Blog

Producer's Journal: STS makes 2009 Top Ten List of Best International Multi-media Projects

Catherine Stifter — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:07:10 -0800

Professor Patricia Zimmerman has named STS to her list of the Ten Best International Multi-Platform Web 2.0 Projects of 2009 that Torque Documentary Form. Who knew there was such a list? We are honored to be on it.

Zimmerman writes, "Saving the Sierra, coordinated by Catherine Stifter and jesikah maria ross, is a compelling, elegant, clear-sighted regional project chronicling the culture, economy and environment of the Sierra Nevada as it confronts development challenging sustainability. It marshalls public media, radio documentary, citizen storytelling, and story mapping. The multiple and diverse voices in this project as a mighty and awe inspiring as Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and the sequoias, the spectacles and clichés of the Sierras."

Thanks to all of our partners and funders along with the Sierra residents and Sierra lovers who shared their stories.

STS blog in hiatus, for now

Catherine Stifter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:51:58 -0700

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of our regional media project, Saving The Sierra, which was funded in part by a grant from the California Council for Humanities and sponsored by The Sierra Fund, Center for Sierra Nevada Studies at Sierra College, The Sierra Nevada Alliance, the Sierra Business Council and the Morgan Family Fund.

STS concluded in 2008 with the national broadcast of our public radio documentary. You can listen here, or download the podcast.

This Website serves as an interactive archive of our 3-year exploration of conservation in action. The Storybooth contains 100 stories of people who care about the Sierra Nevada.

Search the Blog topics for essays and resources about the ecology, economy and community of the Sierra.

We welcome inquiries from individual or groups who would like to revive the Blog as a learning tool. Contact us at info@savingthesierra.org

Here's to the Sierra, all her residents (human and otherwise) and all the explorers who have found wonders here.

Obama's Agenda for Rural America

Catherine Stifter — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:46:26 -0800

From the new whitehouse.gov website: "Rural communities face numerous challenges but also economic opportunities unlike anything we have witnessed in modern history. President Obama and Vice President Biden believe that together we can ensure a bright future for rural America. They will help family famers and rural small businesses find profitability in the marketplace and success in the global economy."

Read the outline of plans for sustaining family farms, promoting agriculture, preserving private lands, and building rural connectivity and infrastructure.

Malcolm Margolin, founder of Heyday Books, wins Lannan Culture Freedom Award

Catherine Stifter — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:19:10 -0800

Santa Fe, NM-- Lannan Foundation announced that it has recognized five human rights advocates with Cultural Freedom Awards for 2008. Recipients of the awards represent the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

The purpose of the Lannan Cultural Freedom Award is to recognize individuals working on behalf of communities struggling to uphold and defend their right to cultural freedom and diversity. As defined by the Foundation, Cultural Freedom is a basic human right dependent on political, economic, and environmental justice.

A total of $750,000 has been awarded for these individuals' work towards environmental justice, stopping violence against women and children, border justice, Native American cultural preservation and revitalization, and prisoners' rights.

Those recognized are: Bradley Angel, an environmental justice activist working to stop toxic polluters that target low-income communities; Esther Chávez Cano, founder of a violence prevention and treatment shelter protecting women and children in the Juarez region in Mexico; Isabel Garcia, a public defender who works on behalf of immigrants in the American Southwest; Malcolm Margolin, a book publisher who helps advance the cultural rights of American Indians indigenous to the state of California; and Clive Stafford Smith, a legal defender who represents Guantanamo detainees and prisoners on death row in the United States and around the world.

According to Foundation President Patrick Lannan, "All of the individuals honored this year have tirelessly committed themselves to improving and protecting the lives of the most politically and economically marginalized segments of society, oftentimes making personal sacrifices and sometimes risking their own safety for the well-being of others. We are honored to recognize these five heroes as shining examples in the fight for cultural freedom."

Malcolm Margolin is the founder of Heyday Books, established in 1974. The mission of Heyday Books is to deepen people's appreciation and understanding of California's cultural, natural, historic, literary, and artistic resources. In the last thirty-five years, the press has evolved from a one-person operation to a nonprofit cultural organization that publishes twenty-five books and sponsors more than 200 events a year. In 2007, seven books published by Heyday were traveling the state in the form of museum shows, and PBS produced three films based on books published by Heyday.

Mr. Margolin's vision has led the press to be especially active in publishing works by and about the California Indian community. Over the years Heyday has published more than thirty books on California Indians and since 1987 has been distributing News from Native California, a quarterly magazine devoted to California Indian culture and history. Many of the existing tribes indigenous to the state of California were nearly wiped out, due to disease, enslavement, and institutionalized genocide. Today, while a number of traditional cultural practices and Native languages are on the brink of extinction, News from Native California has been a strong force in helping to spark a revitalization of California Indian languages and cultures, a renaissance currently taking place in many Native communities throughout the state. In the role of publisher, Mr. Margolin has had the privilege of witnessing and supporting widespread cultural revival efforts in language, dance, basketweaving, storytelling, religious practice, and other areas of life. The press has served as a vehicle of communication among diverse people and various organizations, and networks were created as an indirect result of their efforts.

Mr. Margolin is the author of four books, the best known of them being The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco - Monterey Bay Area, named by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the 100 most important books written by a westerner in the twentieth century.

Mr. Margolin was born in Boston in 1940, grew up there, and graduated from Harvard College in 1964. He has lived in Berkeley, California, since arriving there in a VW bus in the late 1960's.

Chinese Whispers: Sierra Stories

Catherine Stifter — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:24:14 -0800

A new project, funded by the California Story Fund, and produced by the Arts Council of Placer County, will remember Chinese workers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad.

More than 15,000 Chinese worked on the Transcontinental Railroad between 1865 and 1869, but virtually no record of individual Chinese lives exists. This project will gather stories and memories of the Chinese workers of that era, passed down through the generations.

The general public will have an opportunity to hear and discuss the stories at a storytelling event in Roseville in summer 2009. “Communities in the Sierra Foothills, where Chinese laborers lived, have undergone demographic shifts that weaken residents’ connection to local history," said Project Director Rene Yung. “This project will help uncover stories about Chinese railroad workers before these second- and third-generation received memories disappear.”

We're looking forward to these Sierra stories!

Storytelling at River Ridge Ranch

Catherine Stifter — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:06:10 -0800

Voices of the Valley storytelling guild holds forth on River Ridge Ranch.

Picnic from 6 – 6:30 and then be spellbound from 6:30 – 8:30 as the yarns spin in the Pavilion.

Bring a flashlight, warm jacket and good cheer.

Highway 190 through Springville, left at the big white barn 1.6 miles to 37794 Balch Park Road, on the right.

Call for more info: 559-539-0207

Clover Valley Updates from Marilyn Jasper, President

Catherine Stifter — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:19:01 -0800

Marilyn Jasper of the Clover Valley Foundation sends this update and announcement:

Governor’s Award: We are very pleased to announce that our almost decade-long battle to save Clover Valley has been recognized with a highly regarded award from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office! Save Clover Valley has been selected to receive a “Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for 2008.” As stated in the announcement, “This prestigious award is the only official preservation award presented by the State of California to worthy recipients in recognition of outstanding achievements in the field of historic preservation…. in recognition of your exceptional historic preservation efforts on behalf of California’s cultural heritage.”

Although a “preservation deal” between the city of Rocklin, developer/owners, and casino tribe has been touted, the details remain vague, if not downright dubious, and focus only on 65 acres. We cannot shout or repeat this enough: Our work is NOT finished. We must continue the effort to preserve Clover Valley’s most valuable resources. There have been gains, yes, but Clover Valley is far from being preserved as it should be in perpetuity. The Governor’s Award recognizes, validates and reinforces years of dedicated determination by the Save Clover Valley’s grassroots groups. The diverse ecological richness of Clover Valley, its historic and cultural significance, and its unique location as a pristine regional gem and buffer, must not be destroyed by yet another unnecessary, sprawling development. Our vision of a “Clover Valley Historic Nature Preserve” remains viable as Save Clover Valley Coalition and Clover Valley Foundation continue to work toward that end. We are most honored by this award!

Litigation: The first court hearing with the lawsuits brought by Clover Valley Foundation, Sierra Club, and the Town of Loomis took place in Superior Court (Sacramento) on October 10 and was continued with Judge Lloyd Connelly requesting more briefs and replies. As we await decisions, additional motions may be filed. Stay tuned.

We continue to solicit donations from you, our supporters, as we stay the course. The fight to save Clover Valley is far from over, and we’re in it for the long haul. We sincerely believe all sides can come together to work out a resolution that will save Clover Valley’s 622 acres of unique concentration of wetlands, woodlands, wildlife, perennial creek, meadows, scenic ridges, historic, and prehistoric elements and, at the same time, satisfy all parties. Thank you for your years of support!

Marilyn Jasper, President

Mule Powered Farming for Small Farm Progress Days

Catherine Stifter — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:56:06 -0700

To celebrate Small Farm Progress Days going on right now in the northern Sierra, we bring you the story of a Sierra farmer who saves a lot of fuel by farming the old-fashioned way. Produced by Tamara Keith of The California Report.

Enjoy hearing Dan Macon of Flying Mule Farms wrangle with Frisbee, the mule. Then, watch a YouTube video of Dan and Frisbee.

Producer's Journal: Salmon are back again in the Yuba River, but how many will return?

Catherine Stifter — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:11:45 -0700

I spent a few hours in a raft yesterday with a smile on my face, put there by a fish.

It was a big smile because I saw more Chinook salmon than any other time I've been out looking for them over the past 3 years. They made it back from the ocean, up the delta, and over Daguerre Point Dam to lay and fertilize eggs in the gravels of the lower Yuba. I was surprised to see so many this early. But I realize this is no indicator of whether we will have a high return this year or another low return, like last year's dismal count of about 2600. Predictions point to a low year. But we'll see.

The local Maidus have been Calling Back the Salmon for 3 years now. They say we humans will need to make ourselves ready for their return. Perhaps we are not there yet.

I was part of a float trip orientation for new folks who will be guiding SYRCL's Salmon Raft Trips over the next few weeks. And I watched more than a few of them smiling at fish, too. We saw perhaps 2 dozen live salmon working their reds (nests) on a fabulously warm Fall day that only added to the satisfaction of our discovery. Among our group were SYRCL's Yuba Strategy Manager and Americorps members, Environmental Traveling Companions and OARS river guides; a great combo of naturalists and experiential educators who were learning more about the salmon life cycle, breeding habitat on the lower Yuba, and about the recent and future collaborations between environmental groups, business and community leaders who all agree on one thing: we want more fish to find their way back to spawning grounds on this river.

Call (415) 474-7662 to sign up for one of the public salmon raft trips this fall, guided by ETC with SYRCL river, salmon and habitat experts. Trips on are Saturdays: November 1, 8, 15.

Read the resolution for understanding, healing and action put forth by the Calling Back the Salmon Committee.

Read the press release about the most recent habitat restoration collaboration between SYRCL and Western Aggregates.

Read a Smithsonian Magazine article about why the Chinook (King) salmon have such a hard time making it back to spawn.

Listening to Eastside Stories

Catherine Stifter — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:06:28 -0700

Some of the most colorful stories in the history of the American West were written in the landscape known as the Eastern Sierra. Yet only the smallest fraction of visitors realizes the riches of the stories hidden in the scenery. The Roadside Heritage project aims to change all that by bringing you engaging-authentic-stories from one of the most beautiful areas of the western United States: California’s Eastern Sierra as told by those who live here.

Explore Google maps, see stunning photo galleries and download stories at this wonderful Web site.

The producers tell us that "The Roadside Heritage Project CD "Audio Stories from the Eastern Sierra: Paiute/Prospectors/Pioneers" is currently available for free at visitor centers, museums, and Chamber of Commerces in both Inyo and Mono County. The stories refer to places of interest along 395, but do not specifically coordinate with scenic markers on the highway, so the CD can be enjoyed where ever the listener may be."

Created by the Eastern Sierra Institute for Collaborative Education.