John (J.C) McNelly was hired as the new Rangeland Ecologist for the Natural Resources Department. J.C. is originally from Colorado and grew up in Boulder. He attended the University of Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2012.
J.C. has extensive experience working with vegetation and rehabilitation in the Great Basin. He has five years of experience working for the BLM Fire Program in Winnemucca, Nevada. Where he specialized in wildfire rehabilitation projects, such as the rehabilitation of a 270,000-acre Martin fire in Nevada by writing seeding contracts, vegetation monitoring, and coordinating the planting of over 6,400 acres with sagebrush in two years. He also spent a season in Crater Lake National Park as an invasive vegetation crew lead. J.C. will be leading some of the restoration work at Logan Valley and Jonesboro. This work will include growing plants in the greenhouse, coordinating volunteer trips, rehabilitating areas after fire, and treating weeds. When he is not working, he enjoys camping, cooking, roasting coffee, hiking, and hunting.
