Mark Dowdle,
New TCRCD Employee
Mark Dowdle has joined the TCRCD as our new education coordinator and office assistant. In addition to helping with day-to-day operation of our busy office he will be coordinating the District’s Environmental Education program, including our very successful school programs.
Mark is impressed with the many ways the TCRCD collaborates with local, state and federal agencies to provide benefit to Trinity County’s communities, landowners and environment. He will be providing information to the public about the District’s programs and projects plus helping to develop outreach materials that build greater understanding and participation.
He recently completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Resources Management and is looking forward to putting it to good use in Trinity County. Prior to coming to the District, Mark worked in the library at California State University, Bakersfield for nine years. He had earlier earned a BA in Communications and spent several years as a newspaper editor and journalist.
An avid bicyclist, Mark considers Trinity County the ultimate riding environment with its spectacular scenery, clean air, friendly drivers, and great back roads. He’s also developed a yearning to kayak on the lakes here.
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District Manager's Corner
by Pat Frost
Fall always strikes me as a season of transition and this year’s wonderful display of autumn colors seems to underscore that sense of change. The pages of this issue of Conservation Almanac highlight transitions as well. The Trinity River Restoration Program’s Canyon Creek Rehabilitation sites are all about changing the river in ways that will improve habitat for salmon in the Trinity River. Drive down river and you can see these changes first hand. The banks of the river are being reshaped and exposed to the natural forces of flowing water – forces that will create a wide range of conditions necessary for the fish.
The District is experiencing some changes, too. Mark Dowdle joins the District as our new Office Assistant and Education Coordinator. I am excited about what he brings to the RCD family – not only his skills and experience, but also his enthusiasm for our mission. You might think of him as a newcomer, but Mark has been a landowner in Trinity County for some time and he has a strong sense of the opportunities and challenges that come with land stewardship.
It is a transitional season for our AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards members, too. It doesn’t seem possible that Nancy Small and Jessie Oliver are completing their terms with us. They have been great additions to our organization and did much to carry our education program this past year. Any of you who have had an opportunity to work with them or have had your children taught by them know what I mean. Nancy and Jessie are poised for new adventures and all of us wish them great success in the coming year. The baton is being passed onto Russ Spangler – our newest Watershed Stewards Member. This is Russ’s second year with AmeriCorps and he plans on focusing on our environmental education programs with Mark. We will give you a more thorough introduction to Russ in our Winter issue. For now please join me in giving him a warm welcome to Trinity County.
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RCD Garners Accolades
TCRCD received state and national recognition this month with three awards from different organizations honoring our collaboration with community members and other agencies. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) honored TCRCD for outstanding leadership in cooperative conservation in Trinity County. State Conservationist “Ed” Burton presented the award to our directors Greg Lowden, Colleen O’Sullivan, and Patrick Truman at the annual California Association of Resource Conservation Districts conference. Additionally, that state association bestowed its 2006 Conservation Star award on TCRCD and re-elected Patrick Truman president. The National Association of Conservation Districts gave its 2006 Regional Collaborative Conservation Award to TCRCD to spotlight leadership and funding efforts in management of forestlands and fuel reduction in northern California.
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