquired many years' experience working with private landowners, industry, county, state and federal level agencies, and government.  The difference between urban and suburban timber harvests is immense--this experience dealing with a myriad of situations assures his clients of sensible environmental decisions.  His background insures a sound technical process in forest and environmental management.   

            While at Penn State, Dave worked for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry performing a myriad of duties.  From timber harvest layout to performing  aerial reconnaissance of gypsy moth defoliation, he learned the many roles of government in forest management.  And, also while at Penn State, he worked for Dr. Todd Bowersox, one of the top professors at the School of Forest Resources, implementing various forest management projects on the school's vast and widely diverse timberlands.  Again, this knowledge proves invaluable to his current clientele.  Also, Dave has been called as an expert witness in timber trespass cases in many counties across the state of Pennsylvania.  Providing such expert testimony has helped landowners recoup losses in timber theft and trespass cases.      Dave also covers all of Pennsylvania, Northern West Virginia and Maryland, and Eastern Ohio.  He travels extensively in his daily work, and especially enjoys meeting new people and implementing various projects for them.  Dave prides himself on his attention to detail, which also helps insure nothing is overlooked when he administers a timber sale or project for his clients.