OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension.

As reported here earlier , OSU Extension Service has a new statewide fire program to help create a better understanding of fire through education and outreach efforts.  The Program has six regional fire specialist positions to work with partners to help facilitate large-scale, cross-boundary management practices.  Four regional fire specialists came on board last fall, and the final two arrived just last month! 

Here is the rest of the roster.

Aaron Groth joins us as Regional Fire Specialist for the Coast Fire Service Area based in Astoria.  Aaron joins us from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas where he was a Graduate Fellow in the Department of Geography and the Environment, focused on landscape ecology and management, forest conservation, biogeography, and integrated watershed studies.  Aaron is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, and worked in the areas of agroforestry and reforestation in the Andes Mountains of Peru.  He later served as Environmental Management Volunteer Coordinator and as a Community Conservation Specialist for the Upper Amazon Conservancy (Peru).  Aaron has extensive experience working with indigenous communities and is fluent in Spanish. 

Aaron’s service area includes the Coast Range bordering  the Willamette Valley, so will join a local team including fire specialist Amanda Rau, and county agents Glenn Ahrens, Lauren Grand and Brad Withrow-Robinson.

John Rizza joins us as Regional Fire Specialist for the Northeast Fire Service Area based in LaGrande.  John was recently Ranch Manager in Terrebonne, Oregon, where he managed a 1,700 acre property including active forestry and agricultural operations. He brings a mix of professional  Ag and Forestry positions in the West, including seven years with the Colorado State University Extension Service and credentials as a Wilderness First Responder, a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner, Type 2 Wildland Firefighter.