Our Team.
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At Ash Creek, we operate in a team based system. Our primary teams are: Operations & Field Team, Project Team, and Development & New Business Team
(Ash Creek staff conducting ring mows around native plants.)
Project Team
The Project Team are experts in seeing sites from concept through completion. They write long-term prescriptions, coordinate all parties, and ensure sites are finished with the extremely high level of quality that you've come to expect from Ash Creek
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Development / New Operations
This team is in charge of all things new at Ash Creek. From developing projects to developing our new native plant nursery!
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Senior Habitat Restoration Specialists
These are the folks with 3+ years of field experience and are certified in all of our field certifications. They train less experienced field staff members, work with the Project Development team to help write bids and proposals, work with the Project Staff to ensure treatments run successfully, and a few manage their own projects.
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Aissa Bennett (she/her)
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Erik Saastamo (he/him)
Jill Tamborello (she/her)
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Spencer Page (he/him)
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Bryant Young (he/him)
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Gryston Fonseca (he/him)
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Jonathan Davies (he/him)
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Willow Venablerose (she/her)
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Cam Oster (they/them)
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Isabella Lopez Dion (she/her)
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Kobe Rossi (he/him)
Field Teams
(Habitat Restoration Specialists)
Our Field Teams are the lifeblood of Ash Creek Forest Management, LLC! They are self-directed, meaning they don't have "crew leaders". Instead they're trained, certified, and paid to the same level of traditional crew leaders. They rotate and coordinate amongst themselves who is going to take point to coordinate with Project Managers and Project Ecologists.
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Field Team 1
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Field Team 3
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Greenstreets Team (specialized in WQFs)
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Field Team 2
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Field Team 4
Floaters
Floaters are Field Team Members with enough experience under their belts, allowing them to jump on any team and any project when an additional pair of hands is needed.
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Cat Luecht (they/she)
Emily Stewart (she/her)
Scott Smethurst (he/him)
Operations Team
Our administrative and facilities teams ensure everything from equipment to the schedule are properly functioning so that we can run as effectively as possible. With most of the staff coming from the Field Teams or Project Team, it's not too unusual to see them sneaking out to site to enjoy some field time.
Zach Vande Slunt (he/him)
Business Operations Assistant Manager / Scheduler
Ownership Team
All three of our owners started their careers in the field prior to moving up into higher level positions at Ash Creek.
Brad Burke (he/him)
Director of Development
Brad spent many years as a Project Manager at Ash Creek. After buying the company, he shifted over to developing and consulting on projects, managing the Ash Creek Nursery and the Project Development Team.
Scott Brennan (he/him)
Director of Projects
Scott studied every department of the business prior to owning it. In his role, he manages the Business Development Coach.
Spencer Hansen (he/him)
Project Manager
Spencer has managed the field teams since long before buying the business. His role now include managing the Field Teams, Administrative Team, Operations Team, and the Project Team.