Sierra Institute Appoints Kyle Rodgers as Executive Director
Founder Jonathan Kusel moves into a senior advisor role focusing on the North State Jobs First project and independently to launch Mosaic Timber, a cross-laminated wood products manufacturing operation in Crescent Mills.
TAYLORSVILLE, Calif., November 5th, 2026
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment Board of Directors has appointed Kyle Rodgers as the organization’s executive director. Rodgers has been serving as interim executive director, and the appointment took effect in September 2026. It follows a transition process the board began this spring, when founding Executive Director Jonathan Kusel announced his plan to step away from the role he has held since 1993.
Prior to this appointment, Rodgers has been serving as Assistant Director and leading the organization’s Community-Based Natural Resource Management program area. Under his leadership, the Sierra Institute has developed innovative partnership models for collaboratively planning and implementing cross-boundary, landscape-scale projects. He has built close partnerships with federal and state agency partners, as well as with many community-based organizations, Tribal partners, landowners, and local stakeholders. Rodgers has provided leadership across Sierra Institute’s growing portfolio of collaborative forest management efforts, helping Sierra Institute and partners move projects from planning and collaboration into active implementation. Rodgers’ work at Sierra Institute has spanned a range of roles and program areas over the years, including watershed coordination, forest restoration, collaborative planning, rural workforce development, and youth programming.
“I’m incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to step into the role of Executive Director at the Sierra Institute. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve been inspired by the organization’s commitment to collaborative approaches to problem-solving and elevating rural issues, work that is driven by an incredibly talented staff and a network of committed partners. Sierra Institute’s work with rural communities and the natural resources those communities are intertwined with is built on a foundation of a unique blend of social science, natural resources, and community-building expertise. I continue to be motivated by the opportunities for Sierra Institute to lead a wide array of projects that recognize and strengthen the connection between people and landscapes.
With a long history of bringing together folks with a history of differing views about forest management to find common ground and facilitating connections between collaborative groups across California to improve outcomes, Sierra Institute continues to foster innovative approaches to collaborative landscape management at a time when the stakes couldn’t be higher. Whether working closely with Tribal partners to build capacity and strengthen opportunities for Tribes to engage in critical landscape restoration work, developing youth & young professional natural resource career pipelines locally, or piloting innovative wood utilization strategies, the Sierra Institute is committed to engaging communities in restoration to increase landscape resilience and build community well-being.
I’m excited to build on the organization’s nearly 30 years of experience working on these issues and look forward to partnering with all of you as I assume the responsibility of leading the organization’s work into the future.”
— Kyle Rodgers, Executive Director, Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
Jonathan Kusel’s new role
Jonathan Kusel founded Sierra Institute in 1993 to advance collaborative natural resource management and improve community health and well-being throughout California and the Pacific West. Kusel pioneered programs in community-based collaboration, forest and watershed restoration, and rural economic development. He also led science-based community assessments for the Northwest Forest Plan and Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, and conducted studies of Resource Advisory Communities across the country, testifying about the power of collaborative landscape work in the U.S. Senate.
Kusel will continue to work closely with the organization as senior advisor focusing on the North State Jobs First Program. In addition to his continued work with the organization, Kusel is moving on to launch Mosaic Timber, California’s first cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing operation.
Cross-laminated timber is a highly fire-resistant, seismically safe, and carbon-smart construction material. Kusel led several groundbreaking projects at Sierra Institute that showcased the promise of CLT construction. Sierra Institute built the first full CLT building in California almost ten years ago and multiple CLT structures in the town of Greenville as part of Dixie Fire recovery efforts.
Mosaic Timber represents a major step towards building a local regenerative economy. By creating jobs and using wood generated from forest health and fuels reduction projects, Mosaic will support additional restoration work in the surrounding area.
