WHO WE ARE
Our core team includes:
​​​Allen Edwards - Volunteer project manager
Allen and his wife own Edwards Family Farm, 520 acres of forest and farmland just east of Colfax, CA. Allen grew up with this land and has been its manager for the past 50 years, working the land part-time during his career as an economist, and full time since he retired in the late 1990s. Allen's career focused on an energy/resource economics and climate policy. Since he retired he has practiced and taught organic farming and farm business management. Allen is also a certified Permaculture designer.
Ken Winter - Volunteer
Ken was newly-retired, and wanted to get involved in combatting the climate crisis already changing our lives. He attended a seminar that Allen Edwards gave on the impacts on the environment of our current lifestyles, and found Allen’s talks really helpful because they summarized a lot of what Ken had been reading, here and there. Allen often concluded with
something like, “What do you want to do?” And Ken kept saying, “We don’t know. Show us some models.” CRP is our attempt to build that model, with a lot of city folk learning a hands-on life in care of the earth that supports us all.
Shirley Ballinger - Volunteer
Acorn project & indigenous plant forest garden specialist.​
Like Ken, Shirley has been part of the core CRP team since long before its inception. Having a strong penchant for gardening, being a formerly certified arborist, and the ability and knowledge to grow healthy, pesticide free food in her backyard, she imparts her knowledge on the larger CRP gardens on campus A. While she is involved with all the activities, she will tell you that chipping and milling are not her favorites. Planting and getting her hands in the soil is where she wants to be. She says that her volunteer work with CRP gives her fun camaraderie, good physical activity in a "climate concerned" manner. She has concern for the people in future generations and wants to give others this idea of a different way of caring for their environment. This gives her something she can do right now to make a difference for future generations.
Bill Jackson - Volunteer
Bill is a retired bank information technology worker of 40 years, who loves to be in the outdoors. For the past 15 years Bill has been managing an electronic recycling program locally in Auburn. He has been an environmentalist all his life, but now considers himself a "very concerned" environmentalist. As for his volunteering in these mountain communities, he loves the learning environment, the exercise, the new experiences, the hard work, the beautiful views, the fun activities, and the great friends that he meets on the project.​
Owen Kelly - Volunteer
Owen recently comes to us from Sierra College and is considering a degree in the area of forestry as well as other subjects. He learned about the CRP operation while on a school field trip and liked what he saw. While here he has been involved with burning piles, chipping trees, repairing tools, and greasing choker cables. We really enjoy his company and contributions. He is pictured here during a "barn clean up and tool repair" day where he participated in the replacement of our grappler winch cable.