New District Conservationist

In May 2008 Tiffany Riess was selected as the new District Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Weaverville Field Offi ce. Tiffany started her career with NRCS six years ago when she moved to Trinity County to take her former position as the Soil Conservationist. “It has been an honor to serve Trinity County and I am excited about the new opportunities ahead to resolve landowner’s natural resource concerns in my new role.”

Tiffany received her Bachelor of Science degree in Crop and Soil Environmental Science with a minor in Botany from Virginia Tech in May 2000. In college she participated in the National Student Exchange with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo which brought her to California. At Cal Poly, Tiffany worked on the Morro Bay Non-Point Source Pollution Study determining the impacts of cattle on water quality. Upon graduation she moved to South Lake Tahoe where she worked on native plant restoration, erosion control and watershed planning with the California Tahoe Conservancy, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

Tiffany enjoys the recreational activities Trinity County provides. Since her arrival in Trinity she has enjoyed white water kayaking, back country snowboarding, mountain biking, and hiking with her dogs.

New Soil Conservationist

While attending college, Jenna Brazil was involved in the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) with NRCS. She was employed as a Range Management Specialist Trainee in the Eureka Field Office since October, 2006. Prior to her involvement with the program, she attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for three years where she majored in Animal Science and minored in Rangeland Resources. She then received her Bachelor of Science degree in May, 2008 in Rangeland Resource Science from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. In June 2008, she was offered a position with NRCS in the Weaverville Field Office as a Soil Conservationist, which she willingly accepted. Aside from assisting landowners with protecting their natural resources, she enjoys hunting, fishing, and being outdoors and she feels privileged to be working in an area that can offer her all of the above.

Soil Conservation Technician

Katie Tenneson will be a senior at Trinity High this coming fall, and is currently in her second summer as a Soil Conservation Technician at the NRCS in Weaverville. Katie originally began this internship last summer after she won the California State RCD speak-off competition in Santa-Rosa. Upon graduating Trinity High she plans to attend Shasta College for 2 years for general education, and then transfer to Chico State to get her degree, all while hopefully working in the district NRCS offices within the counties. After graduating college Katie hopes to continue working in the Natural Resources field and eventually return home to Weaverville. Katie feels very privileged to have been given this opportunity to work in the county she grew up in and where she spends most of her time hunting, fishing, and for the past nine years raising and selling livestock for the Trinity County Fair which will help defray her upcoming college expenses.

Other NRCS staff in the Weaverville District Office include John Tiedeman, Engineer, Tim Viel, Fisheries Biologist, and Judy Carter, Administration.

NRCS offers Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) contracts that provide incentive payments and cost-share to implement conservation practices. Persons who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production on eligible land may participate in the EQIP program. Eligible management practices include forest health, fuels reduction and post fire restoration as well as irrigation and grazing management and practices in order to benefit water quality and quantity. Applications are due in November for 2009 projects. If you are interested in applying for EQIP funds to implement conservation practices please contact Tiffany at 530-623-3991 ext. 109.