Conservation Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service July 2026
Why you chose this profession
I knew when I was in kindergarten what I wanted to be when I grew up when a classmate brought a red fire truck to class for “show and tell” that shot out real water. I wanted to protect the environment. This desire was only reinforced several times as a grew up having evacuated our home as boy when a wildfire came close to our neighborhood. I tried to volunteer to seed or plant trees in the burn area but no one would let me because I was only 12 years old at the time.
After high school I wanted to go to college to get a forestry degree so I could go to work for the U.S. Forest Service or CA Dept of Forestry. After completing 2 years at Santa Barbara City College
I got accepted to Humboldt State University in California which has one of the best Forestry and Natural Resource programs in the country. Once at Humboldt I learned that majoring in Natural Resources Management would better suit my goals to work in an environmental related field.
While at Humboldt I tried to get a summer job with the Forest Service and various fire departments but no one would hire me because I lacked experience. Being turned down from a dream job did not discourage me because it only may me want to work harder, which I did, graduating with a BS degree in NR management and securing a student trainee position with the USDA Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service-NRCS).
Working for NRCS has been my dream job every since day one and that was over 52 years ago. Yes, I am still working for NRCS assisting landowners all over California that suffered loss to their homes and properties following storms and wildfire disasters. In fact, in the last 8 and half years alone I have made over 1000 individual site visits to disaster-stricken properties from the Sierras and Wine Country to Malibu, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Projects you’re especially proud of
I am especially proud of my work helping people restore their land and related natural resources following natural events and disasters. I am also proud of those working along side me including many volunteers that I recruited over the years under NRCS’s national Earth Team Volunteer program, a program which I help start back in 1982 having signed up the first 3 volunteers in the nation at the time. Training the next generation of natural resource managers and erosion control specialists gives me great pleasure. I am also, of course, very proud to be one of the co-founders of CPESC, a certification that I cherish as much as (and probably more than) my degree in natural resources. Another note-worthy accomplishment was convincing and assisting the County of Santa Cruz (where I live and work) to develop the first county-wide erosion control ordinance in CA and perhaps the nation, which was adopted by the County of Board of Supervisors in 1980.
Challenges you’ve overcome or lessons you’ve learned
Even since beginning my work with NRCS in 1974 I have been challenged with the way the federal government does things and so I always found ways to get the job done in other ways. So much of what a national governmental agency does is on a national scale and doesn’t always apply on a local scale and often misses local natural resource and private property owner needs. One saying that I came up when trying to inspire those working with or around me including student interns, volunteers and career employee is, “It’s not about how little you can do to get by, but how much you can do to make a difference”. In the field, working with farmers, ranchers and other landowners I have been challenged when trying to provide these land users with information to help them make informed decisions regarding the stewardship of natural resources under their control. I find everyone’s knowledge and ability to accept and apply information is different requiring the art of effective communication and learning how to become a trustworthy source. This is not easy for most natural resource managers and specialists because it’s the field of public relations not science. It takes experience along with mastering the art of effective communication.
How ECI certification has impacted your career
Wow, where do I start? So much to tell and so little space and time. I have been a CPESC for almost 45 years and have been proud of my certification since day one. I believe certification has not only strengthen my resume/credentials and made me a trust worthy source of expertise, but it has allowed me to strengthen my knowledge base through continuing education and given me more respect and acknowledgement of my expertise in my field including work with private sector environmental consultants and organizations, land users, and the general public.
Advice you’d offer to others entering the profession
Learn everything you can and never stop building continuing education credits as you go. Share your expertise, experience and knowledge when and however you can by writing news and technical articles, speaking at professional and public gatherings, promoting the values of certification to fellow employees or workers, advancing the science behind your profession and, last but not least, don’t count down the years to retirement. In fact, continue to advance the art and science of environmental stewardship and professional certification as long as you are on this earth. Also remember to leave something behind as I have co-founding CPESC and helping 1000s of landowners over the course of my career become better stewards of the land and related natural resources under their control.
What excites you about the future of our industry
I have loved watching CPESC grow in so many ways over the years giving birth to a host of so many other related and essential certifications. I can only hope that this trend will continue as well as the acceptance of these specialties and certifications in both the private and government sector. I think EnviroCert has done an amazing job building on the strengths and successes of all the certifications including those certified specialists that have brought so much credence to the environmental field and their profession by advancing the science on a daily basis through the work they perform.
See Bio and photos on the following pages
BIOGRAPHY
RICHARD “RICH” CASALE CPESC#3-Fellow
July 2026
Richard “Rich” Casale has spent over 52 years working for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as a District Conservationist in the Monterey Bay area of California and as a NRCS Conservation/Erosion Control Specialist, assisting California communities recover from devastating wildfires and storm events. Note: Rich has made over 1000 site visits to wildfire and storm damage properties around the state just since the wine country wildfires in 2017.
Rich is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC #3-Fellow), an international certification program he co-founded in 1982. Today, there are more than 45,000 related certified professionals in over 45 countries around the globe.
Rich has extensive on-the-ground experience having served 1000s of land users with natural resource management and restoration needs on all types of land uses including: cropland; vineyards; pasture and range land; wildlife and natural areas; forest lands; and urban landscapes. He has written numerous technical articles and publications including a Post-Wildfire Restoration Guide for NRCS. Rich also co-authored the 2019 Fire Recovery Guide published by the California Native Plant Society.
Rich has been the recipient of numerous awards including a special award presented to him in Washington D.C. in 2008 for pioneering volunteerism in USDA; Community Hero and Friend of Agriculture awards; a lifetime achievement award from Enviro-Cert International; and a Distinguished Service Alumni Award from Cal Poly Humboldt for lifetime career accomplishments.
Rich has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Natural Resources Management from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt). He and his wife of 45 years own and operate an adventure-based travel agency and a small ranch in Santa Cruz County, CA where Rich practices natural resource management first hand.
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Rich Casale, 241 Martha’s Way, Aptos, CA 95003; (831) 359-1297; richcasale3@gmail.com
