Breaking traditions with Caltrans. Its how we roll in Sonoma County.
Tradition! Getting back to the reason for Thanksgiving –a holiday for the purpose of Giving Thanks, of feeling grateful for the bounty of the land, for family and friends, and for surviving another year in challenging times. As I write this I feel deep gratitude for the rain -- a break from the anxiety of the long fire season. And yet how quickly we all turned from rain gratitude to sending out flash flood warnings, and worrying over downed trees, mudslides, and floodwater in homes. I am grateful for every day when the balance of sun and rain in equal measure nourishes us and the earth. Sadly, this balance in increasingly out of whack. Droughts, fires, floods are becoming new traditions – ones we don’t want to hold onto. How can we keep the traditions, habits that we love and are grateful for, while identifying and letting go of those that are contributing to the disasters that are destroying the comforts and life we are used to?
From the personal scale to the county-wide actions, we need to pay attention to create managed strategies to address climate change. And the time is now. We are hardwired to holding onto our traditional way of doing things and it takes a crisis, or many crises, to move us.
In October, CalTrans held a groundbreaking on the Highway 1 Gleason Beach Realignment. It was a milestone in many ways. The site itself was in many ways indicative of the old ways of doing things: emergency projects responding to coastal erosion and sea level rise. A concrete culvert that had cut off a traditional salmon spawning site. And little to no collaboration with the native tribes who occupied the land for generations before our arrival.
The process created by the realignment project, however, represents a new way of doing things. The groundbreaking commemorated the first time that the First Nations tribes of the Kashia Band of the Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria and the Graton Rancheria Coastal Miwok and Pomo Indians were part of the collaborating entities on the project. Representatives spoke of the gratitude we will feel when seeing the salmon return to spawn up the creek blocked for so long. While statements honoring the tribal past on the land are appropriate, collaboration is the true way to acknowledge Tribes’ right to remain on and be part of the land going forward.
The Gleason Realignment is an early attempt to incorporate the strategy of Managed Retreat at our coastline. The science is here. The information is in front of us. Our policies are finally reflecting this new reality. In May the County established a $10 million fund for climate resilience. Since then we have hired a climate resilience team led by Barbara Lee to work across all county departments to mitigate and adapt to climate change. And these efforts incorporate an environmental justice lens to meet goals of racial and economic equity.
Incorporating policies to reverse and adapt to climate change has been a north star goal for our team at District 5. In November, District Director Leo Chyi and I will be attending the UN Climate Change conference (COP26) to learn from and share knowledge with leaders and policy makers who are developing new ways to address ecosystem protection and resilient infrastructure. We were invited as part of the Global Council for Science and the Environment’s delegation to highlight data-driven policy efforts in local government. I’m honored to be speaking on two different panels: one on local climate action with an equity lens, and one on academic/governmental partnerships. Don’t worry, though — wherever I go, I always keep one foot in West County, and will be checking in on the District every day! I hope to bring back ideas for new strategies and initiatives that we can implement right here at home to combat climate change and adapt to our new climate reality.
Speaking of decisions we make at home: on a personal level, how can Thanksgiving and Holiday traditions be adapted to stop behavior that is toxic to the planet and our small businesses? We are all in this together! Changing traditions requires setting aside time to think about our actions and make new plans. Small businesses across the County are struggling - so I hope you’ll consider making a climate-friendly pledge this year to break the Amazon habit and create a family tradition of gift shopping in our small towns. Our goal is that in many small businesses you’ll find branded merchandise from the Russian River Revitalization project that will keep plastics out of the watershed and celebrate the Russian River. We are collaborating on rolling out citizen science projects to monitor the health of the watershed, and coastal clean ups that give opportunities for family and friends to get out and enjoy our gorgeous natural bounty while contributing to stewardship of the environment. That way, our tradition of gratitude for the natural beauty of West County can be put into action.
