Articles

Shasta Land Trust puts the
Volunteer Spotlight on...

	John Deaton

John Deaton has been a member of Shasta Land Trust since he moved to Redding in 2004.  John says, " I joined SLT because I understand the importance of preserving large areas of contiguous, critical habitats... The North State ecosystem comprises a web of habitats that are critical to the health of our ecosystem.   I think the SLT conservation easements are a very good cooperative approach to preserving those critical habitats while also recognizing and preserving the cultural character of our area.  It helps make our area a strong link in the ecological web, which is important for a sustainable future."

John is a founding member of SLT's 2 year old Environmental Education Committee and has been an invaluable contributor to the early success of the Environmental Education Initiative.  He has been involved in education as both a professional and volunteer for many years, and enjoys environmental education particularly.  For John, volunteering with SLT is "an opportunity for me to contribute to the future of our community by doing something that I enjoy."

With his experience from both educational field studies and classroom teaching, John has been a driving force behind many of the Environmental Education Committees efforts.  He helped to prepare and present the very first lessons that SLT presented at the Cypress Elementary and MLK Center after school programs, teaching the students to recognize different species of oaks and letting them plant acorns.  With the changing of AmeriCorps members in January (the middle of the school year), John helped to keep the after school presentations consistent and bring the new member up to speed with what had been accomplished and what was planned for the future.

Though John has recently been extremely busy at work and unable to assist with presentations, his help in getting the after school presentation program started formed a solid base from which the environmental education committee has been able to expand.

When not helping SLT teach students about oak woodlands, John is involved in many other community activities.  As a CH2M HILL employee, he is involved in many of their community outreach programs.  He has been a Redding area coordinator for World Water Monitoring Day for five years now, and has been involved in many youth programs such as Engineering Week, Math Counts, and Odyssey of the Mind.

John has been a great asset to Shasta Land Trust, and we hope that he will return as an active member of the Environmental Education Committee when he again has the time.  Thank you for all your hard work, John!  Volunteers like you are a vital part of SLT's success!