Congratulations to Wendell Gilgert, the new President-elect of the Watershed Management Council. Wendell brings with him enthusiasm and energy, professional acumen, and a ranching perspective, all of which WMC is putting to immediate use. Wendell is taking the lead in organizing WMC's October 1993 field trip to Stony Creek, a watershed restoration Project involving both public and private land. Wendell grew up in a ranching family, and in his job with the Soil Conservation Service, Wendell works with ranchers regularly. Thanks to Wendell for stepping forward during the Executive Board search to fill an unscheduled vacancy.
A somewhat belated welcome to the new WMC board members. Barbara Machado, hydrologist on the Fremont National Forest headquartered in Lakeview, Oregon, is WMC's new treasurer. Barbara has stepped right in and has taken over full charge of the books from Neil Berg. Jim Bergman, hydrologist for the eastside of the Tahoe National Forest out of Truckee, California, is WMC's new secretary and has already cranked out his first set of minutes and new WMC board phone/address/fax list. New board member Richard Harris is a forester with UC Forestry Extension and is working on temporary assignment with the Hoopa Tribe in the watersheds of northcoast California. And finally, new board member Sari Sommarstrom is a private watershed consultant with an active practice headquartered in Etna, California. Her husband Tom owns and operates a silvicultural nursery. "Sari" is a Finnish name.
Lots of changes in the Forest Service watershed ranks, as budgets shrink here and grow there. While the changes are often sudden and may seem haphazard, a couple of observations are useful in predicting this phenomenon. First, timber-related watershed work is declining with the timber cut. Second, public money for restoration is starting to flow into watersheds that are now or are destined to be part of the west's rapidly expanding urban interface.
Starting with "A" for Adams, Peter Adams is the new hydrologist on the Mariposa District (Oakhurst, CA) of the Sierra National Forest. Peter has a solid background in hydrology and watershed, including work on the General Aquatic Wildlife Survey, Suspended Sediment Load and Soil Survey of Northern Arizona, Salinity Control from Mancos Shale Deposits of Colorado, and implementation of a forest-wide GIS (Geographic Information Systems) program in the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region (R2). Peter earned a BS in watershed science from Utah State University in 1984 and did a year of graduate work at Northern Arizona University in quaternary/paleo studies. But no need to get sedimental about old school ties.
Going to "B," Tim Biddinger is a new hydrologist on the Tahoe National Forest (Nevada City, CA). Tim's boss, Julie Tupper, writes that Tim was most recently a sale administrator on the Nevada City Ranger District, and prior to that was a sale planner on the Downieville District. Tim minored in watershed while attending UC Davis and UC Berkeley, earning a BS in Forestry from Berkeley, and has 15 years experience as a forester. Julie says Tim is "a real plus working in timber sales for our (watershed) program managing the BMPEP (Best Management Practices Evaluation Program) and GIS work for our CWE (Cumulative Watershed Effects) program mapping project for our Old Forest/Riparian Forest Plan amendment. Tim and his wife Debbie have a 13 year old daughter named Amy. Welcome to watershed, Tim. We need more folks with your experience. But Tim, does your boss always talk in acronyms?
Next "C," Ken Cawley has resigned from the Plumas National Forest to go into private consulting. Bon chance, Ken.
Down at "D," Bob Doty retired from the Forest Service's R-5 Regional Office effective April 3, 1993 A.D. Bob has had a long and extraordinarily varied career, including: forest and snow hydrology, watershed research in Hawaii, a stint with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection under an interagency Personnel Agreement, and ending up managing the Forest Service's Air Quality Program in California. Congratulations, Bob, and best of retirements.
Breaking alphabetical stride, Leven will be leaving later this year. Andy Leven, a leader, laugher, and long-term lifter of WMC prospects will be retiring from the Forest Service at the end of this calendar year. Andy, Director for Watershed et. al. in Region 5 (California and the South Pacific). More importantly to you and me, Andy is a founder and the first President of the Watershed Management Council. Someone else recently claimed to be the father of WMC; that's unclear. But, we're all certain Andy's the mother of the WMC. He spent a lot of time nurturing this child, even after his years as president. Andy, here's to you. We are all very grateful for your generous help.
Tom Hagberg, reports that while he was completing the final semester of his environmental resources engineering degree, he was inspired by Bill Trush to pursue a career that was a little more down-to- earth (or did he mean earthly?). So he entered Humboldt State University's watershed management masters program. He landed a job with the Kings River Ranger District of the Sierra National Forest in June of 1991 as a Co-op Grad Student, and took over the District's watershed program in June of 1992. Tom is currently taking a short break to finish his thesis on meadow hydrology.
On a sad note, George Kliewer died March 2, 1993. George was a soil scientist on the Lassen National Forest and restorer of watersheds. George also owned and operated a photography store there in Susanville, California, his longtime home. George was a quiet man, but a heck of nice guy. We'll miss him.
Remember, if you've reached a watershed in your career or have an interesting tidbit of watershed news, let your colleagues know about it. Drop a line to Name Stream & Tributaries, c/o Clay Brandow, 1528 Brown Drive, Davis, CA 95616, or call me at (916) 227-2663. D.G. Address is C.Brandow:R05K. Internet mail finds me at: clay@frrap1.cdf.ca.gov.
