Charles Gale is a seasoned leader in the forest products and mass timber industries, with over a decade of experience driving innovation across business development, sustainability, and supply chain strategy. He currently serves as the Director of Mass Timber at Cambium, where he supports the scale-up of carbon-smart, traceable wood products through technology-driven supply chain solutions.

A graduate of the University of Montana, Charles holds a B.S. in Resource Conservation with a concentration in Forestry Economics and one of the nation’s first minors in Climate Change Studies. He also earned a High Performance Leadership Certificate from the Chicago Booth School of Business.

Prior to Cambium, Charles spent seven years with SmartLam as Strategic Business Analyst, where he played a key role in over 300 mass timber projects and more than 30 CLT panel certifications and R&D initiatives. His work spanned sales and operations planning, lumber procurement, sustainability strategy, and ERP/CRM systems implementation. He also led some of the largest transparent sourcing initiatives in U.S. mass timber history and co-authored the influential North American Mass Timber: State of the Industry 2019 report.

Charles’ background includes roles with Stimson Lumber Company and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, where he focused on log optimization, production modeling, and capital investment strategy. His research has contributed to over a dozen technical publications, including early foundational work that helped secure $12 million for Montana’s Wood Product Revolving Loan Fund.

An active contributor to the industry, Charles has served on the board of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Wood Council’s Sustainability Committee. He is a member of the Forest Products Society, the Montana Wood Products Association, and the Society of American Foresters. His career reflects a deep commitment to advancing sustainable forestry, sawmilling, and the responsible growth of mass timber in North America.

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