About Me
Resume
Thembi Borras
Ellensburg, WA 98926
(509) 925-2701
thembi@mcn.org
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
01/01/06 to Present
Borras Forestry Services (formerly Borras Forestland and Road Management in California) Ellensburg, WA 98926 (509) 925-2701
Owner/ Forester
Borras Forestry Services serves Non Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) landowners providing an array of services within the context of a strong land ethic. Services include forest management planning incorporating wildfire hazard reduction and forest health improvement strategies, timber harvest related duties, timber cruising, timber appraisal, road management and erosion control planning and tree planting.
04/13/98 to 12/31/05
Blencowe Associates Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Forester
06/16/97 to 04/30/98
Institute for Sustainable Forestry Redway, CA 95560
Forestry Technician/ LAFS Program Coordinator
05/27/96 to 09/27/96
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity National Forests Redding, CA 96001
Biological Technician, Soils (GS-5)
08/29/94 to 06/12/97
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Laboratory Arcata, CA 95521-6098
Hydrologic Technician (GS-4)
EXPERIENCE
Developed many long term forest management plans for nonindustrial private forestland owners, including Forest Stewardship Plans for clients in Washington and Non Industrial Timber Management Plans (NTMP) for clients in California.
Administered timber sales for clients, which included, sale lay-out and field flagging, marking of timber to be cut, brokering logs, logging supervision (including erosion control and clean-up), contract development with purchaser (mill) and logger, contract administration, fiscal supervision and State Yield Tax preparation.
Performed evaluations and audits of companies, against the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody (COC) standard, for Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Companies included lumber mills, secondary manufacturers, distributors and printers.
Developed and managed client relationships.
Marked at least 6 MMBF of timber in single tree selection prescriptions, during which each tree was evaluated to improve stand structure, maintain wildlife habitat and minimize stand damage from logging.
Administered fire hazard reduction prescription in the Colockum watershed.
Provided forestry services to the Kittitas County Conservation District, which has included conducting on-the-ground and written wildfire hazard severity assessments for individual homes and subdivisions and informing stakeholder’s decisions in the removal of trees within the defensible spaces of homes and along roads to reduce fire hazard and improve access for emergency vehicles.
Conducted Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) surveys, botanical surveys, road assessments and archaeological surveys.
Developed road and erosion control plans.
Created more than 60 informative narratives on the environment infused with ethics, humor and reflections, based on my personal experience, for radio and print media. A selection of these productions can be viewed at http://forestryandthehomestead.blogspot.com/
Completed contract with the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District to initiate the permit process with the Mendocino County Department of Transportation and Cal Trans and processed bids from sign manufacturers to install watershed boundary and creek signs in the Navarro River watershed.
Completed the first North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved Site Specific Management Plan (SSMP) and Erosion Control Plan (ECP) for 5% of the area in the Garcia River watershed. It included a long-term road system plan, management measures to control sediment delivery, land management measures and restoration activities to improve the condition of the riparian management zone, baseline data inventory, sediment reduction schedule, assessment of unstable areas and monitoring plan.
Co-authored the proposal, managed the project and coordinated the field work to decommission and upgrade 88 sites on 9.5 miles of road segments to save 15,088 cubic yards of sediment from entering tributaries of the Navarro River at a cost of $14 per cubic yard of sediment saved, funded by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Administered and coordinated the Landowner Association Forest Stewardship (LAFS) Program. This included budget and staff management, grant writing, workshop development, forestry technical assistance, research into landowner associations, publication development and networking.
Supported the SmartWood Assessment Team as a staff member during the evaluation of the Arcata Community Forest in Arcata, CA against the FSC Forest Management standard.
Collected soils and vegetation data in mixed conifer forests for an ecological inventory in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Participated in field work, processed, evaluated, and reconstructed data to further the development of improved ways to evaluate the risk of landslides and erosion and the timing and routing of sediment in relation to cumulative effects.
EDUCATION (dates refer to when diploma was received)
1997 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521
BS in Forestry with an emphasis in Soils, Botany, and Biology.
1993 Mendocino College, Ukiah, CA 95482
Associate Degree in the Biological Sciences
1989 Anderson Valley High School, Boonville, CA 95415
LICENSES(S) and TRAINING
California Registered Professional Forester, #2700 issued by State of California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Department of Forestry Archaeological Training Courses: #58, #87R and #115R
Date Training Courses were completed: 10/10/98, 09/23/03 and 07/17/08
Technical Service Provider (TSP-05-5140) granted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
ORGANIZATIONS
2009 to Present Northwest Natural Resource Group Preferred Provider Port Townsend, WA 98368
1998 to Present Forest Guild Santa Fe, NM 87504
2008 to Present Washington Farm Forestry Association Olympia, WA 98507
2008 to Present Central Washington Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society Seattle, WA 98115
2008 to Present Kittitas County Chapter of the Washington State Master Gardener Foundation Veteran Ellensburg, WA 98926
2008 to Present Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Seattle, WA 98138
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Business Skills: Client management, contract administration, fiscal supervision and log brokering.
Computer Software for PC: At a minimum, Windows XP, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Word 2003 and Excel 2003.
Forestry Skills: Forest and road management including plan writing, development of wildfire hazard reduction strategies, aerial photo interpretation and mapping, forest inventory, forest growth and yield, timber marking, logging supervision, road assessments, road treatment development and supervision of road treatment implementation.
Soils Skills: Classification.
Academic Achievements: Designated as a “Presidential Scholar” (>3.75 GPA) for fall of 1994, spring 1995 and fall 1995.
Other Skills: Transporting and operating ATVs, operating chainsaws and operating power tools.
Ellensburg, WA 98926
(509) 925-2701
thembi@mcn.org
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
01/01/06 to Present
Borras Forestry Services (formerly Borras Forestland and Road Management in California) Ellensburg, WA 98926 (509) 925-2701
Owner/ Forester
Borras Forestry Services serves Non Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) landowners providing an array of services within the context of a strong land ethic. Services include forest management planning incorporating wildfire hazard reduction and forest health improvement strategies, timber harvest related duties, timber cruising, timber appraisal, road management and erosion control planning and tree planting.
04/13/98 to 12/31/05
Blencowe Associates Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Forester
06/16/97 to 04/30/98
Institute for Sustainable Forestry Redway, CA 95560
Forestry Technician/ LAFS Program Coordinator
05/27/96 to 09/27/96
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity National Forests Redding, CA 96001
Biological Technician, Soils (GS-5)
08/29/94 to 06/12/97
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Laboratory Arcata, CA 95521-6098
Hydrologic Technician (GS-4)
EXPERIENCE
Developed many long term forest management plans for nonindustrial private forestland owners, including Forest Stewardship Plans for clients in Washington and Non Industrial Timber Management Plans (NTMP) for clients in California.
Administered timber sales for clients, which included, sale lay-out and field flagging, marking of timber to be cut, brokering logs, logging supervision (including erosion control and clean-up), contract development with purchaser (mill) and logger, contract administration, fiscal supervision and State Yield Tax preparation.
Performed evaluations and audits of companies, against the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody (COC) standard, for Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Companies included lumber mills, secondary manufacturers, distributors and printers.
Developed and managed client relationships.
Marked at least 6 MMBF of timber in single tree selection prescriptions, during which each tree was evaluated to improve stand structure, maintain wildlife habitat and minimize stand damage from logging.
Administered fire hazard reduction prescription in the Colockum watershed.
Provided forestry services to the Kittitas County Conservation District, which has included conducting on-the-ground and written wildfire hazard severity assessments for individual homes and subdivisions and informing stakeholder’s decisions in the removal of trees within the defensible spaces of homes and along roads to reduce fire hazard and improve access for emergency vehicles.
Conducted Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) surveys, botanical surveys, road assessments and archaeological surveys.
Developed road and erosion control plans.
Created more than 60 informative narratives on the environment infused with ethics, humor and reflections, based on my personal experience, for radio and print media. A selection of these productions can be viewed at http://forestryandthehomestead.blogspot.com/
Completed contract with the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District to initiate the permit process with the Mendocino County Department of Transportation and Cal Trans and processed bids from sign manufacturers to install watershed boundary and creek signs in the Navarro River watershed.
Completed the first North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved Site Specific Management Plan (SSMP) and Erosion Control Plan (ECP) for 5% of the area in the Garcia River watershed. It included a long-term road system plan, management measures to control sediment delivery, land management measures and restoration activities to improve the condition of the riparian management zone, baseline data inventory, sediment reduction schedule, assessment of unstable areas and monitoring plan.
Co-authored the proposal, managed the project and coordinated the field work to decommission and upgrade 88 sites on 9.5 miles of road segments to save 15,088 cubic yards of sediment from entering tributaries of the Navarro River at a cost of $14 per cubic yard of sediment saved, funded by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Administered and coordinated the Landowner Association Forest Stewardship (LAFS) Program. This included budget and staff management, grant writing, workshop development, forestry technical assistance, research into landowner associations, publication development and networking.
Supported the SmartWood Assessment Team as a staff member during the evaluation of the Arcata Community Forest in Arcata, CA against the FSC Forest Management standard.
Collected soils and vegetation data in mixed conifer forests for an ecological inventory in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Participated in field work, processed, evaluated, and reconstructed data to further the development of improved ways to evaluate the risk of landslides and erosion and the timing and routing of sediment in relation to cumulative effects.
EDUCATION (dates refer to when diploma was received)
1997 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521
BS in Forestry with an emphasis in Soils, Botany, and Biology.
1993 Mendocino College, Ukiah, CA 95482
Associate Degree in the Biological Sciences
1989 Anderson Valley High School, Boonville, CA 95415
LICENSES(S) and TRAINING
California Registered Professional Forester, #2700 issued by State of California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Department of Forestry Archaeological Training Courses: #58, #87R and #115R
Date Training Courses were completed: 10/10/98, 09/23/03 and 07/17/08
Technical Service Provider (TSP-05-5140) granted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
ORGANIZATIONS
2009 to Present Northwest Natural Resource Group Preferred Provider Port Townsend, WA 98368
1998 to Present Forest Guild Santa Fe, NM 87504
2008 to Present Washington Farm Forestry Association Olympia, WA 98507
2008 to Present Central Washington Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society Seattle, WA 98115
2008 to Present Kittitas County Chapter of the Washington State Master Gardener Foundation Veteran Ellensburg, WA 98926
2008 to Present Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Seattle, WA 98138
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Business Skills: Client management, contract administration, fiscal supervision and log brokering.
Computer Software for PC: At a minimum, Windows XP, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Word 2003 and Excel 2003.
Forestry Skills: Forest and road management including plan writing, development of wildfire hazard reduction strategies, aerial photo interpretation and mapping, forest inventory, forest growth and yield, timber marking, logging supervision, road assessments, road treatment development and supervision of road treatment implementation.
Soils Skills: Classification.
Academic Achievements: Designated as a “Presidential Scholar” (>3.75 GPA) for fall of 1994, spring 1995 and fall 1995.
Other Skills: Transporting and operating ATVs, operating chainsaws and operating power tools.