Forestry Women Who Rock: Valerie Elder – Episode 28

A great story here! We talked about all types of landowners and being involved in that community. Valerie really has ties to the land and it comes out in her passionate work. You can find her on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/val_abouttown 

Valerie developed a connection to the land and passion for working with people who have sawdust in their pockets and boots on the ground while growing up on a timber and cattle ranch in Northern California. She likes to say her playpen was the back of a pick-up filled with firewood and chainsaws. This perspective guided her education and career pathways. During summers away from earning a degree in Forestry at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo she laid out timber harvest plans and conducted salmonid surveys as a forestry technician in the same watersheds her father and grandfather logged. Her interest in working lands and the people who manage them fueled her M.S. in Forestry research in West Virginia where she studied farm and forest owner conservation interests.

She has 6 years of experience in extension outreach and education. Valerie’s main interest is creating opportunities for land managers to have positive dialogue with groups who are less connected to natural resources. After serving as a Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Agent with Oregon State University for Oregon’s North Coast she has recently returned to the ranch. As the new Executive Director of The Buckeye she has the opportunity to work with ranchers, farmers, dairymen and family forest owners who care about the economic and environmental sustainability of open space on California’s North Coast. She is enjoying the opportunity to closer to family and contribute to the family logging business.