Please RSVP. Email mari@h2oprogressive.com to add your name to the list.
TOUR: Ten Years After: Paired Rimfire Treatment/Tuolumne-Stanislaus-Ackerson Meadow Tour
Tuesday, Nov. 7
9:00AM-2:00pm
RSVP Required.
Meet at Rush Creek Event Center
Come see the restoration work that has taken place during the last 10 years of the Rim Fire to revive and restore the fire footprint. From fuel breaks to reforestation, thinning to meadow restoration, to volunteers and partners, hear and see the stories of the community striving to restore a portion of the once devastating Rim Fire. We will discuss two perspectives of forest health, fire and water: 1) how do large fires impact the watershed, water quality and water supply; and 2) how do we use local preventive fuels treatments at a landscape proportion. We will visit The Stanislaus Landscape Project (SLP) proposes to change the way fire behaves on the landscape and be able to see firsthand the 2023 implementation of the SERAL (Social and Ecological Restoration Across the Landscape) project as it happens. From fuel breaks to prescribed fire, witness the post treatment impacts of being proactive! Spending money up front to impact high intensity fires rather than spending millions in putting out these mega fires with no return on investment. Join us for how local forest health management can connect our water and fire resilience efforts to our rural and urban communities.
Tour Logistics: Meet at Rush Creek Event Center. If weather, meet at Rush Creek Lodge for slideshow and discussion of the tour elements with local USFS representatives.
Tour Lunch: On your own. Bring bag lunch and water bottle. Water and snacks will be available.
Tour Capacity: Must RSVP, Limited tour capacity. Van capacity limited, carpool vehicles limited and arranged by LCW Coordinator
ACTIVITY: City of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp Restoration (Tour & Hands-on)
Tuesday, Nov. 7
10:30AM-2:00PM
Meet at Rush Creek Event Center
Berkeley Tuolumne Camp was created in 1922 from the legacy of John Muir, as he got the US Forest Service to incentivize municipalities to build camps with $1/year leases for 99 years! “Let’s get people out of the city and into the mountains”! he said. Since then the camp has served families from all over the Bay Area and beyond, but in 2013, Camp Tuolumne was one of the worst physical losses and was burned to the ground in The Rim Fire. The City of Berkeley, US Forest Service, Watershed Progressive, Rush Creek Lodge and the Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp (FOBTC) all rallied together to rebuild the camp, as well as other wonderful stakeholders. It took nine years and $57 million dollars. FOBTC has planted over 16,000 trees in the Rim Fire Recovery Zone so far, and is continuing to do so.
Come take a tour with the Executive Director of The Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, Scott Gelfand, who will show you how special this family camp is, and how important and wonderful collaboration can be.
There will also be the opportunity to plant a tree if you’d like to take advantage and add to the rebuilding of the healthy Stanislaus National Forest right at camp.
Tour Logistics: Meet at Rush Creek Event Center.
Tour Lunch: On your own. Bring water bottle and snacks, or bag lunch if staying past tour.
Where Is The Water Going? Exploring an Invisible World: Localizing Water In Real Time
with Soil Scientist Michael Hogan
Tuesday, Nov. 7
1:00PM-2:00PM
Meet at Rush Creek Event Center
The ability to localize water begins with the soil. This workshop will explore the marriage of water and soil with an emphasis on soil optimization and restoration as the foundation of watershed function. While the function of soil is mostly invisible and often overlooked in landscape restoration, we will demonstrate techniques and materials used to restore and optimize soil function, minimize erosion, maximize infiltration, sink carbon and enhance conditions for native plant communities. Coincidentally, many of the materials used also reduce landfill ‘waste’, converting what was once considered waste into useful enhancement materials.
In this workshop, we will demonstrate the use equipment and hand tools to transform a compacted soil into a high infiltration medium. We will use a runoff simulator to show and measure the increased capacity of that soil to capture water and minimize runoff.
Nature Immersion Evening Forest Walk
Tuesday, Nov. 7
3:00PM-4:30PM
Meet at Rush Creek Event Center
Slow down Honor Relax Restore Reset Reconnect Re-awaken Re-member
Honoring ancient human practices of nature connection that are reflected in ancestral Indigenous Knowledge all over the world. In a forest, or other natural environment, you will be given directions, in the form of an invitation, that is meant to assist you in slowing down, relaxing, and observing with all of your senses. Unlike a naturalist walk, it isn’t so much about knowing all of the names of the plants, as it is about noticing which plants, that your body, mind, and spirit feel pulled to. It is more about being “here” in the present moment, then it is about being “there”. An integrative mindfulness practice that can help us to let all of the miscellaneous fall away. You may begin to notice things in a way that you may not have noticed them before. It is a kind of nervous system “reset”, and has been shown to lower stress hormone production, anxiety, influence immune defense, elevate mood states, creativity, and cognition. It has the potential to remind us of the Interconnection of All Things and our relationship to the Earth. The event ends with a tea made from native plants and some healthy snacks.
*Please plan to arrive on time. Otherwise, you may find we have left!
Please bring a water bottle with you, and layered clothing to adjust to weather/temperature changes.
Optional: Some people like to bring something to sit on, like a towel or a yoga mat. Some people don’t bring anything at all.
Optional: A notebook for writing and/or sketching if you wish.
This tour is full. There is a waitlist. Please email mari@h2oprogressive.com.