About the Speakers
Jim Branham, Executive Officer, Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Jim has spent more than 25 years working on natural resource and rural community issues. He was selected as the Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s first Executive Officer by the SNC Board in October of 2005. As Executive Officer, Jim is responsible for day to day management of the organization and works closely with the Governing Board and stakeholders in developing policy and program priorities.
Prior to assuming his current position, he served as Undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency from November 2003 through October 2005. There, he assisted in shaping and implementing Governor Schwarzenegger’s environmental policy, including work in the areas of air and water quality.
Reba Fuller, Tribal Leader, Tuolumne Band of Miwuk
Reba Fuller is a member of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and lives on the Tuolumne Rancheria on the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Ms. Fuller is the great-granddaughter of the late Chief William Fuller, who helped establish the Rancheria in 1907 and represented the California Indians in their pursuit of the California Indian Lands Claim Settlement.
Ms. Fuller currently provides liaison between the Tribe and federal, state and local agencies on proposed projects that may have a direct or indirect to tribal lands or cultural resources. She has been involved for almost 40 years in tribal affairs and for the last 20 years has involved herself in the protection of her traditional cultural heritage. She has been instrumental in developing the Tribe’s Cultural Committee, agreements protecting tribal interests on proposed land projects, government-to-government relations with federal agencies, and protecting the Tribe’s intellectual property rights.
Ms. Fuller may be reached at Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, Post Office Box 699, Tuolumne, CA 95379, office 209.928.5300 or e-mail: rfuller@mlode.com.
Duane Nelson, El Dorado National Forest Placerville District Ranger
Duane Nelson is the District Ranger of the Placerville Ranger District, responsible for the overall management of one of the four districts that make up the Eldorado National Forest. He has been with the Forest Service since 1979 serving at the district, forest and regional levels working in silviculture, timber management, invasive species management, forest health and forest planning. He is an avid fly fisherman, outdoorsman and fancies himself to be handy around the house and excellent cook.
Hugh Safford, Ph.D., Regional Ecologist, Forest Service Region 5
Hugh Safford is the senior vegetation ecologist (“Regional Ecologist”) for the USDA-Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region (California, Hawaii, Pacific Islands), and a research faculty associate with the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California-Davis. Safford’s areas of professional expertise are community and landscape ecology, conservation biology, biogeography, and fire ecology. Safford manages a staff of ecologists that provide vegetation and fire ecology expertise to land management on the 18 National Forests in California. He is also the manager of the Regional Research Natural Area program, the Sierra Nevada section team leader for the California Fire Science Delivery Consortium, and a member of the Watershed Working Group of the North American Forest Commission.
Denaya Shorter, African American Liaison, Central California Consortium
Denaya Shorter works as the African American community liaison for the Central California Consortium, a minority outreach program within the Forest Service. Her focus is to provide outreach and recruitment to the African American community in West Fresno. Denaya is currently working to provide leadership and environmental education opportunities to students at local educational institutions. She builds on existing partnerships with Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission’s Local Corps, as well as with community schools and organizations. She is also currently a senior at California State University, Fresno, where she is majoring in biology with an option in ecology, evolutionary and organismal biology. She is pursuing a career with the Forest Service as a wildlife biologist.
Craig Thomas, Executive Director, Sierra Forest Legacy
Craig Thomas co-founded Sierra Forest Legacy in 1996 as the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign. Craig has been intimately involved in the protection and restoration of the forests of the Sierra Nevada for over twenty-five years and continues working to find solutions to the threats facing Sierra Nevada forests and communities today. He has led Sierra Forest Legacy’s efforts to defend the Sierra from excessive logging, to protect Sierra communities from wildfire and to find environmentally sustainable solutions to enhance forest restoration. Craig is long-time resident of the Sierra Nevada and calls the foothills north of Placerville his home.
Crawford Tuttle, Deputy Director, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Crawford Tuttle was appointed Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) by the Governor in 2006. In this capacity, Crawford is a key player on forest resource management, climate change policy, and legislative and budgetary matters. With more than two decades in public service, he was the Deputy Secretary for External Affairs at the California Natural Resources Agency where he played a significant role in California’s Sierra Nevada Conservancy. He was formerly Deputy Secretary at the Cal/EPA and the Governor's Washington Representative for the Resources Agency and Cal/EPA, where he served as the state’s liaison to Congress and the Clinton Administration. Crawford is a California native and holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Steve Wilensky, Calaveras County Supervisor
Steve Wilensky was elected to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors in 2003. Steve is active in Calaveras Grown and former co-chair of the Preserve the Toyon Woodshop Committee. Steve serves on many local and regional boards, such as the Mother Lode Job Training Agency, Upper Mokelumne Watershed Authority and Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Steve is active in Glencoe-Rail Road Flat Recreation Association regional park project. He is owner and operator of the Humbug Creek Farm and Cider Mill in Glencoe. Steve retired from Service Employees International Union in 2003 after 23-year career as a union organizer and chief negotiator.
Bill Wickman, Sustainable Forest Action Coalition & American Forest Research Council
Bill Wickman was a Forest Service employee for 32 years and retired in August 2002. He has a BA and MA in Physical Geography and graduated from the Oregon State Forest Engineering Institute. Bill has worked as a Forest Soil Scientist, Logging Engineer, Timber Management Officer, and Landscape Management Team Leader. He retired as Leader of Timber Sales Programs in the Regional Office for Region 5 (California). Since retiring, Bill has been active nationally with training agencies, partners and contractors in stewardship contracting. Bill currently is a consultant for the American Forest Resource Council and monitors the Forest Management programs for the Modoc, Lassen, Plumas and Tahoe National Forests. Based in Quincy, Bill is also the chairman of the Plumas County Economic Recovery Committee and spokesperson for the Sustainable Forest Action Coalition which has members in seventeen counties.
Questions:
Contact Mike Chapel, USDA Forest Service; mchapel@fs.fed.us | Phone: (916) 498-5323