Board of Directors
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Chair: John Reynolds - Member of Grizzly Ranch Firewise Community
John is originally from the Bay Area and moved to Grizzly Ranch in 2013. Having helped build a family summer cabin in the Central Sierras, he gained a love of the mountains and forest by spending his summers there for over fifteen years. Even as an adult, he has continued to enjoy many weekends and most vacations with his extended family either at the cabin or in Truckee enjoying the mountain lifestyle. As Truckee continued to gain in popularity and population, John became familiar with Plumas County and decided to retire there. John was introduced to the Fire Safe Council when a he joined a community group who were concerned with mitigating wildfire threat at Grizzly Ranch. Assistance from the Council and Plumas County Office of Emergency Services was instrumental in Grizzly Ranch gaining Firewise Communities/USA status in 2015. He has been an ongoing supporter and a member of the Grizzly Ranch FireWise Committee since 2015. |
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Vice Chair: Kathy Kogge – Vice President Gold Mountain CSD Board, Chair Gold Mountain Firewise Committee
Kathy and her husband are from the East Coast. They moved to Gold Mountain in 2016 to be closer to family in Truckee. She has BA’s in both Dance and Theatre Arts from the University of Maryland and a MA in Theatre History from the University of Illinois. She began her career in theatre and dance in New York City, juggling part-time positions with book publishers to make ends meet. She then went on to a long career in book publishing including over 38 years with The Bertelsmann Print Group in sales and production management, retiring in April of 2019. She became a member of the Gold Mountain CSD Board in 2016 and joined the Gold Mountain Firewise Committee from her work with other Firewise members on the CSD board. Her love for the spectacular natural beauty of the Sierras has motivated Kathy to find ways to protect it. Kathy hopes to use her background to further the goals of both the Fire Safe Council and Firewise USA. |
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Secretary/Treasurer: Don Gasser - Registered Professional Forester
Don wants the Plumas Fire Safe Council to continue to bring wildfire awareness by striving to expand fire-adapted homes and communities within Plumas County. A forester for fifty years, and still licensed to practice in California, as well as an arborist for twenty years, Don's current focus is on fireproofing his land. With government help, his efforts are on protecting an area north of Quincy. He often has a chainsaw in hand so as to thin the forest while practicing shinrin-yoku at advanced levels. Don brings experience as an entrepreneur in forest thinning and defensible space, as well as from 20 years as Faculty of Forestry at UC Berkeley, 8 years as PG&E's chief forester for the vegetation management department, and 30 years, and continuing, in bonsai creation. |
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Julie Ruiz, Air Pollution Control Specialist, Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District (NSAQMD)
Julie Ruiz joined the NSAQMD in October 2014. She earned a degree in Ecohydrology from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in 2013 and spent 1.5 years working for the City of Reno in the Public Works Department. Her previous career was as a market analyst in the high-tech industry of the Silicon Valley. Since joining the NSAQMD she has worked with Gretchen Bennitt, APCO, to develop strategies to address the Portola non-attainment designation. The award of an EPA Targeted AirShed grant has been critical to improving air quality by replacing uncertified wood stoves with new EPA certified wood stoves, as well as pellet, propane and kerosene heating devices. In conjunction with the stove change-out program, she coordinates community outreach events and distributes educational materials on efficient use of wood as a heating fuel. As an air pollution control specialist, Julie also operates air sampling monitors in various locations around Plumas County, issues air pollution control permits for open burning, enforces burning rules and ordinances and assists with TItle V source inspections and permitting. |
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Mike Callaghan- Member of Gold Mountain Firewise Community
Mike, a native of Sacramento, grew up vacationing, skiing, and working summer jobs in the Sierras. A graduate of the Hass School of Business at UC Berkeley, his work career was in sales and sales management within the foodservice distribution industry in Northern California. In 2004 he followed his dream of living in the mountains and retired to Eastern Plumas. A near miss with the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire predisposed him to wildfire concerns within his new Plumas community of Gold Mountain. These concerns brought him into contact with the Plumas County Fire Safe Council, where he has been a member and supporter since 2005. With the aid of former PC FSC coordinator Jerry Hurley and other Council members, Mike helped Gold Mountain gain Firewise Community /USA recognition in 2012. |
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Dan Martynn – Natural Resources Conservation Service
Dan was originally a Forestry major attending College of the Redwoods Junior College in Eureka, CA. After taking a couple of soils classes, he transferred to Cal Poly S.L.O. where he received a B.S. in Soil Science in 1988. Out of school, Dan started working for the Soil Conservation Service (now known as NRCS) and has worked for the agency in California for the past 28 years. For the last 16 years Dan has been the District Conservationist in the Quincy Local Partnership Office providing technical and financial assistance to private landowners in Plumas and Sierra Counties. Protecting communities within the Feather River watershed against the threat of catastrophic wildfire is a primary concern of his office, and he hopes that as a board member of the Plumas Co. Fire Safe Council he will be able to assist in the efforts to accelerate the pace and scale of treatment on private and public lands within the Feather River watershed. |
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Ryan Bauer – USFS, Plumas National Forest
Ryan Bauer is a Fire Management Specialist with the U. S. Forest Service on the Plumas National Forest where he oversees the Fire Use and Fuels Management programs. He brings 22 years of wildland fire management experience to the Plumas County Fire Safe Council board. He has an interest in improving the ability of our mountain communities to live safely with wildland fire, as an important step in returning fire to our National Forests as a natural process that is critical to the health of our forests, watersheds, and economy. |
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Chuck Bowman - Member of Graeagle Fire Protection District Firewise Community
Chuck was born and raised in Minnesota. He graduated from The University of Minnesota in 1964 with degrees in Business and Economics and Political Science. Chuck moved to Clio, CA in 2003 after retiring from a career working in various aspects of computer systems with companies in Minnesota and the San Francisco Bay Area. Chuck became involved as a volunteer on a local Architectural Review Committee in 2005, which led to an interest in training in HIZ procedures and volunteer consultations. He joined the Plumas County Fire Safe Council in 2008 and became a board member in 2011. He has worked to get Firewise Community/USA status for the Mohawk Valley communities that are included in the Graeagle Fire Protection District and continues to work to keep that status active, with training and projects to keep the forests healthy and fire resilient. |
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Richard Stockton – State Farm Insurance Agent, Quincy
Richard has been a resident of Plumas County off and on since 1964. After graduating from Quincy High School, he spent six (6) years in the U. S. Air Force. He graduated from Chico State with a degree in Business. Richard spent several years as a Homeowners Insurance Adjuster with State Farm Insurance and then took over his Dad’s State Farm Insurance Agency in Quincy 1995. Richard was a Captain on the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department and retired after 17 years. He is a past board member of the Plumas/Sierra County Fair and past president of the Quincy Rotary. He and his family enjoy hiking, snow skiing and ATV riding throughout Plumas County. As a long time county resident Richard has become interested in the Plumas County Fire Safe Council because of the good work this council has been doing for our local communities by helping to effectively reduce and prevent wildfire losses. He believes joining this council is one way to help impact the severe wildfires and the restrictions imposed by the homeowner’s insurance industry in California. |
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Tracey Ferguson, AICP – Plumas County Planning Director
Tracey, a native of the Sacramento Valley, joined the County’s Planning Department in July 2019. Her 20-year planning career spans a wide range of private sector land use consulting and homebuilding experience such as long range policy planning, emergency and risk management, CEQA, entitlement processing, and land development. Tracey is a champion for rural places and since 2008 she’s been an active member and volunteer with the American Planning Association, California Chapter, Sacramento Valley Section including serving as Section Director. She holds a BA in Geography from CSU Sacramento and completed MA coursework in Rural and Town Planning at CSU Chico. Tracey feels very fortunate to be living and working in a mountain county with world class recreation at her doorstep. She enjoys collaborating with the public to help solve the planning challenges facing Plumas County and understands that the wildland-urban interface is one opportunity where certain land-use decisions, plans, and policies—for example the Plumas County Communities Wildfire Protection Plan—can help residents and communities reduce wildfire risk and be more resilient. |
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Ron Heinbockel - Plumas County Fire Chiefs Association
Chief Heinbockel has been a member of the Meadow Valley Fire Department since 1977 and is currently the Fire Chief. Ron started his forestry career graduating with a BS in Forest Management from Humboldt State University in 1976. He was hired by the U.S. Forest Service and worked on the Stanislaus NF in California, Lolo NF in Montana, and finished his 43 year career on the Plumas NF. The first part of his career was in timber management - marking timber, timber sale layout, and sale planning. The last half of his career was within fire management of the Plumas NF, Mt. Hough Ranger District. He retired as Battalion Chief. Chief Heinbockel fought fires throughout the United States. His Red Card rating was: Incident Commander Type 3, Safety Officer Type 2, Crew/Engine Boss, Division Supervisor, USFS Contracting Representative, Falling Boss, Tractor/Equipment Boss, Field Observer. He has extensive experience with on-the-ground effects of fire behavior and what contributes to fire's extreme intensities. Chief Heinbockel was one of the authors representing the Plumas NF for the "Technical Fuels Report" which started the nationwide concern and movement facing the Western US on the fuels management contributing to large catastrophic wildfires. Chief Heinbockel represented the US Forest Service as an early member of the Plumas County Fire Safe Council and looks forward to working with the Council to take part in serious efforts in solving the national problem that "does have solutions." |
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Ryan Tompkins - Forestry & Natural Resources Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension
Ryan was first drawn to the northern Sierra Nevada after spending a summer in Meadow Valley nearly 26 years ago. He completed a Bachelor in Science in Forestry (1996) and a Master of Forestry (2001) at the University of California at Berkeley and is a California Registered Professional Forester (No. 3108). His 18 year federal career included working as a forester and certified silviculturist with the Plumas National Forest and working in the Fire Effects program at the National Park Service. He is currently the UC Cooperative Extension Forester for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties where his research focuses on forest restoration and post-fire restoration. When he’s not thinking about trees, he might be helping his Firewise community cut some of them down, or just enjoying a quiet moment in the backcountry with his family. |
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Trina Cunningham - California Indian Water Commission, Mountain Maidu
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Brad Graevs - District Manager, Feather River Resource Conservation District
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Jim Hamblin - Citizen
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