EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
- Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting: Senior Ecologist, 2023-Present
- Woody Feed Stock Aggregation Pilot: Project Manager, 2023-Present
- Petrolia Fire Department: Captain, 2010-Present
- Mattole Valley Resource Center: Board Chair, 2017-Present
- Cooperative Agriculture Network: Co-founder, 2021-Present
- Mattole Uplift Cooperative: Founder, 2018-Present
- Mattole Salmon Group: Project Manager, 2009-2018
- Mattole Restoration Council: Program Manager, 1997-2003
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Mr. Barber’s education and professional experience focuses on organization and management of projects that further community, fisheries restoration, and climate resilience. Mr. Barber’s role at Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting is Senior ecologist. In this role he is developing and managing projects to support forestry and fisheries restoration efforts on the North Coast. He is Project Manager and co-founder of the Woody Feedstock Aggregation Pilot Project, a recipient of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research grants for wood product innovation. He has been a program manager for the Mattole Restoration Council, a project manager for the Mattole Salmon Group, board chair of several non-profits, a founder of the Mattole Uplift Cooperative, and a co-founder of the cooperative agriculture network (CAN). He also serves as Captain of the Petrolia Fire Department where he has provided emergency response services and leadership to his community for over 20 years. He has 20+ years living and working in the Mattole watershed where he designed, managed the Mattole Ecological Education Program (MEEP) and managed the funding and implementation of over half a million dollars from private, state, and federal sources for various in-stream large-wood projects with the Mattole Salmon Group . His background as project manager, program manager, and founder within Humboldt County has allowed Mr. Barber to develop a thorough understanding of local and state regulatory permitting, planning, as well as project development and management.
EDUCATION
B.A. Environmental Restoration and Education, Prescott College 1996.
A.S. Watershed Science, Feather River College 1993.
Additional Professional Trainings: First Aid for the Professional Responder, Certificate of Incident Command Systems, Certificate of Permaculture design teacher, Certificate of Osha 30 hour general industry.
REPRESENTATIVE PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Woody Feedstock Aggregation Pilot Project (WFAP)
Project Manager, 2023-present
Mr. Barber co-designed and operates this pilot project funded by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The goal of this project is to build a forestry cooperative model for a small Humboldt community. The project aims to increase markets for forest products resultant of post-fire mitigation and pre-fire fuels reduction efforts.
Mattole Estuary Habitat Enhancement
Project Manager, Mattole Salmon Group, 2009-2018
Served on and organized Mattole Estuary inter-agency TAC team. Mr Barber led field tours and facilitated discussions which guided habitat enhancement project development and placement. As project lead, Mr. Barber successfully fundraised for and managed over half a million dollars to implement TAC projects within the Mattole River Estuary with money fundraised through various private, state, and federal sources. Most notable restoration projects included 7, different large woody debris wood loading projects, including the first helicopter wood-placement project in the Mattole. For all these projects Mr. Barber planned, facilitated permitting and design, as well as crew management and structure placement in the Mattole estuary.
Mattole Uplift Cooperative
Founder/ Board Chair
Uplift is an organization developed to build the capacity of the Mattole community of agricultural businesses into an agricultural cooperative. Mr. Barber studied and trained teams in group facilitation skills and cooperative development to guide teams and stakeholders to effective collaborative solutions.
Cooperative Agriculture Network (CAN)
Founder/Active member
Mr. Barber is a founding and active member of CAN, a cooperative development group that works nation-wide to raise cooperative development capacity of stakeholders and works at the state level to guide policy to solutions that supportive of small-scale agriculture through cooperatives.