A loyal board and planning committee worked for 30 years to make Creek Week one of our region’s premier volunteer stewardship events. The Sacramento Area Creeks Council is transitioning away from a main mission devoted to organizing Creek Week. The focus of our organization is now on conducting and supporting regular year-round clean-up efforts. Individuals, service groups, churches, neighborhood groups, etc. are encouraged to conduct clean-ups. We seek new leaders who want to build on this new focus and shape its future.

SACRAMENTO AREA CREEKS COUNCIL BOARD ACTIVITIES

• Attendance at monthly board meetings
• Participation in at least one existing program:
• Oversight of creek clean-ups – planning and execution
• Education/Outreach, i.e. Exhibit, intern management
• Commenting on development issues
• Watershed group participation and/or
• Participation in the planning and development of one new project or program (optional)
• Adopt-a-Creek to facilitate regular volunteer cleanups of local waterways
• Stream restoration
• Fundraising
• Other

Would you consider being a Sacramento Area Creeks Council board member?

Your skills and talents and connections can be used to our advantage.

Board meetings are generally held the fourth Monday of each month by Zoom. Please call (916) 897 – 1877 or email info@saccreeks.org for specific meeting dates and times.

All are welcome to attend our board meetings and learn more about what we do.

Board Members

Crystal Tobias, President: A Sacramento native, Crystal retired from UC Davis in
2017, where she worked since 1977. She is a self-taught naturalist, has years of
experience with animal and non-profit organizations, is concerned about the
environment, and believes the world is a better place when people work together and get involved. She has been enjoying the American River since she was 5 years old and still makes elderberry jelly from local berries. After working with the American River Parkway Foundation and Save the American River Association, she began an informal partnership with California State Parks Folsom Lake State Recreation Area in 2001, was on the board of the Gold Discovery Park Association in Coloma, co-founded Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma (FOLFAN) in 2008 and worked with the City of Folsom to develop their Adopt a Trail program in 2017-18. She partnered with Dr. Roland Brady on the Steelhead Creek Rehabilitation Project in 2018 and began working with River City Waterway Alliance even before they became official. She is honored and
excited to preside over the Sacramento Area Creeks Council and looks forward to
working with the Board of Directors in developing that organization to its next level of excellence.

Roland H. Brady, Vice President: Roland H. Brady, PhD, is a licensed
Professional Geologist. Growing up as the son of an Air Force fighter pilot, Roland
moved frequently around the country while growing up, finally settling in California to finish high school. He received his BS in Geology from Sonoma State and PhD in Geology/Geophysics from UC Davis. He taught at CSU-Fresno for 28 years, and presently consults in mineral exploration, geo-archaeology, and watershed hydrology. As well as being actively engaged in the River City Waterway Alliance, Roland is restoring his 1909 house in midtown and works in his photo studio.

Mark Baker, Treasurer: Mark is fifth generation Californian born and raised in
Sacramento. He is a long time building contractor specializing in kitchens and
bathrooms and sets and displays. He spent his summers for 30 years building
displays at Cal Expo for the CA State Fair, having built over 300 county
displays. Mark has lived near and played his entire life along the American
River. In 2020, during COVID, he decided to spend his summer vacation at Sutter’s Landing. Since then he has spent nearly all of his time cleaning and enjoying the parkway. He is a cofounder of River City Waterway Alliance.

Gary Hare, Secretary: Gary is Field Manager and Project Director at
hammerdirt California, a non profit that collects environmental data on trash in
California waters. He is also Head Groundskeeper and Land Stewardship
Coordinator for Soil Born Farms, a non profit organic farm and community
education resource in Rancho Cordova. A resident along the American River
Parkway for over 40 years, he is an angler, bird watcher and general contractor
serving his community and environment through sustainable projects like
routine trash surveys at the confluence of Cordova Creek and The American
River.

Deborah Dodd, Corresponding Secretary: Deborah Dodd, a native Californian,
spent the first half of her life in the Bay Area, the Central Coast and then Los Angles before moving to Sacramento in 1991. She earned her BA in Environmental Studies at CSUS. Shortly after moving to Sacramento, a tiny advertisement in the newspaper for the Effie Yeaw Nature Center caught her eye. She visited the center, walked through the preserve, and her love affair with the American River and parkway began. Deborah grew up snow-skiing, water-skiing, hiking, camping, swimming, biking and beach combing with family and friends. These experiences instilled a deep passion and respect for the outdoors. She is a retired school teacher who has also served as a docent at Effie Yeaw and a guide for Sacramento Splash’s vernal pool school program.
Her other passions include animals and travel. She is an active volunteer with
Sacramento SPCA and River City Waterway Alliance.

Amy Gardner: Amy Gardner is a native Californian who grew up in the Tri-Valley area of Northern California. She grew up roaming the hills and creeks around her rural home. Her parents were back-to-the-landers and growing up she was working in their organic garden and orchards while also tending to their flock of chickens. She has always loved the outdoors and the natural world, and studied botany at UC Davis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Botany with minors in Art History and Education. After working in food microbiology, she now focuses her career within the wine industry, recruiting executives for positions across North America. Agriculture has always been a keen interest for Amy, and in her spare time she works to maintain healthy waterways for people and crops. No waterway is healthy if it doesn’t have habitat for wildlife and over the last several years Amy has worked with River City Waterway Alliance to restore natural habitats in our local Sacramento area. She’s also a board member for Hope for Sacramento, an organization working to create a safe, campus model sheltering and housing project to serve Sacramento’s homeless. When not working or volunteering you can find her hiking around our local waterways, snowshoeing in the Sierras or gardening in her backyard.

David Ingram: David Ingram is a graduate of UC Davis and McGeorge School
of Law and operates a small law firm in midtown Sacramento. David grew up
fly fishing with his grandfather around Sierra City, at the base of the Sierra
Buttes. These experiences instilled a deep respect for natural areas and
wildlife and the associated desire to preserve and protect them. David began
cleaning up near his home on the Sacramento River around 2003, a habit that
grew as trash increased. After connecting with several river and creek
stewards in 2021, his focus and commitment expanded substantially. More
recently, David co-founded River City Waterway Alliance to advance his
passion for restoring and protecting local area waterways and riparian habitats.

Khaliah Ingram: Born and raised in Sacramento, Khaliah co-founded the Elk Grove Anti-Trash group in March of 2020 with her husband, David Irons, and later joined the River City Waterway Alliance as well. She is highly motivated by the physical aspect of the work and enjoys the immense health benefits, such as improved cardiovascular stamina and physical strength, from participating in cleanups for both groups.

David Irons: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, David started a series of small, informal cleanups in his neighborhood. The litter problem in the area had become large enough that it was impossible to ignore, and he decided to do something about it rather than waiting for the city to act. His dedication to seeing a better, cleaner Elk Grove inspired other Elk Grove citizens to join him, which led to the creation of the Elk Grove Anti-Trash Group. He is also a member of the River City Waterway Alliance. He enjoys walking along local trails and hiking in Folsom and Auburn, often bringing a bucket and grabber with him to pick up trash wherever he goes. His grandfather instilled in him a love and respect for nature, and he was exposed to conservation efforts at a young age.

Steven K. Mayer: Steven is the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
Environmental Coordinator for the former McClellan AFB. Steve oversees all
aspects of accelerated cleanup, program management, and disposal of all
excess base property, the first privatized clean-up of a Superfund site in the
nation. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering from the
University of Minnesota and is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer in the
State of California.

Carl Salmonsen: Carl is a recovering IT professional with a deep love for the
river. As an army brat with family ties to the east coast, Carl has always been
an avid fisherman and spends much of his free time around our local
waterways on foot, by bike, or paddling his kayak or canoe. As a founding
member Preserve the American River, Carl has helped to lead the fight for the
preservation of part of the old Kassis property, one of the last remaining wild
areas along the Lower American River. Carl is also as singer/songwriter, an
active wildlife photographer, a licensed drone pilot, and a marginal golfer.

Chris Smith: Born in Stockton, Chris moved to Rancho Cordova when he was 5 years old and spent most of his childhood along the American River. After retiring as a Real Estate Broker he is a full time volunteer, working with 9 different non-profit organizations.  Chris lives in Midtown Sacramento and can often be found at Sutter’s Landing pulling weeds or taking photographs. His other hobby is making wooden art on the lathe such as bowls, platters and writing pens.

Bill Templin: Bill is a retired Environmental Scientist with the California
Department of Water Resources and Central Valley Regional Water Quality
Control Board. Previously Bill had a 30- year career with the Federal
government (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Forest Service)  He served as
Watershed Coordinator for the North Fork American River Watershed from
June 2004 until October 2007, then began his State career. Bill is actively
involved as a Board Member on several non-profit watershed and sportsmen’s
organizations in the Sacramento and Fresno areas.