New year, new faces on board at Friends of Plumas Wilderness
Friends of Plumas Wilderness welcomes its new team of staff including Executive Director Charles Schrammel, Conservation and Planning Director Elizabeth Ramsey and Organization and Finance Director Aubrey Pickerell.
Executive Director Schramel is responsible for overseeing the staff and operations of Friends of Plumas Wilderness (FoPW); implementing the organization’s mission to study, explore, and maintain the integrity of the natural ecosystems of the Upper Feather River Watershed.
With guidance from the Board, Schramel works with partners, staff, contractors, and volunteers to guide and direct efforts that further the four pillars of the organization: advocacy and planning, outreach and education, monitoring and stewardship, and the development and maintenance of the organization’s health.
Schramel brings with him experience from public and private sector social services, small business management, and professional outdoor recreation guiding in the Monterey Bay area.
When not working, Schramel enjoys the rivers, mountains, and valleys throughout the Sierra with his wife, Melissa, and children, Teagan and Liam. Along the way they fly fish, climb, snow board, canoe, camp, and ski.
His ties to Plumas County reach back to the 1950s when his grandparents moved to Plumas County and began a family tradition of active participation in the community and environment. In 2019 he and his family moved to Plumas County to be closer to extended family and spend more time exploring wild places.
Elizabeth Ramsey, Conservation and Planning Director, oversees the land and water conservation campaigns of the organization, including cartography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) needs..
In close coordination with FoPW’s network she guides and directs Friends of Plumas Wilderness’ vision of conservation of public wildlands and waters at the local and regional scale.
Ramsey hails from New Buffalo, Michigan and moved to Plumas County in 2017 to attend Feather River College before completing her bachelor’s degree at Cal Poly Humboldt in 2022.
When she’s not in the field or behind the desk, Liz enjoys birding, photography, and recreating in the beautiful Upper Feather River Watershed. In addition to her role at FoPW, she is the Operations Director at Plumas Audubon Society, where she works primarily on wildlife conservation projects.
Ramsey is excited to work within the scope of watershed-scale land stewardship, protecting the habitats that both non-human and human beings alike depend on.
Aubrey Pickerell, Organization and Finance Director, oversees FoPW’s organizational and fiscal health. She works behind the scenes on a variety of operations tasks including donor relations, grant writing, reporting and administration, board support, communications, and human resources coordination.
Pickerell grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, most recently living in Paradise, California before transplanting to Plumas County in 2018 to begin a career in private-land conservation with the Feather River Land Trust. Quickly upon arrival she fell in love with the surrounding landscape of the Upper Feather River Watershed and its special communities. As a regular public lands user, she is eager to delve into public lands conservation work.
Outside of work, she can usually be found hiking around looking for wildflowers, growing and arranging cultivated ones for her floral design business Scenic Root, and caretaking a ranch property conserved for its ecological benefit and natural beauty.
These three new staff members join Tribal Liaison Lethi Watson, who has been with FoPW for the last year, serving as a conduit with local and regional Tribal partners. Watson helps facilitate working relationships with Maidu (whether federally-recognized or not) to identify where missions align and how work can be accomplished together.
She is from Enterprise Rancheria within the Feather River watershed. She first found her love for Plumas County’s public lands while working on the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship Youth Crew in 2013. Lethi worked with her Tribe as an Environmental Technician in 2016, collaborating with environmental organizations and other Tribal governments until she graduated in 2020 with an associates’ degree in Anthropology. She and her husband Christian just had their first child on Dec. 27, a healthy little boy.
For the past eight years, Darrel Jury and Darla DeRuiter have worked diligently to revive the path Friends of Plumas Wilderness began nearly 50 years ago. In 2021, Darla joined FoPW as its first ever staff member and Darrel has volunteered thousands of hours. In 18 short months, they have helped to ramp the organization up to a staff of four and laid the plans for a visionary conservation strategy. In 2023, Darla and Darrel will transition to serving as board members and continue to support the vision and mission of FoPW.
For more information about the activities and vision of Friends of Plumas Wilderness please visit www.plumaswilderness.org and follow us on social media on Facebook at www.facebook.com/friendsofplumaswilderness and on Instagram @friendsofplumaswilderness
