Goals & Needs

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The Resource Conservation District of Tehama County (RCDTC) is a special district that has assisted Tehama County citizens in managing, conserving, improving, and enjoying the region’s natural resources since 1987. In partnership with other organizations and RCDs throughout the North State, RCDTC provides services and engages with communities across a large and diverse landscape. The RCDTC works on an array of projects ranging from wildfire preparedness, enhancing fish passage, mitigation plantings, assisting farmers and ranchers with irrigation efficiency and healthy soils projects, and a variety of natural resource education projects.

 

The Fellow will serve in a dynamic work setting and must be flexible and willing to engage in a variety of fieldwork and office roles where needs can shift quickly. In an office capacity, the Fellow will assist with education and outreach initiatives, which may include:

• Production of multimedia promotional and educational material

• Community outreach to program beneficiaries and recipients

• Community event coordination

• Sharing RCDTC projects to our website and the state-wide RCD Project Tracker 

 

The Fellow will also assist with seasonal fieldwork. These tasks may include:

• Forest health and fuel management (hazard tree inventory, prescribed burning)

• Outdoor education (public hikes, student field days)

• Serving as a visual observer (VO) and assisting with the RCDTC’s new drone program

 

The Fellow will assist the RCDTC in addressing watershed, forest health, and community environmental education gaps. Fuels reduction and silvicultural thinning help to sequester carbon by reducing competition, which improves forest health and resilience to wildfire. Drone data collection provides further insights to better inform project planning, prioritization, and implementation. Education and outreach efforts are critical in helping the community understand and support these efforts while connecting them to the local landscape.  

 

By joining RCDTC, the Fellow will be a part of building the resilience of the North State community in the face of climate change. The variety of projects that the RCDTC participates in provides an opportunity to gain experience in diverse aspects of environmental, agricultural, and forestry tasks, including both field and office work. The Fellow will join RCDTC staff who are committed to continuing the legacy of three previous GrizzlyCorps Fellows in realizing fulfillment and pride in the service they provide while engaging with community members to accomplish vital environmental projects.

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Capacity Building Projects

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Project 1: Support Forest Health - Planning & Field Work

 

Fellow will ​​support the RCDTC Forestry Team with hazard tree inventory, prescribed burning, and Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) development. These field activities often involve interaction with the public and will improve habitat restoration and the vitality of ecosystem services that optimize carbon sequestration, reduce dangerous fuel loads that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, threaten the safety of residents, and increase our visibility in the community while ensuring the RCDTC is up to date on local issues and projects. The RCDTC is currently researching and developing a PBA in Tehama County, and the fellow will assist with further development and/or PBA operations.

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Project 2: Drone Program - Planning & Field Work

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Fellow will support the RCDTC’s regional effort to incorporate drone technology into project surveying and mapping requirements by assisting with drone field work, serving as a Visual Observer (VO) for flights, with the potential to work towards an FAA Part 107 license. Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or “drone” technology provides an economical method of measuring and monitoring impacts of environmental restoration and will play a key role in the improvement of project design through modern data analysis methodologies and techniques. 

 

Project 3: Bolster Tribal Engagement

 

Fellow will assist RCDTC staff to continue and expand engagement with local tribes through general and project-specific virtual and in-person meetings, project site visits, PBA development/implementation of prescribed and cultural fire and coordinated communication. Proactively engaging with tribal nations in the project planning phase, cultivating awareness surrounding current projects, and supporting mutual capacity building are all key to climate action.

 

Project 4: Expand Youth and Community Environmental Education

 

Fellow will broaden community engagement through outdoor education events, youth field trips, and public interpretive hikes with partners like The Nature Conservancy. The RCDTC aims to increase capacity to connect more Tehama County residents, especially youth, with their local natural resources. Making climate science more accessible will help encourage participation in RCDTC services and inspire youth to pursue science and become environmental stewards.

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Project 5: Community Outreach & Data Management

 

Fellow may help with the production of promotional and educational multimedia content for social media accounts, newsletters, local papers, and the RCDTC website, particularly for developing educational materials on forest health, fuels reduction, and prescribed fire. The Fellow will gain data management skills through the input of projects in the state-wide RCD Project Tracker and RCDTC websites. A consistent and attractive social media presence will increase the RCDTC’s capacity to engage with and educate citizens on local conservation efforts while also informing other organizations of our project work. 

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Organizational & Community Highlights

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The RCDTC provides a relaxed and collegial work environment. Its hard-working staff of 30 is highly motivated but have fun during the workday – a sense of humor is a required job qualification! The Board of Directors is supportive of staff and avoids getting involved in day-to-day management. The RCDTC provides a suite of services including forest and fuels management, habitat restoration, irrigation system evaluation, and educational outreach. Staff have extensive experience providing technical assistance to landowners, land managers, and tenants to implement various natural resource conservation practices. Staff will share their knowledge gained from this experience with the Fellow. 

 

Partnerships are the keystone to the RCDTC’s project success, and staff recognize the value of establishing and maintaining working relationships with other entities to coordinate collaborative, multi-disciplinary projects. The Fellow will benefit from exposure to these partnerships with private landowners, NGOs, tribal nations, and federal and state resource agencies. Additionally, staff have encouraged past Fellows to take advantage of external training opportunities for individual professional development. Training has included Wildland Firefighter Type II, GIS coursework, prescribed fire qualifications, drone courses, and virtual/in-person conferences. 

 

What is now known as Tehama County, California is on the traditional homelands of the Nomlaki, Wintu, and Yana Indians. Tehama County is well-known for its rural nature, a landscape reflecting the rugged beauty of the west. Locals and visitors alike value its wide vistas of diverse landscapes and access to over 100,000 acres of public land. These public lands provide ideal grounds for world-class hunting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor recreation. Red Bluff serves as an excellent launching point for exploration – a short drive will take you to Lassen Volcanic National Park, Redding, Chico, Sacramento, San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean, or skiing at Mt. Shasta Ski Park. ​​ 

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