Rich, a recently retired United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) employee (2017) who served as a NRCS natural resource conservationist for nearly 43 years in the Monterey Bay area of California. Rich is an active Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC #3) a credential that he has held and been very proud of for more than 35 years. Rich has extensive erosion and sediment control planning and on-the-ground technical experience having assisted thousands of land users with their erosion prevention/control needs over his career.
Rich was honored by NRCS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2010 for his early pioneering efforts that led to the establishment of a national NRCS volunteer program called the “Earth Team.” Today, nearly a half million people have participated in the program nationwide contributing more that 15 million hours toward the conservation effort.
He even practices erosion and sediment prevention on his own small horse ranch in Aptos, CA where he lives with his wife of 37 years.
He and his wife also own and operate an adventure travel agency and have organized and led groups to exciting destinations around the world including Patagonia, Antarctica, Galapagos, Peruvian Amazon and Machu Picchu, Northern Spain and Portugal.