Tom Barnes, Realtor® CRS, GRI

Direct line: (208) 448-0380
Cell: (208) 290-1286
Fax: (208) 448-0813
E-mail: tom.barnes@sothebysrealty.com
Website: www.CallTomNow.com

An 11-year resident of Priest River, Tom began working as a Realtor® for a Priest River real estate company in 2002, distinguishing himself as the highest producing, first-year Realtor® in the history of the company.

Now as a Realtor® for Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s International Realty, Tom was the highest-selling Realtor® in the Priest River/Priest Lake area for a majority of 2009. He currently serves a large area that includes Priest River, Priest Lake, Sandpoint, Blanchard, Spirit Lake, Hope and reaches as far north as Bonners Ferry. Also holding a Washington real estate license, he further covers areas in northeast Washington. Tom’s primary emphasis is residential, waterfront residential and vacant land.

Raised in California, Tom moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1970 to finish college. After serving in the U. S. Army in South Korea from 1971 - 1973, he obtained a B.A. degree in Geography from the University of Alaska in 1974 and completed the course work towards a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning. In 1975, he moved to Juneau where he worked in the Governor’s Office in the Office of Budget and Management and later in the Office of Coastal Zone Management.

In 1982, Tom moved to Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States located on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. There he served as Manager of the Permitting Division for the North Slope Borough for six years, overseeing oil and gas development and exploration on Alaska’s North Slope, as well as local development.

Tom later relocated to Anchorage where he worked for HDR Engineering as the Director of Regulatory Affairs working on several large engineering projects. Two years later he was hired by BP Alaska (British Petroleum) as Senior Environmental Engineer responsible for permitting the majority of the company’s oil and gas projects in Prudhoe Bay. He also oversaw several large environmental projects on the North Slope involving creek, offshore island and tundra rehabilitation.

In his capacity as BP’s Senior Environmental Engineer, Tom’s most challenging project consisted of a four-year assignment in which he oversaw the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) permitting for this country’s first offshore arctic oil and gas production project, Northstar. After completion of the permitting phase, he was assigned the responsibility of overseeing the compliance aspect of the Northstar development effort involving the construction of an offshore gravel island and sub-sea buried pipeline in the Beaufort Sea.

After residing in Alaska for 30 years, Tom moved with his wife and son to Priest River In 1999. From Priest River, Tom worked overseas in Kazakhstan under contract with an Alaska engineering firm before becoming a Realtor® in 2002.

Tom’s hobbies include fishing, hiking and photography.