Bert (Robert) Clark - Fuels Program Associate
Bert is a US Army Veteran, born and raised in Hayfork. He joined the Watershed family in April of 2011 first as a swamper, then as a sawyer. In 2015, he became a Crew Foreman and was promoted to Fuels Project Associate in 2024.
Bert and his crews focus on improving fire resiliency through fuel breaks and increasing private land defensible space. Bert’s varied experience includes harvesting grapes for a local vineyard, volunteering to clean up trash on public lands, and assisting with prescribed fire in the surrounding areas.
Email Bert: bert@thewatershedcenter.com
Chester Brown - Fuels Program Manager
Chester Brown was born and raised in Trinity County and has worked in the woods all of his life. He has many practical skills that support project implementation and the entire Watershed Center organization. Prior to joining the Watershed Center, he worked as a mechanic for Sierra Pacific Industries, a private logger for a family-owned business and numerous local operations, an engineering technician for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, a supervisor for Diamond Directional horizontal drilling crews, and a general contractor.
Chester’s decades of well-rounded experience make him an especially diligent supervisor of saw, masticator, and chipper crews, as well as a skilled project manager, advancing efforts to improve forest health and reduce hazardous fuel loading. The deep-rooted local and institutional knowledge Chester brings to the organization are unparalleled.
Email Chester: chester@thewatershedcenter.com
Heather Murphy - Forestry Program Manager
As the Forestry Program Manager, Heather works in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service to help manage our local forests. She manages field crews on both the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests that perform timber cruising, forest inventory surveys, and work to prepare timber sales, reforestation contracts, and plantation thinning contracts. She is honored to be contributing to forest health management in the mountains that she calls home.
Heather was born and raised in Trinity County. Shortly after graduating high school, Heather began working as a forestry technician for the U.S. Forest Service. She gained experience with silviculture, timber sale preparation, and worked with logging operations as a harvest inspector.
Heather is also a photographer and loves spending her free time with her husband and dogs - hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and riding dirt bikes.
Email Heather: hmurphy@thewatershedcenter.com
Jackie (Jacqueline) Perry - Wildlife Program Manager
After earning her bachelor’s degree in wildlife Conservation and Management at Humboldt State, Jackie joined The Watershed Research and Training Center’s small team of Wildlife Technicians. In just a few short years the program has expanded to support the effort to effectively conserve endangered, threatened, and sensitive species in public lands throughout Trinity County. She has not only facilitated the program's growth but is now managing field crews and assisting with resource projects that aim to develop healthy and safe landscapes. Her passion lies in preserving native ecosystems and she strives toward expanding the program's capacity to do meaningful wildlife management. Jackie has fallen in love with the county and the community within it. She has found enjoyment in the hiking, hunting, and views that the mountains have to offer.
Email Jackie: jackie@thewatershedcenter.com
John Cluck - Forestry and Fuels Program Associate
A lifelong northern Californian, John is proud to call this region his home and has spent endless hours working and recreating in its mountains. John earned a B.S. in Forestry with emphasis in Wildland Fire Management from Humboldt State University while working seasonally in fire suppression for the USFS and BLM. His passion for forestry led him to work in the private timber industry where he managed landscape-scale post-fire reforestation projects and logging contract administration on Forest Stewardship Council certified timberlands in both California and Oregon.
As a Forestry and Fuels Program Associate he provides forestry support for the Watershed Centers Fuels Crews and Masticator and administers external implementation contracts for mastication, hand thinning, and timber sales.
John is excited to be an active partner in the many community-driven projects on public and private lands in Trinity County.
Email John: jcluck@thewatershedcenter.com
Jon Cluff - Botany Program Manager
As the Botany Program Manager, Jon works with the U.S. Forest Service and private land owners to promote and preserve the natural beauty of Trinity County. This is done through floristic and fungal surveys, noxious weed treatment, wetland delineation, and riparian restoration projects. He has a degree in Environmental Studies; Resource Restoration and Management with a minor in Biology from San Jose State University. Jon moved to Trinity County in 2020 and quickly took to exploring the special geography and unique flora in the area. In his free time he enjoys rock climbing, biking, backpacking, swimming, and slacklining with friends.
Email Jon: jon@thewatershedcenter.com
Randi Paris - Forestry and Fuels Program Director
Randi Paris earned her B.S. in Forestry, with a concentration in Biology, from the University of Vermont School of Natural Resources. She has over 20 years of experience with the U.S. Forest Service and served as the Supervisory Forester for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest Trinity River-South Fork Management Units prior to joining the WRTC in April of 2022. Randi oversees multiple crew supervisors managing seasonal hand crews and orchestrates landscape-scale forestry projects across Trinity County.
In her free time Randi enjoys cooking, reading, hiking, and spending time with her dogs on her off-grid property.
Email Randi: randi@thewatershedcenter.com
Sophia Sady - Forestry and Fuels Program Associate
Sophia earned a B.A. in Politics and Environmental Studies from Whitman College before transplanting to northern California in 2018. As a Forestry & Fuels Programs Associate, she helps facilitate critical fuel reduction projects in rural areas of Trinity County from inception through implementation and reporting. Sophia is passionate about working with rural communities to provide outreach to ensure property owners are engaged and have the opportunity to help guide project design and see results that make their forests healthier and neighborhoods and communities more resilient to wildfire. She has been thrilled to have the opportunity to moonlight across Watershed Center Programs as a backpacking guide for the Youth Programs' Backpacking Trip and facilitating and participating in the annual Trinity Alps Snow Surveys. In her spare time, she loves getting outside in any capacity and tinkering on her property with her family.
Email Sophia: sophia@thewatershedcenter.com
Xander Winter - Forestry and Fuels Program Associate
As the Forestry and Fuels Program associate, Xander develops and implements well-designed, efficient and meaningful resource management projects on public and private lands. Xander was born and raised in Trinity County but left after high school to earn a degree in Forestry and Natural Resource Management at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
He has professional experience in private forestry, fire and fuels management, fire suppression, and reforestation throughout Northern California. He is excited to return to the county where he grew up to try and make a positive difference for the people and places here.
Email Xander: xander@thewatershedcenter.com