Introducing SLT's GrizzlyCorps Member Sabrina Smelser

We are excited to welcome Sabrina Smelser to our team here at Shasta Land Trust! Sabrina will be serving with us as a GrizzlyCorps Climate Fellow for the next ten months. For those who aren’t familiar with GrizzlyCorps, it is a federally funded service organization that falls under the umbrella of AmeriCorps. Since 2020, the GrizzlyCorps Program has partnered with organizations all over California and aims to place fellows throughout rural communities to specifically focus on climate related issues and promote regenerative agricultural practices as well as forest and fire resiliency. GrizzlyCorps cohorts are made of individuals from various walks and stages of life all wanting to engage directly with issues relating to the changing climate.

Sabrina will be out in the field, meeting with project stakeholders, and working at the Daniell Beaver Banks Preserve. Coming from a wholesale nursery nestled in Los Osos Valley (CA), she feels incredibly fortunate to have found another stunning open space like this to call home for the next year. In just her short time living in Redding, she has witnessed some of California’s issues such low lake levels, impacts from wildfires threatening the community, and increasing development of oak woodland. These are just a few constant reminders of why climate work is calling her generation, and she feels ready to grow within an organization dedicated to the preservation and responsible stewardship of the remaining open lands of Shasta County.

After earning a B.S. in Biology at UCLA in 2018, Sabrina worked in healthcare and education for two years before shifting over to the world of horticulture last year. Her experience at the nursery growing California native plants, vegetable starts, and many other plant species deepened her interest in regenerative agriculture and responsible land stewardship, and she is very excited to pursue those interests in the context of the Land Trust’s goals.

She is now rounding out her second full week on the job, and possibilities for this upcoming year are beginning to take shape. She’ll be working to build the Land Trust’s educational and outreach capacity, developing new strategies for community engagement. Additionally, she will be supporting our Stewardship Team with ongoing conservation easement projects. With Sabrina here we will be able to grow our efforts in protecting beloved open lands of Shasta County!

Sabrina (on the right) helped the stewardship team survey the pit river canyon for a future conservation easement project.