Community Protection Representatives
Jim Brobeck, Butte County Fire Safe Council
Jim has lived with forests since his birth in 1950 in upstate New York. During the past 30 years Jim has been living in the Sierra-Cascade foothills of Butte County. During the 1980's Jim was a volunteer firefighter with Cohasset Company 21. His experience in wildland firefighting led to a focus on conducting vegetation management that would positively modify fire behavior. He manages a 40 acre experimental forest that encompasses mixed conifer and foothill chaparral forest types. Our country's national champion manzanita is located in this very experimental forest. Jim is on the executive committee of the Butte County Fire Safe Council. He coordinates the Council's community chipper activities in Cohasset which helps residents create "defensible space" on their forest properties. Jim has been intimately involved in the planning and implementation of a seven mile shaded fuel break that is located on Cohasset Road.
Ray Griffiths, El Dorado Fire Safe Council
Ray has dedicated himself to the study of the natural world, from his childhood on a cattle ranch in the Central Valley, to his current interests in the Sierra Foothills. He completed degrees in Biology and Ecology at Chico State and UC Davis, and has since studied the soils, geology and vegetation of the Sierra Nevada. He has, at various times, worked as a consultant on wetlands, rare plants and animals; raised vegetables for market; served on his County's Planning Commission; worked on a variety of County committees; and, volunteered as a board member with a various non-profit conservation organizations. He is currently serving as a director with the local Resource Conservation District, a member of the El Dorado Fire Safe Council and an instructor at a local community college.
Ray has lived in Georgetown for almost three decades, and has dedicated himself to restoring 25 acres of forested lands. He gardens, botanizes, backpacks, hikes, bikes and cross-country skis in the forests of the Sierra Nevada Range. His latest project is the building of a circular saw mill to aid in the milling of small diameter hardwoods from the local area. He can currently be found propagating and planting native plants on various sites in El Dorado County.
Addie Jacobson, Calaveras County Fire Safe Council
Addie lives outside Murphy's, California in Calaveras County. As a Community Protection Representative for Sierra Forest Legacy, Addie works primarily with Calaveras Healthy Impacts Solutions (CHIPS). CHIPS is a community-based project developing environmental and economic solutions to community problems through biomass and small wood utilization. Addie also keeps abreast with the Calaveras Foothills Fire Safe Council's activities.
Addie has been involved in Sierra forestry issues since 2000. She is an active member of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch. From 2005-2007, she served as the Sierra Nevada Forestry Advocate for several chapters of the Sierra Club. Locally, she is also active in the Ebbetts Pass Rivers and Trails Alliance, Calaveras Planning Coalition and the Community Action Project. Regionally, Addie serves as a board member for the Sierra Nevada Alliance.
Barbara Rivenes, Nevada County Fire Safe Council
Barbara and her husband Don moved to Nevada County almost eleven years ago and immediately got involved with the organizations that they had supported while living in the Bay area, but were sadly not able to volunteer with while living such a distance from the Sierra Nevada. Barbara is now deeply imbedded in several local environmental groups such as; Yuba Watershed Council, Forest Issues Group, South Yuba River Citizens League, and Sierra Forest Legacy. Barbara's leadership began with the Sierra Club/Sierra Nevada Group where she found lots of like-minded folks who care about sprawl, forest issues, wilderness preservation, and of course, being out in beautiful landscapes. California is a rich ecological slice of the world stretching from the ocean, over the Sierra Nevada, to the desert - lots to take care of.
Living in a mixed conifer forest within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) it didn't take long for Barbara to realize that wildfire could be a serious issue for communities in these areas. As Sierra Forest Legacy embraced the concept of educating the public in the arena of fire and fuels management, Barbara became involved with the Nevada County Fire Safe Council as a Board member and as Projects Committee Chair. As Sierra Forest Legacy advances its educational objectives by ensuring that communities learn more about fire by using Firewise Communities/USA concepts, Barbara expects even greater rewards.