Reposted from UC ANR Employee News.
Kane Russell
Kane Russell joined UC Cooperative Extension on Jan. 2 as a forestry and natural resources advisor serving Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties.
He will work to promote sustainable forest management and wildfire resilience on private and public lands in the region. Through close collaboration, research, and outreach with local partners, Russell aims to address critical issues like post-wildfire recovery, fuels reduction and barriers to implementation.
Prior to joining UCCE, Kane worked as a forest ecologist at Yosemite National Park, where he helped manage a mechanical fuels reduction program to protect the park’s iconic landscapes and at-risk communities from high-severity wildfire.
Russell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry from UC Berkeley, where he studied the effects of prescribed burning and other fuels reduction treatments on young Sierra Nevada mixed conifer stands. After graduation, he continued his research at Berkeley’s Blodgett Forest Research Station, focusing on ways to incorporate prescribed fire into conventional silvicultural practices.
Raised on the Central Coast, Russell said his first introduction to the Sierra Nevada was at Berkeley’s forestry field camp in Meadow Valley.
“I’m excited to return to the place that sparked my passion for forestry,” Russell said. “I look forward to working with and learning from the many devoted people and organizations here to build more resilient forests and communities together.”
Russell is based at the UCCE office in Quincy and can be reached at kwrussell@ucanr.edu and (530) 283-6125.
