Summer 2021 Newsletter
Notes from the Native Stewardship Corps
By Lawrence Atencio, NSC Field Manager
Greetings to all. I Lawrence Atencio, Field Manager for the Native Stewardship Corps (NSC), would like to inform you of our projects and operations.
On May 24, 2021, we were pleased to welcome four new Stewards to our crew: Ian Girouard, Michael Carabajal, Moses Pardo, and Esak Ordonez. After two days of new employee orientation and program overview, the new stewards were introduced to the Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve, where they received training in safety awareness, proper use of personal protective equipment, and how to aid in hazardous fuel reduction. I look forward to their support, contributions, and their development as Native Stewards, not only on the job site but wherever they may interact with Mother Earth and Creator.
The NSC has been without a permanent program headquarters since the CZU Lightning Complex fires last August. Out of necessity we have become a mobile unit. Donations following the fires allowed AMLT to purchase the equipment needed to be able to move headquarters from project site to project site. We are also in the process of purchasing an additional work truck to aid in the transportation of crew members and supplies. You can make a tax-deductible donation to support these efforts here.
The NSC continues to grow, with new staff, new projects, and new opportunities for the Stewards to learn and practice Indigenous stewardship. Below are some highlights of both new and ongoing work of the NSC.
NSC members plant surveying at Mount Umunhum. Photo by Lawrence Atencio.
Mount Umunhum Invasive Plant Management, June 7 -18, 2021: The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band holds a cultural conservation easement on the summit of Mt. Umunhum, which is the site of the Tribe’s creation story. The cultural conservation easement and associated Memorandum of Understanding give the Amah Mutsun the responsibility for restoring, conserving, and stewarding natural and cultural resources at Mt. Umunhum. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), which owns Mt. Umunhum and the surrounding Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve, entered into a contract with AMLT in 2019 for the NSC to provide invasive species removal services within the cultural conservation easement. This project was delayed a year due to Covid-19, but finally this June the NSC began removing invasive species from the treatment area.
NSC members removing invasive species at Mount Umunhum. Photo by Lawrence Atencio.
Stewards had the experience of camping on Mt. Umunhum and were exposed to new plant identification and mechanical treatment methods. The most wanted weeds on our list to treat were: Yellow Starthistle, Medusahead, Malta Starthistle, Spanish Broom, Portuguese Broom, Everlasting Pea, and Bull Thistle. These species derived from Europe and are aggressively out-competing native plants by prolifically producing and spreading their seed and disrupting ecological function. We were just in time to treat the majority of these species except for the Spanish Broom, to prevent another year of seed production. Treatment was done using hand tools, chainsaws, weed whips, and a device called a weed wrench. Stewards also participated in a pre-treatment monitoring analysis. The work was physically challenging and Stewards dealt with the cold, wind, and heat, but we were proud to treat as many species and acres as time and conditions allowed. This is the first year of what will be ongoing work, and we look forward to future work on Mt. Umunhum and seeing our stewardship making a difference.
NSC members working at Soquel Demonstration State Forest. Photo by Marcella Luna.
Soquel Demonstration State Forest Fire Project, May 10-20: This is a new project in collaboration with CAL FIRE that has Native Stewards doing on the ground implementation of prescriptions for the 24-Acre Sulphur Springs Prescribed-Pre-Burn Treatment Project. The NSC Crew was faced with creating a challenging 1 mile of fire hand line that was up very steep terrain and overcrowded by a dense forest canopy. Stewards also aided in hazardous fuel reduction by thinning and chipping woody vegetation along Sulphur Springs road to enhance a fuel buffer and containment line. Around 10 acres were thinned and treated within prescription and canopy spacing within the 8- day work period. The fire hand line was also completed on the last day. Overall, the work here was more challenging and physically demanding, but our crew did an excellent job. The NSC will continue to participate in this project, being present for the prescribed burn, participating in monitoring burn effects, and providing educational opportunities for the public.
NSC members constructing hoop greenhouse at Cascade Ranch for propagation project. Photo by Lawrence Atencio.
Cascade Ranch Plant Propagation Project (Ongoing): The NSC aided in the construction of a large hoop greenhouse, seed tray tables, seeding of native species seed trays, and conducted other tasks necessary to bring native life into the greenhouse for AMLT’s new project to propagate plants for coastal prairie restoration in Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve. You can read more about this project here.
Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve (QVCP) Fuel Reduction (Ongoing): The NSC Crew continues to reduce hazardous fuels and restore coastal prairie within QVCP by thinning encroaching Douglas Fir monotype stands along with other noxious and/or invasive species in an effort to promote native species diversity and plant community resilience. This project is a long-term collaboration with California State Parks and the Resource Conservation District of San Mateo County, and we are pleased to share that our contract was just renewed with ample funding to continue this work into 2023 and beyond.
The next resource management goal is to reintroduce fire as a culturally significant spirit/force to serve as a land management tool. In addition to continuing our work of reducing hazardous fuels and conducting controlled pile burns, AMLT and State Parks managers are working to create a burn plan that will allow for a broadcast cultural burn to happen in this location for the first time in contemporary history. We acknowledge that the land is currently missing this sacred and necessary component of fire which is vital in promoting ecological balance and is also a respectful ceremony that revitalizes the sacredness of the land. The AMLT Native Stewardship Corps is ready to restore these important processes, and we are grateful for the support of our partners and donors in helping make this work possible.