Restoration Resources was founded in 1979 as Sierra View Landscape, Inc., by current president and owner, Riley Swift. The company’s evolution into habitat management and restoration is the fulfillment of Riley’s personal values and vision.

Prior to 1979, Riley was employed at various times by the California Department of Fish and Game; the University of California, Berkeley; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Riley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University and a Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences from California State University, Chico.

Mr. McCarten comes to Restoration Resources with 30 years of experience in Botany, Ecology, and Hydrology. His extensive studies include a BA in Botany from University of California Santa Barbara, a MA in Ecology and Systematics from San Francisco State University, and graduate studies in Botany through the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. McCarten is currently working on his doctoral dissertation in Hydrological Sciences, specifically, research on hydrology and wetland functions of claypan and hardpan vernal pools.   

Mr. McCarten’s expertise has added regulatory documentation, permitting, and compliance to Restoration Resources’ suite of services. This includes wetland delineations, special status species surveys, and habitat and plant community mapping. His experience in wetlands delineation and ESRI GIS training are an integral component of the company’s expanding practices. 

Ralph Vigil has been with Restoration Resources for 17 years and has proven to be invaluable to the company. Ralph began his career with RR as a field supervisor and shortly thereafter established and successfully ran the Habitat Management Department until his promotion to the position of Director of Operations.

As Director of Operations, Ralph utilizes his years of field experience and natural leadership to guide the operations of Restoration Resources. His primary responsibilities are organizing budgets by department, job costing, overall company project scheduling, project revenue accountability, and general quality control of field operations.

 

 

Tran Tang has more than 10 years of experience in the habitat construction field working on wetland and riparian projects.  His years of experience as a grade setter operating a laser level and GPS unit have elevated his understanding of the topography and hydrology of all types of habitats.

Tran has overseen numerous successful projects and supervised personnel throughout his tenure at Restoration Resources. He has worked on planting, irrigation, and maintenance and construction projects. 

With a degree in biology from Sacramento State University, Tran understands the importance of habitat value and diversity on habitat construction projects.  Over the years at Restoration Resources, Tran has assumed responsibilities including estimating, mapping programs, and project management duties.  His desire to learn and his understanding of habitat values have made Tran a great addition to Restoration Resources.

Brook Edwards has been working in the environmental field since 1995. He has expertise in developing natural resources management plans, developing habitat mitigation and monitoring plans, conducting natural resource field surveys, designing habitat restoration projects, and conducting spatial analyses of landscapes with the use of a GIS. His work overseas and in California provides him with a wide range of experience in the environmental field.

Brook received his bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in Environmental Studies. After receiving his degree, he worked in both the private and public sector conducting botanical field surveys, developing management plans, and implementing revegetation projects.

In 2000, he returned to school and received his master’s degree in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University. While working towards his degree, he worked as a Research Assistant in Humboldt State University’s Spatial Analysis Lab, conducting research on riparian systems in the central valley. After finishing his Master’s coursework, he worked as a GIS technician for the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, conducting landscape analyses on the island of Puerto Rico.

Upon returning to the United States, Mr. Edwards has worked as a restoration ecologist, providing expertise in developing mitigation and monitoring plans, conducting botanical field surveys, developing and analyzing GIS datasets, and developing habitat restoration designs.

Chad’s primary responsibility is oversight of the company’s habitat management monitoring projects. His knowledge of habitat and community structure ensures that job sites are ecologically stable at the end of the maintenance phase. Chad’s secondary responsibility is to ensure that monitoring is done objectively, accurately, and in a timely manner. Mr. Aakre works with RR’s Design & Consulting department on monitoring protocols, data collection, and technical report writing.

Chad Aakre’s knowledge of ecology and restoration extends from his experiences in college and as a high school teacher. Chad participated in a variety of scientific endevors in college ranging from the use of stream macroinvertebrates for biological assessement to conducting avian point count for better understanding of forest fragmentation. Teaching high school afforded Mr. Aakre the opportunity to conduct tallgrass prairie restoration in Minnesota as a part of the high school ecology curriculum.
The restoration activities included collection and propogation of native tallgrass prairie species, monitoring progress with transect and plot sampling, and the use of various techniques to control non- native species.

Mr. Hatch is a California native with a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has been a Landscape Architect in California for over 30 years before joining Restoration Resources in 2007. His experience in regional planning, site design and open space interfaces has covered the northern, central, and southern parts of the state, providing him with an overall insight into the regional aspects of the many habitats and vegetation types throughout the state.  He is the author of Trees of the California Landscape, UC Press 2007, which is a book on both native and ornamental tree species. 

He has managed a wide range of public and private park, streetscape and urban design projects, schools, commercial and retail complexes, and marsh and land restoration projects. His key skills include schematic design abilities, research and final design development, construction drawing implementation, site detailing, and co-ordination with clients, consultant teams and public agencies. He has had extensive experience in construction inspections and observation during construction for final approval, and subsequent maintenance monitoring. His work with consultant teams and public agencies regarding codes and mitigation measures included ADA compliance, SWPPS measures and procedures, CEQA/EIR specific requirements and review, WAPA/PGE and local utility easement compliance, tree preservation procedures, mitigation measures and monitoring, shading requirements and WUCOLS water use compliance.

Ms. Owens is a Plant Ecologist at Restoration Resources. She has been working in the environmental field, specifically in botany, since 2002.  Her experience includes botanical surveys, wetland delineations, and biological resource evaluations of project sites, as well as ongoing monitoring of mitigation projects with regard to both flora and fauna on site.  Her work in both created and natural vernal pool habitats provides her with a unique specialization in a growing field requiring mitigation and monitoring

Mr. Piper has been a Landscape Habitat Designer and CADD Specialist at Restoration Resources since June 2007. His responsibilities include work not only in design concept development, drafting of plans, and detail drawings, but also post-construction monitoring data collection and report preparation. This diverse set of responsibilities has allowed Mr. Piper to gain an extraordinary amount of first hand experience in a remarkably short period of time.   

Previous work experience and schooling has given Mr. Piper a strong understanding of AutoCADD, ArcGIS, and GPS techniques, equipment, and programs. He utilizes his skills and training in site analysis, habitat design development, and landscape monitoring and maintenance on many of Restoration Resources’ habitat mitigation and monitoring projects.

Employed at Restoration Resources since 1995, Enoc Vega is a reliable and well-regarded leader. Enoc has been a key team member in over 75 habitat mitigation projects. He is thoroughly experienced in native plant installation and maintenance requirements for a successful restoration project. Enoc has installed a variety of irrigation systems, rock-reinforced weirs on created wetlands, and biotechnical erosion control devices along the banks for rivers.

With his years of experience performing maintenance tenure in a variety of native habitats, Mr. Vega can quickly recognize problems with plant heath and/or irrigation and remedy the situation. He is able to identify and avoid sensitive species and areas during routine maintenance activities. Enoc is bilingual and has trained others in the successful methods of plant and irrigation installation, mechanical weed control, and irrigation repair. He has operated a variety of small equipment from weed whips to mowers to small tractors. Enoc assists with RR’s annual pesticide training to guarantee worker compliance with state and federal laws.

Enoc continues to expand his knowledge of native plants and his responsibilities at Restoration Resources. In 2005, he was promoted to Project Manager.

Enoc now shares responsibility for scheduling and coordinating multiple concurrent maintenance and monitoring projects with other project managers. He prepares daily log entries of maintenance activities, to include plant layout and assistance with monitoring activities.

Kathy Madden is a Project Manager for the Habitat Management Department and oversees weed management activities for all Restoration Resources projects. She began working for Restoration Resources in 1997 as a Restoration Technician and has advanced to Project Manager where she supervises the maintenance activities of 15 projects a year. She currently shares the responsibility for scheduling and coordinating numerous concurrent maintenance and monitoring projects with other project managers. She prepares daily log entries of maintenance activities and assists with plant health monitoring and annual report preparation.

As the Weed Management Supervisor, Ms. Madden holds a Qualified Applicator’s License in Pest Control (QAL #50951 Landscape Maintenance, Right-of-Way and Aquatic Categories).

She coordinates and conducts annual pesticide training for English and Spanish speakers to guarantee worker compliance with state and federal laws. Kathy has extensive practical experience in California wildlife habitat restoration and maintenance, erosion control, weed management, and working with sensitive habitats and animals. During her tenure with Restoration Resources, Kathy has planted native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants; seeded by hand, broadcast, drill and hydro methods; controlled wildlife damage, controlled erosion with use of numerous bio-technical solutions; controlled weeds by manual, mechanical and chemical methods; monitored project success; estimated costs and supervised implementation. Kathy has experience working around and caring for elderberry (host plant for the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle), habitat for giant garter snake, and waterways.