The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection posthumously awarded Ryan Tompkins, formerly University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Forestry advisor, the Francis H. Raymond Award.
This award, announced Nov. 6, goes to the individual, organization, agency or company that has contributed the most to management of California’s natural resources. Criteria include volunteer participation and achievements reached as a professional.
Tompkins graduated from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Forestry in 1996. He earned his Master of Forestry degree from Berkeley 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 as a timber sale administrator. Tompkins steadily climbed the U.S. Forest Service ranks, achieving the position of lead silviculturist while on the Plumas Forest. In 2019, he became a forestry advisor for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources in Plumas, Lassen and Sierra counties.
Tompkins contributed to work on local and statewide forests 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 Forest Service efforts to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration work in California.
Most recently, Tompkins collaborated with local Indigenous groups to develop a management plan incorporating traditional ecological knowledge for bear-grass 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 down his topics, but always making it relatable and fun,” said Michael Hall, district manager of the Feather River Resource Conservation District.
Tompkins was a registered professional forester. He was nominated for this award by Robert A. Gimble, registered professional forester, and UC Berkeley Professor of Fire Science and Forest Policy Scott Stephens. Ryan’s wife, Michelle Coppoletta, accepted the award on his behalf.
For more information about Tompkins or the Francis H. Raymond Awards, contact Dan Stapleton at 916-653-8031.
Information provided by California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
