Peyton May

UAV Operator

Peyton joined the CLERC Family in April of 2022 as CLERKS Certified Drone Pilot. Peyton works part time for CLERC and full time as a Vegetation Program Manager for a California utility company. He will continue this role while working for CLERC on his days off with the utility company. Peyton has an FAA 107 Drone License, is a certified Gunsmith, and is currently studying for his ISA Arboriculture recertification.
Since entering the environmental work force in 2007, Peyton has gained 12 years of tree work experience, knowledge in fire safety & prevention, and project planning experience from three major California electrical utilities companies. Additionally, Peyton has a combined 4 years of experience as an FAA 107 Drone Operator. He spent two years operating his own Hawaii based drone services company and continued his passion when he returned to Lake County. He has a strong understanding of state and federal Utility Vegetation requirements, Arboriculture practices, and FAA commercial Drone (SUAS/UAV) regulations.

Born and raised in Lake County, Peyton grew up in Clearlake. He understands the importance of forest health and the role it has in wildfire prevention from his personal experiences living there. During his childhood, he spent much of his time exploring the oak forests and watersheds of Lake County with his two brothers. During his teenage years, he enjoyed mountain boarding down dirt roads and hiking trails through Cobb Mountain and around the Cache Creek wilderness. His passion for local exploration continued to grow. By his 20’s, Peyton began pushing further and further into the untouched wilderness of Lake County. Multi-day back packing trips into the Cache Creek wilderness & rafting the rapids, cave & mine exploration, and repelling down Mt. Konocti were typical activities he enjoyed in his spare time.
With a family of his own now, Peyton enjoys taking his wife and daughter on hikes and cooling off in local swimming holes.