University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) Forestry Advisor Ryan Tompkins was posthumously awarded the Francis H. Raymond Award by the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) on November 6, 2024. This award is given to the individual, organization, agency, or company who has contributed the most to the management of California’s natural resources. Criteria includes volunteer participation and achievements reached as a professional.
Ryan graduated from UC Berkeley’s (UCB) School of Forestry in 1996 and went on to receive his Master of Forestry degree from UCB in 2001. His first job was researching wildfire impacts for the National Park Service. In 2003 he went to work for the Plumas National Forest (NF) as a timber sale administrator and steadily climbed the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) ranks to the position of lead silviculturist for the Plumas NF. In 2019, he left the USFS to become a forestry advisor for UCANR in Plumas, Lassen, and Sierra Counties.
Ryan was involved in local and statewide forest and forest health issues. He served on the science advisory panel for the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force as a member of its reforestation working group. He also shared his expertise with the Quincy Library Group and with other projects, including USFS efforts to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration work in California.
From 2020-2021, Ryan worked with the Feather River Resource Conservation District (RCD) to monitor long-term ecological conditions following post-fire treatments. He also helped pilot an emergency forest restoration team that led to the restoration of more than 2,000 acres of forestland across more than 200 properties in Plumas County.
In 2022, Ryan co-authored the paper “Operational Resilience in Western U.S. Frequent-Fire Forests,” which became a guiding document for USFS and local RCD forest health projects, including the Claremont and North Quincy Projects. Following the occurrence of catastrophic wildfires like the Dixie and North Complex, as well as others, he worked with small and large private landowners to obtain grants to help reforest their lands and helped prepared them for the follow-up investments in vegetative treatments that ensure successful reforestation.
Most recently, Ryan collaborated with local Indigenous groups to develop a management plan that would incorporate traditional ecological knowledge for beargrass management in timber harvest plan areas.
“Ryan never had to shout because the room always listened when he spoke. His passion for forestry went beyond his job. It permeated into his life and was something he loved sharing. He was the consummate educator, never dumbing his topics down, but always making it relatable and fun,” said Michael Hall, District Manager Feather River Resource Conservation District.
Ryan Tompkins was Registered Professional Forester (RPF) #3108. He was nominated for this award by RPF Robert A. Gimble and UCB Professor of Fire Science and Forest Policy Scott Stephens. Ryan’s wife, Michelle Coppoletta, accepted the award on Ryan’s behalf.
For more information on Ryan Tompkins or the Francis H. Raymond Awards, contact Dan Stapleton at (916) 653-8031.
View Ryan’s In memoriam: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=59881
