Let me introduce myself...

Jeff Calvert

I am Jeff Calvert, a fourth generation Californian. Until August of this year I had worked my entire forestry career in the private sector. After graduation from Cal in 1979, I started with Champion International at McCloud. There I worked primarily in inventory and reforestation. Then I had a short stay at Santa Fe Pacific, Mt. Shasta, before opening a consulting business in Alta, California, in 1987.

At that time my wife and I purchased a portable sawmill and began to build our home on the property our family has farmed and logged since 1858. Today, I am blessed to be raising my family on the ranch where my great-grandfather and my grandmother were born.

Although for many years my forestry talents have been used primarily to produce timber harvest plans for my clients, I have had an opportunity to serve on the Placer County Resource Conservation District (RCD). My association with RCDs has provided me with a base for this new endeavor at CDF and some knowledge of the process. I have been an admirer of the ability of the RCDs to work with landowners and groups of landowners in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and other federal and state agencies to produce positive results in such fields as fuels management, wildlife restoration, environmental education, watershed improvements, recycling and agriculture.
The Stewardship Forester in Sacramento is not just an administrator but a facilitator. This position should be one that is responsive to the needs of the public. Like my predecessor Jim Geiger, I believe I should serve you, the landowners, with timely information, quick call-backs and a dedication to resolution of potential conflicts within the system. This is what I have done in business and I bring this attitude to my new job here in Sacramento.

These are exciting times for those of us in forestry. True, there are new obstacles to overcome but there is also the potential to discover new ways of solving old problems. Groups that were once polarized are beginning to work together for managing natural resources that are mutually beneficial for all the stakeholders. Communities are coming together to consider and seek solutions to both the problems and the opportunities within their watersheds. New technologies and new uses for old technologies will provide alternative uses for wood and their by-products. Concepts such as agroforestry may provide income and opportunities for forest landowners as they begin to find markets for their various specialty forest products that can be produced on even small acreages.

We live in an age of unbelievably fast global communications. Libraries of information are available to us in our own homes via the Internet. We have the ability from our own homes to disseminate information, opinion and ideas in a matter of seconds to thousands of people. We live in a time and place with unprecedented wealth. With that blessing comes responsibility and great opportunity. It is an opportunity for me to help you find methods to manage your natural resources in ways that will benefit each other and our communities.