Jim Nelson
Jim currently lives in Redding and spends his free time gardening, skiing, camping, and hunting. He is the owner of Nelson Facilitation LLC. Jim retired from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) at the end of 2006 where he worked on habitat conservation. He pursued acquisition of lands to protect sensitive resources and was successful at attracting large grants for conservation efforts. Before coming to the Department of Fish and Game in 1989, Jim worked for ten years as a botanist for the California Energy Commission in their Power Plant Siting Division. He investigated the effect of air-born pollutants from thermal power plants on surrounding vegetation. He participated in licensing proceedings on proposed facilities throughout California.
Since the early 1990’s, Jim has pursued the study and practice of facilitation, negotiation, and mediation for environmental problem solving. He has taught many classes on facilitation and environmental negotiation reaching thousands of scientists, resource managers and conservationists. He has worked directly with many groups facilitating discussions on complex and sometimes highly controversial topics. Since retiring from state service, Jim continues to help groups dealing primarily with natural resource conservation. He has served on several boards of trustees.