May 31, 2002

Photo: Drew Barber

Since our last newsletter, we welcome two new staff members to the MRC. Keith Leatherwood joins us as our new Reforestation Program Coordinator. He and his wife, Chantele, live in Honeydew with their two children, Havana, 5, and Laird, 3. They have a home-based tour company, KC Travel, which runs surfing excursions to Indonesia.

"I started planting trees in 1998 and haven't stopped. We had a new baby and didn't know how the tours would do, so tree planting felt like the right thing to do. It's definitely the hardest work I've ever done. The only satisfaction I could compare it to is parenting. I meet folks who show me mature trees they planted years ago. The gleam in their eye resembles the one you'd see viewing photos of the grandkids.

Each tree planting season gives me a new awareness of the land. Each landowner and every tree planter contributes to that insight. Tree planting has taken me to areas I'd never know existed and shown me a different way of seeing the world."

Amanda Malachesky has been hired as the Resource Center and Development Associate. She will be assisting Chris with fundraising and developing the Resource Center, our in-house library, website, and compilation of information and resources for landowners and residents of the Mattole.
In addition to her wealth of administrative, technical and grant writing skills, Amanda also brings an extensive knowledge of plants, sustainable agriculture, and healing arts. Amanda has been a long-time friend of the Mattole and recently moved to Petrolia from Santa Cruz. She is grateful for the more peaceful surroundings and looks forward to years of service to the people, plants and fish of the Mattole watershed. Welcome, Keith and Amanda.



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Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 18 - Summer/Fall 2002