SACRAMENTO RIVER WATERSHED PROGRAM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• CEO and Founder of 34 North
• Data Program Coordinator

Amye is the CEO and Founder of 34 North. 34 North specializes in the intersection of technology, natural resource management and public policy and is a leading provider of data management solutions for the State of California. As leader of a diverse team of technologists, data and earth scientists, Amye is responsible for bringing OpenNRM natural resource management data platform to market as well as building a vibrant open source community. This unique software platform is designed to help users turn data into valuable information and the foundation of the Sacramento River Watershed Data Program. The OpenNRM Data Platform is used to manage large scale multi-agency collaborative efforts between CalFire, USFS, USGS, USFWS,USBR, USACE, MWD, DWR, SWRCB, EPA and many others in the California Delta, San Joaquin River, Sierra Nevada and Sacramento River Watersheds. In addition to company initiatives, Amye also leads strategic efforts that help shape the technological landscape for managing environmental data.

Job Titles:

• Chairman

Chris directs projects in water resources compliance, flood management, landscape architecture, habitat restoration, and recreation and open-space planning. His expertise includes master planning, site assessment, development of design objectives and guidelines, arborist surveys, facilitation of public meetings, preparation of construction documents, trail design, visual resources analysis, environmental documentation, regulatory compliance, construction oversight, and monitoring and adaptive management. He specializes in integration of multiple-use objectives (e.g., flood control, recreation, habitat restoration, and urban development) into river systems and has worked in watersheds, such as the American, Sacramento, Yuba, Feather, Bear, Mokelumne, and Carmel Rivers. He has a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Davis.

Job Titles:

• Webmaster
• SRWP 's Webmaster
• SRWP Webmaster

Chuck has served as SRWP's webmaster since 2001 and has decades of programming, technical writing and graphic design experience. He has created numerous websites, developed and marketed software products, and written hundreds of articles, columns and subscription-based email newsletters. Chuck has redesigned and maintained numerous websites including more than two dozen watershed group website in the Sacramento River watershed as part of SRWP's Web Assistance Program. In addition to serving as SRWP's webmaster, Chuck has been IT Manager at River Partners in Chico since 2012.

Job Titles:

• Retired from Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board

In August 2009, Dennis retired after 35 years as an Environmental Scientist with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. He continues to work as a 'voluntary' staff member of the Regional Board. Prior to Water Board employment, he received his BS in Fisheries Biology and MS in Aquatic Entomology from Michigan State University and a PhD in Aquatic Ecology from Univ. of CA, Davis. In recent years when working for the Redding Office of the Central Valley Regional Board, he was involved in providing technical and financial assistance (via state and federal grants) to locally directed watershed management programs throughout the northern part of the Sacramento River Basin. In retirement, he continues to participate and be involved in this capacity.

Job Titles:

• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Executive Director With the Pacific Forest

Heidi is the Executive Director with the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Counci l, an organization established to ensure the preservation and enhancement of 140,000 acres of watershed lands currently owned by PG&E primarily in the Sierra and Cascade Mountain Ranges. Heidi is responsible for staff operations, coordinating the work of the organization's board members, and overseeing the organization's long-term strategy. Additionally, Heidi oversees the Stewardship Council's Youth Investment Program in its efforts to connect California's underserved youth to the outdoors. Prior to joining the Stewardship Council, Heidi acted as a Restoration Specialist and Project Manager for ECORP Consulting, Inc., a biological consulting firm based in Rocklin, CA. Heidi holds a Master of Arts degree in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from Lincoln University in New Zealand, and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Studies and Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She enjoys opportunities to explore the outdoors with her family and in her free time, you will find her hiking, backpacking or snowshoeing in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada with her husband and two young children.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director
• SRWP Executive Director

Holly joined the SRWP team in November 2011 with more than 15 years of nonprofit and natural resources management experience. Holly spent the majority of her life working and recreating in the Sacramento River watershed and appreciates the amazing diversity of land use that it encompasses. Upon graduating from CSU, Chico with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, she began her career in the watershed community as an environmental educator with the Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group and then spent seven years working as a watershed management consultant for the Deer Creek Watershed Conservancy. Holly has worked to secure financial support, foster relationships, and develop and implement numerous programs, projects, and activities. She has a holistic understanding of the region's watershed issues and extensive knowledge of natural resources plans, programs, and policies. Holly has dedicated her time, energy, and skills to fully understanding the ecological, social, and economical factors associated with local and statewide resource issues. As the executive director, Holly works closely with the SRWP Board of Trustees to effectively develop and implement the organization's strategic plan, programs, and projects and works with regional, state, and federal partners to address issues affecting the Sacramento River watershed. She continues to foster SRWP's existing relationships and establish new relationships to improve and expand communication and cooperative management actions within the watershed. In December of 2016, Holly completed her graduate project titled Sacramento River Web-Portal: Providing Technical Assistance to Support Community-Based Watershed Management and earned a Master of Arts in Geography with an option in Environmental Policy and Planning from CSU, Chico.

Jerry Bird began his career with the US Forest Service in 1999. Since 2011, he has worked as the Klamath Basin Coordinator, a position supporting forests in both the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Regions. In 2012, Jerry relocated to Sacramento and added additional duties in the Pacific Southwest Region as the Regional Forester Liaison for Ecological Restoration. In addition to working with water and salmon issues, he facilitates and leads a monthly state-wide Biomass Working Group seeking opportunities to turn wood byproducts into energy. He has held a number of positions with the agency with almost all of his work related to the management of water resources. Early in his career, Jerry worked on grassland (North Dakota) and forest (Idaho) ranger districts as a GIS Specialist and hydrologist. Later, he worked as a hydrologist and team leader for a hydropower and water-system easement team based in Salt Lake City. Jerry worked on this inter-regional team, supporting forests in four regions spanning 12 states in the interior west, for over eight years. Jerry holds a Bachelor's Degree in Geology from the University of Oregon and a Master's Degree in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of New Mexico.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts

Karen Buhr serves as the Executive Director for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD). In this role, she actively works on various conservation issues from grazing to water and serves on multiple statewide committees. Her focus is bringing diverse people together to solve complex conservation problems in a collaborative manner. She is passionate about local conservation and supports the work of 98 local RCDs in the State as they make a difference in their communities. Ms. Buhr holds a Master of Science Degree in Natural Resource Science and Management from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a 4.0 GPA while serving in the position of student body president for the Graduate and Professional Students. For her efforts, she received a President's Student Leadership Award in 2005. Her focus has been on community outreach and Watershed Science. Ms. Buhr's work experience includes serving as a lead author on an evaluation of a Minnesota-wide landscape level planning effort, 3 years as the Watershed Coordinator for the Cosumnes River, extensive work in environmental education, and a stint with the Minnesota Conservation Corps.

Job Titles:

• ECORP Consulting, Inc

Lourdes is the current Biological and Natural Resources Director at ECORP Consulting, Inc. (ECORP). A federal small business environmental consulting company established in 1987. ECORP supports public and private sector clients from initial baseline environmental studies through environmental planning review, permitting negotiation, liaison to obtain legal agreements, mitigation design, construction monitoring, and compliance reporting. Lourdes has been with ECORP over 20 years, and in recent years, been instrumental in bringing all aspects of biology, water quality, and regulatory permitting/compliance in Northern California together into one cohesive/collaborative group (NRD). Lourdes completed a four-year term as the President of the International Fisheries Section of the American Fisheries Society (AFS). She was instrumental in the development of the new chapter of the AFS in Mexico. She was also the International Committee chairperson of the AFS California-Nevada Chapter and coordinated grants and travel funds for international scientists and students in developing countries. Lourdes holds a Masters of Biological Sciences degree from CSU Sacramento and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Mexico City, where she grew up. Lourdes enjoys traveling to Mexico City to visit her family and friends and in her spare time she is walking and hiking in the foothill of Auburn where she currently lives with her faithful furry companion, Forrest.

Job Titles:

• City Manager of Portola California
• Portola City Manager

Robert is currently the City Manager of Portola California, located on the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Feather River in Plumas County. Previously, Robert was a County Supervisor for 20 years for Plumas County. In that capacity he was appointed to serve on the Calfed Bay Delta Public Advisory Committee wherein he was instrumental in forming the Watershed Program component for that effort. And, today he is still the co-chair of that program that is now housed in the Department of Conservation. Robert was also the Rural Counties Representatives of California (RCRC) to the Pacific Forest Watershed Stewardship Council for seven years. And, he is also currently on the Board of Directors for the Sierra Fund and the California Watershed Network. In 2012 Robert was the "Rural Democrat" candidate for the State Assembly District 1.

Job Titles:

• Quality

Job Titles:

• SRWP Technical Coordinator

Stephen has been SRWP's technical lead since 2008. He has over 20 years of research, teaching, and consulting experience and serves clients throughout California and internationally in water quality and watershed management. Key areas of expertise include technical project management and stakeholder facilitation, watershed and lake management, NPDES permitting for stormwater and wastewater facilities, discharge and receiving water monitoring, and water quality modeling. A particular area of focu​s has been mercury - conceptual and mass balance models, TMDLs, water quality trading, abandoned mine site cleanups, strategic planning, and facilitating stakeholder groups. Stephen facilitates the SRWP Monitoring Committee and has lead the effort to investigate the feasibility of a long-term, sustainable regional monitoring program (RMP) for the Sacramento River Watershed. He coordinates the activities of the Delta Tributaries Mercury Council (DTMC) and the Delta Methylmercury TMDL Nonpoint Sources Workgroup including providing updates, facilitating meetings, and developing documents and reports including a methylmercury control study workplan for wetlands and irrigated agricultural lands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Job Titles:

• Co - Chair ) Northern California Water Association

Todd is the Northern California Water Association's (NCWA) Director of Government Relations. Todd works with NCWA members on issues at the federal, state and local levels. He also coordinates with government agencies, urban and agricultural water interests, and environmental organizations on various issues, including legislative negotiations, appropriations, Sacramento Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan implementation, Sacramento Valley Water Management Agreement, Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), Endangered Species Act regulations, water use efficiency and groundwater management. Previously, Todd served as Federal Legislative Advocate in the Association of California Water Agencies' (ACWA) Washington, D.C. office. In that position, he represented the association before federal legislative and administrative branch officials on a number of issues, including Endangered Species Act reauthorization, appropriations, federal projects, electric industry restructuring, and hydroelectric re-licensing. Todd serves on the Sacramento Valley Landowners Association Board of Directors, the California Water Policy Conference Planning Committee and the Northern Sacramento Valley Water Forum Steering Committee. He is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento's College of Business Administration where he received the degree of Master of Business Administration. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from the University of California, Davis. Todd is also a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

Job Titles:

• Contractor
• Independent Consultant

Todd Sloat is an independent consultant and contractor who specializes in biological surveys, habitat and geomorphic assessments, compliance and permitting, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and design-build stream restoration projects. He currently conducts most of his work within northeastern California where he develops restoration projects on private and public lands working through the Fall River and Pit Resource Conservation Districts. Todd received his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and M.S. in Ecology at the University of California, Davis. He lives in the Fall River Valley where he and his wife enjoy recreating throughout the region.