Friday, 28 March 2025

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Randy Moore, pictured at the upper right, with OHV riders. Photo courtesy of Don Amador.


This tribute is published in response to the recent announcement that Forest Service Chief Randy Moore is retiring from the agency.

I had the privilege to meet Randy Moore shortly after his appointment in 2007 to serve as the Pacific Southwestern Regional forester. After shaking his hand and looking him in the eye, I knew he possessed the character, commitment and leadership skills needed to guide the agency through the difficult challenges it faced.

That first meeting at the Region 5 HQ in Vallejo, CA was with a core team of OHV leadership and our partners at the CA State Park Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Division. The discussions were centered on our shared commitment to ecologically-balanced motorized recreation on Forest Service System lands.

After the initial welcomes, Randy opened the meeting by sharing his background and his willingness to meet with OHV and other key stakeholders but that attendees should be aware of what I called Randy’s Rule” and that was, “If you come to my office with a problem, you also need to come with a solution.”

During the course of his tenure as the Regional Forester (2007-2021), the “Trail Community” deeply valued their relationship with Randy and his management team. And, that his door was always open to the recreation community providing your meeting focused on solution-based discussions.

I also appreciated his shared passion for field trips on an ATV or Dirt-Bike where Randy could review some of the important recreation and trail management challenges facing the agency along with solutions being implemented to address those concerns.

Randy should be commended for the collaborative manner that his office and staff conducted themselves during the 2018-2020 intense wildfire seasons to build agency and partnership capacity to address post wildfire recovery efforts of both motorized and non-motorized recreation facilities and areas damaged by wildfires.

I believe that Randy had the right stuff or blend of field level experience, character, administrative and political acumen, and people skills to succeed both as the R5 Regional Forester and Chief of the Forest Service.

I want to thank him for his 45 year career with the Forest Service and for “Caring for the Land and People” along with his strong commitment to working with agency partners in support of managed recreation and resource management of public lands.

I wish him all the best in the next chapter of his life.

Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for 35 years. He is president of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC, past president/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, and a co-founder and core-team member on FireScape Mendocino, a forest health collaborative that is part of the National Fire Learning Network. Amador served as an AD Driver for the Forest Service North Zone Fire Cache during the 2022, 2023 and 2024 fire seasons. A northwest California native, Amador writes from his home in Cottonwood, California.
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With failed and broken promises of success and prosperity for our communities, cannabis cultivation in Lake County is at a crossroads.

Recall in 2016, ballot Measure C proposed a tax on cannabis cultivation within our county. The measure promised a tax rate of “ … $1.00 per square foot of an outdoor cultivation site, $2.00 per square foot of a mixed-light cultivation site, and $3.00 per square foot of an indoor cultivation site, subject to annual Consumer Price Index increases, and generating annual revenue of approximately $8 million per average year …”

With these promises, on Nov. 8, 2016, Lake County voters overwhelmingly voted “Yes” on Measure C. So what has happened since then?

In 2018, the county approved a new cannabis ordinance, and the floodgates opened. Permits of all sizes were presented and approved by the Lake County Planning Department and the Planning Commission. Today, more than 150 approved cultivation projects are in Lake County, totaling over 20 million square feet. Based on Measure C’s rates, cannabis should provide over $24 million of annual tax revenue to help our communities.

But the county isn’t realizing $24 million in tax revenue — not even close. After 2020, the cannabis industry began spiraling relentlessly downward — not just in Lake County but statewide and nationwide. In an effort to support the failing industry, in 2022 the Board of Supervisors approved a temporary 50% cannabis tax cut and applied it to the smaller canopy area, further reducing anticipated revenues – this was extended through December 2025. Still, the county should be realizing about $11 million in cannabis tax revenue.

But the county isn’t receiving $11 million in cannabis tax revenue — again, not even close. At the Jan. 28 governance presentation to the Board of Supervisors, Lake County's Administrative Office reported 2023-24 cannabis tax revenue of $2,582,315 — a vast reduction from what was promised by Measure C. Equally concerning is that the expenditures to manage cannabis were $2,517,150 — a difference of barely $65,165.

Now we are at a crossroads. In the county treasurer’s Aug. 27, 2024 report to the Board of Supervisors, active cultivation is down 80%. Many growers opt out, scale back or abandon their sites altogether.

The dream of cannabis-funded success promised by Measure C is gone. As a community we need to be proactive and take a fact-based approach — are we better off placing our limited staff resources in more productive areas?

We request the Board of Supervisors hold a public meeting to address these financial discrepancies, look at the cannabis revenue generated versus the expenses and determine if the county is receiving the return on investment the voters expected.

Also, as 70% of the permits in Lake County are for small cannabis growers — many struggling to make it work — we request a robust discussion on how to restore their prosperity. With another 100 pending small and large cannabis applications in the queue, does the county run the risk of dooming these remaining growers to failure?

Lake County Community Action Project’s founding members are Peter Luchetti, Angela Amaral, Jesse Cude, Holly Harris, Margaux Kambara, Tom Lajcik, Chuck Lamb and Monica Rosenthal.
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Besides sending donations to organizations that are providing relief services to victims of the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires there is not much that I can do to provide immediate in-person assistance to those suffering tragic losses.

Most of my personal life and professional career have been spent recreating and working on public lands in Northern California impacted by the 450,000 acre 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire and the 1 million acre-plus 2020 August Complex Fire and 2021 Dixie Fire.

I hope the following grief-related information that I have gathered since then might help affected parties in some small way cope with, and process, the devastating long-term effects these fires have on displaced families, first responders, business owners, relief workers, and many others.

The American Psychological Association, or APA, states that trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.

APA goes on to say that accidents or wildfires are typically unexpected, sudden and overwhelming. For many people, there are no outwardly visible signs of physical injury, but there can be nonetheless an emotional toll. As we are seeing, it is common for people who have experienced disaster to have strong emotional reactions.

Health professionals at the Mayo Clinic state that Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

The Mayo Clinic also states that most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better. If the symptoms get worse, last for months or even years, and interfere with your day-to-day functioning, you may have PTSD.

I have found the posting of stories and pictures of my experiences in the affected areas to be therapeutic. Talking with friends, colleagues, and partners are other important ways that survivors cope with PTSD.

As the LA Firestorm continues, it is important for us to exercise patience until firefighters and other 1st responders complete their assignments and understand they may be in some stage of a post wildfire traumatic stress disorder, or PWTSD.

Also, it is important for family members and friends that are outside of the burn area to understand that they too might be suffering from PWTSD.

Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for over 33 years. Amador is president of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC, co-founder and past president/CEO of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance and co-founder and past core-team lead on FireScape Mendocino. He writes from his home in Cottonwood, California. Amador may be reached via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Don Amador. Courtesy photo.

I believe it is critically important for the Trump Administration and the Musk-led DOGE effort to find waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government to address this country’s debt crisis. Certainly, one strategy is to review government agencies and programs that may or may not provide an important public benefit.

The Forest Service mission statement is “Caring for the Land and Serving the People.” That important goal has historically been implemented by competent leadership that directs a resource and recreation “boots on the ground” workforce to actively manage forested lands via thinning trees and brush with chainsaws, piling fuels with dozers and excavators, controlled burning, or by employing goats for grazing. Sometimes multiple methods are used in the same area, for example, piling small dead fuels and then burning those piles.

The agency states in a 2023 publication that it manages the largest trail network in the world that has more than 160,000 miles of trails that could circle the globe six and a half times! And, those trails provide vast opportunities for visitors to connect with nature via a hike, mountain-bike, ATV, dirt-bike, SxS, dual-sport or adventure motorcycle, 4WD, e-bike, horseback, snowmobile, snowshoe and more.

The recent data also shows increasing numbers of people are seeking out National Forest System trails. In addition, it states those trails are managed and maintained through the efforts of agency employees, tribes, partners, volunteers, contractors, permittees and communities — collectively known as the “Trail Community.”

I believe the current “probationary or seasonal” layoffs were mistakenly focused on axing the recreation and forestry technician corps composed of lower wage GS 3/4/5 on-the-ground employees and wrongly targeted a key workforce that was — to even the most casual observer - not the obvious source of fiscal bloat.

Rather, the main culprit needing fiscal reform can be found in the Regulatory Compliance Industrial Complex that is composed of D.C or regional-based high level career GS 13/14/15 siloed staff that leaves nothing but crumbs to support mission critical on-site recreation and resource management efforts.

Reformers should also take a hard look at a Forest Service cultural approach that over-emphasizes “too many cooks in the kitchen” with multiple layers of approvals and oversight that reduce effectiveness and efficiency. They should emphasize a strategic and systematic approach — including “directed reassignments” — to reduce even the higher level positions with an objective of getting the right positions placed where they are most needed.

I believe that budget reduction efforts should focus more sharply on bloated high cost regulatory administrative/legal systems that rob scarce funds from a field workforce that provides key services to directly benefit our natural resources, rural economies and the American public.

Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for 35 years. He is president of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC, past president/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, and a co-founder and core-team member on FireScape Mendocino, a forest health collaborative that is part of the National Fire Learning Network. Amador served as an AD Driver for the Forest Service North Zone Fire Cache during the 2022, 2023 and 2024 fire seasons. A northwest California native, Amador writes from his home in Cottonwood, California.
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Superintendent Dr. Nicki Thomas. Courtesy photo.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — As adults, we sometimes get jaded and cynical. We become impatient and we don’t take the time to focus on the things that really matter. If you ever need a dose of optimism and a reminder about what life is all about, spend some time with young children.

At our schools, while we are in the process of teaching academics and social skills, it’s amazing how often we see our students demonstrate kindness and compassion. As humans, we all need to feel a sense of belonging to a group of people we care about and that cares about us.

Many years ago, I worked in Oregon where the second grade class included an autistic child; I’ll call him Brendon. If you’ve ever spent time with an autistic child, you know it can be challenging. Like so many conditions, there’s a wide range of intensity, but autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that causes people to process social communication and sensory inputs differently than neurotypical folks. Because of this, Brendon occasionally got overwhelmed and struggled to manage his behavior.

One day, the class had a substitute teacher. She was unfamiliar with Brendon’s needs and didn’t realize how upsetting a change in his routine would be. When she moved quickly from one activity to another, it was too much for him and he started to melt down.

Immediately, four classmates went to him and tried to help him calm down. They let the substitute know Brendon had a hard time with transitions and that he just needed a little time. One student asked for permission to come and get me, since I was the school counselor. By the time I arrived a few minutes later, the kids had already supported Brendon through his episode. They were his protectors and his friends.

Later, the substitute asked me, “How did you train those kids to do that?” I let her know the adults at school had never needed to teach any of Brendon’s classmates to do anything. The kids knew what to do. Our job was simply to create an environment–a class culture – where compassion, patience, and helping others were the norms.

In preparation for this column, I asked Kelseyville educators for examples of kindness and empathy from their students. I immediately received emails that made my heart full. A teacher from Kelseyville Elementary, Heather Villalobos, shared these gems:

A student spent most of their recess time helping another student tie their shoes. When a new student joined our class, another student stuck with them all day to show them around, help them find things, and feel welcome at our school. A student comes into class and starts every morning asking me if there’s anything they could do to help me.

Students often jump into action when they notice a fellow student being left out. I loved this story from Ana Cortez, one of our teachers from Riviera Elementary.

I have a very sweet story. This year we did a white elephant exchange in my class before the break, and I was going over my list of students who didn’t bring a gift yet. One student mumbled to himself that he couldn’t bring a gift, but I was close enough to hear him and another student heard him, too.

That other student came to me at the end of the day and said he wouldn’t mind splitting his gift since he had three clumped together, allowing the other student to participate. I told him that was very kind of him, and to talk to the other student just to make sure he was okay with that. Of course, it all worked out. The student said thank you and we had a great time doing our white elephant exchange.

When I was principal at Mountain Vista Middle School, we did candygram sales. A student helping out in the office noticed that only two students in a specific classroom hadn’t received a candygram and asked if she could include a candygram for each because she didn’t want them to feel left out.

Left to their own devices, usually kids are kind and respectful of one another. As they grow up, they see how adults treat each other and they begin to adjust their behavior accordingly. Our kids are always watching. They’ll copy what they see done. If we want kids to be compassionate and thoughtful, we need to model that behavior.

So, the next time you find yourself tempted to unleash your anger on someone else, whether it’s a driver who cuts you off or someone who shares an opinion you don’t like, imagine how you’d want your child to respond. Do you want them to scream at someone, flip them off, and storm away, or would it be better if they took a deep breath, let it go, and stayed safe? Do you want your children to give people a chance, to ask questions so they understand what’s really going on, or would you rather they simply reject anything that bugs them?

In today’s world, if we want to live in harmony with others, it starts with our children. Let’s help them learn how to handle problems in a way that keeps them safe and emotionally healthy. When we are kind and help each other out, our kids will follow suit.

Dr. Nicki Thomas is superintendent of the Kelseyville Unified School District.
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LOWER LAKE, Calif. — Every December, the state of California publishes the California School Dashboard, an evaluation of public schools that helps us monitor whether we are making progress toward our goals. The information is available online for everyone to see.

Our assistant superintendent of instruction, Tim Gill, uses a business analogy to explain the dashboard. He says businesses produce products. School districts produce high school graduates. Our “product” requires a complex system that takes 13 years to complete. Ultimately, we measure the quality of efforts by our students’ ability to graduate and create the life they want for themselves, whether that be going to college or a trade school, going to work, joining the military, or something else.

The California School Dashboard is similar to a company’s quality control program. We measure indicators that let us know whether we are on track. By reviewing academic performance and the other dashboard indicators that influence a student’s ability to learn and grow, we can determine whether we need to change course.

In addition to monitoring students’ proficiency in reading, math and science, the dashboard monitors things like attendance and suspension rates. Specifically, it measures improvement. So, rather than simply looking at a point in time, we are graded on how we’re trending. That’s what determines whether we’re in the red, orange, yellow, green or blue on a scale that moves from poor performance to excellent performance. Although we can see how we compare against state averages, the dashboard is really intended as a tool to help every district focus on how it is doing compared to its own previous achievement.

While we have plenty left to do, this year’s dashboard shows that the work we’re doing is having the desired effect. We are getting better at getting better. When I arrived at Konocti Unified five years ago, I saw a district full of potential but faced with some significant challenges. Working with the team, we created a five-year plan to improve our academic standing. We became laser-focused on implementing new curriculum, investing in our teachers, and holding ourselves to a higher standard. By the time the pandemic hit, our mindset was already geared toward overcoming adversity, which helped us manage the disruption of COVID better than some.

Five years ago, Konocti Unified had the lowest scores of any Lake County public school district for English language arts (reading), math, and science. Now, we are competitive in all three, and more importantly, we’re trending upward.

Some of the measures we’re most proud of are the reduction in chronic absenteeism and the increase in our graduation rates. For the last two years, we’ve decreased chronic absenteeism by 7% per year, and we’ve increased our graduation rates by 7% last year and 8% this year. (Clearly, when kids are not at school, they do not learn as well.) While 7% might not seem like a big number, getting any movement in some of these scores can be really hard. I’m super proud of our team.

Given our trend lines, I’m more dedicated than ever to staying the course, following the goals laid out in our five-year plan. At the elementary level, we’ve adopted the Science of Reading, and the results are impressive. Even teachers who were initially skeptical are saying things like, “In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen students make progress this fast.”

Literacy affects learning in every subject. Many states are so impressed with the Science of Reading, they are requiring public schools to use it. (It’s not required in California but it has been adopted by many districts with great success.) The approach is based on brain science and years of proven results. Not only does it teach reading based on phonics (the sounds letters make), but we’re no longer teaching to the middle and hoping students at the top and bottom can figure it out.

The Science of Reading curriculum includes grade-level classroom instruction for all students, plus at least 45 minutes per day of individual instruction based on the specific skill gaps of the student. For example, if a second-grader is struggling with how to sound out a certain letter or group of letters, she can get intensive practice on those specific letters and groupings until she masters them.

We’ve had this new curriculum in place for a few years now, so it makes sense that our academic scores are improving. I think they will continue to climb, and quickly, because some of our most intensive work is in the earliest grades (K-3); yet, we don’t start state testing students until third grade. Next year’s third graders will have had three years of preparation with the Science of Reading curriculum.

So, while our overall numbers remain below state averages in many areas, our trend lines fill me with confidence. Change takes time; no one can double or triple their reading proficiency overnight. As long as we keep making significant progress toward our goals, I’ll call that a win.

In spite of challenges like teacher shortages, inadequate budgets, and a growing student population, we remain convinced we can continually improve our “product”--that we can prepare students to be productive and engaged citizens as they mature into adulthood.

As long as we maintain a system that works for students of all skill levels, we can’t go wrong. As a rule, high-performing districts preserve their focus over time, while low-performing districts bounce from program to program looking for quick fixes. (It’s like weight loss: those who reduce their calories and increase their activity over time tend to be able to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Those who follow fad diets tend to yo-yo up and down and never achieve sustained success.)

During this winter break, I wish everyone a joyful holiday and the team at Konocti Unified looks forward to continuing to support our students when they return to the classroom in January.

Becky Salato is superintendent of Konocti Unified School District.

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