Doris Molakides is the founder of Sierra Queen Conservation, a fuels management and land stewardship company based in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California. After moving full time to her off grid ranch in Iowa Hill over a decade ago, Doris found herself responsible for managing hundreds of acres of forested land in a region heavily impacted by wildfire risk, overgrowth, and declining forest health.
Through firsthand experience living and working in the forest every day, she developed a deep understanding of land stewardship, wildfire resilience, and ecosystem restoration. Managing her own property led her to work extensively with state and federal cost share programs, including fuel reduction and forest health grants, where she gained hands on experience navigating project planning, implementation, compliance, and long term maintenance.
Rather than hiring the work out, Doris chose to learn the process herself, operating equipment, managing crews, thinning forests, reducing hazardous fuels, improving wildlife habitat, and restoring the health of the land through practical stewardship techniques. That experience ultimately inspired her to launch Sierra Queen Conservation to help other landowners complete similar projects on their own properties.
Her work now includes fuel mitigation, forest thinning, defensible space, invasive species management, mastication, prescribed fire, and long term landscape maintenance strategies designed to improve forest health and reduce wildfire intensity. Along the way, Doris also became certified in wildland fire operations and now contracts on active wildfire incidents throughout California.
With a background that combines hands on field experience, grant funded project management, and a genuine understanding of rural landownership challenges, Doris brings a practical, real world approach to conservation and wildfire mitigation work.
