Humboldt donor creates scholarship honoring Cal Poly forestry legacy

A new scholarship endowment announced this week aims to strengthen Humboldt County’s pipeline of forest and rangeland stewards by easing the cost of college for students entering forestry, fire and rangeland-management programs. Kathy Simpson donated and pledged funds to create the Don Berry Forestry Scholarship Endowment at Cal Poly Humboldt, honoring her late husband Don Berry, a 1976 forestry graduate who spent his career in soil conservation and service with the U.S. Forest Service.

The gift, announced Jan. 7, 2026, will provide ongoing financial support for students pursuing careers that are central to the North Coast economy and to regional wildfire resilience. The scholarship is explicitly designed to reduce financial barriers and to encourage participation from underrepresented groups, including women, in disciplines that have historically sketched male-dominated workforces.

Berry’s life and career informed the scholarship’s mission. A lifelong curiosity about the natural world led him from classroom study in Humboldt to on-the-ground work in soil conservation and forest management. By directing the endowment toward forestry, fire and rangeland-management students, Simpson tied the fund to the practical skills and applied science that local land managers need to steward timberlands, rangelands and watersheds across the county.

The donation arrives amid long-running challenges for rural workforce development in natural-resources sectors. Local fire agencies, timber companies and ranching operations routinely cite hiring and retention pressures, while communities face more intense wildfire seasons and a greater need for proactive landscape treatments. Scholarships that lower tuition burdens can help colleges attract a broader pool of applicants, retain students through degree completion and feed trained graduates into local agencies and private firms that manage fuels, grazing and restoration projects.

Beyond immediate student aid, the endowment signals a private investment in human capital that complements public spending on fire mitigation and ecosystem health. For Humboldt County, where forestry and rangeland work intersect with economic livelihoods and public safety, building a diverse talent pipeline is both a workforce and resilience strategy. Encouraging women and other underrepresented groups into these fields can expand the local labor supply and bring new perspectives to long-term land stewardship.

Local residents who want to learn more or support the endowment can contact the Cal Poly Humboldt Foundation online at now.humboldt.edu. The foundation manages gifts and can provide information on donating or establishing similar awards that target tuition relief and workforce development.

Our two cents? If you want healthier forests and more local jobs, supporting students is one of the most direct ways to invest in Humboldt’s future.