CALL TO ACTION

Oppose utilizing fossil fueled Western treatment methodologies for restoration

A statement from Theresa Harlan, Founder + Director, The Alliance for Felix Cove in opposition of: Tomales Bay State Park Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Public Works Plan

My name is Theresa Harlan. I am the director of the Alliance for Felix Cove. We are an all Indigenous women led organization working to rematriate my mother’s Támal-ko/Coast Miwok Felix Family home on the west shores of Tomales Bay at Point Reyes National Seashore. Our family lived at the cove mapped as Lairds Landing until the mid-1950s and was part of the community of Támal-ko families living in coves with fresh water streams including coves at Tomales Bay State Park. These written comments supplement my oral testimony on January 10, 2024 at the public hearing at Marconi Lodge.

I oppose the use of the PWP proposed activities (e.g., prescribed burning, mechanical treatment, herbicide application) because they are harmful to the plant and animal life at the Park.

I recommend Park staff leverage your California Natural Resources Agency’s work towards co-stewardship of public lands by bringing Indigenous ecologists to the table to add Indigenous-based solutions to the PWP. This could be the Park’s opportunity to exemplify co-stewardship practices and give real meaning to Agency’s movements to engage with California Indigenous peoples and traditional ecological knowledge practices. Agency appears to move towards removing historical and institutional practices of invalidating California Indigenous peoples, the knowledge they carry and their direct and continued relationship to ancestral homelands. This PWP does not acknowledge this work in a meaningful way.

I call your attention to missing elements in the PWP. As written the PWP does not include pros/cons, risk analysis, or cost analysis for any of the proposed activities and tools. It’s unclear if and when the administrative requirements and procedures direct the Park to share this information or if this information will be provided at another stage of the process. As members of the public we need to know what the potential harmful effects from the proposed activities and tools will be. This impedes the public’s ability to evaluate the impact if this plan is implemented. We are only provided with the benefits, making the PWP read more like a marketing brochure.

This ten year plan names state and local agency consultations, including tribal consultation with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. At the public hearing Park staff acknowledged the impact of the years of neglect since Coast Miwok stewardship ended. Bree Hardcastle stated, “Since colonization humans have dramatically altered the landscape of the Park and Tomales Bay. We’ve had profound impact on the vegetation resulting in habitat degradation.”

Why employ aggressive Western-based methodologies in the name of restoration? Why does the PWP ignore Indigenous ecology practices also known as traditional ecological knowledge as part of the solution for restoration? Parks can go further by putting into practice all of the good work currently underway with Agency’s 30x30, Tribal Affairs Department, Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program and the upcoming Indigenous Co-Stewardship of Public Lands, i.e., integrate and apply California Indigenous ecological knowledge and solutions. This would add tribal nature-based solutions to the PWP that respects and treats all living beings as our animal and plant relatives and as practiced by Támal-ko ancestors. The Park bears the responsibility to make the best decisions using state funds. The PWP should go further to demonstrate an awareness and incorporation of Indigenous ecological solutions in the PWP instead of only offering the identified activities and tools (e.g., prescribed burning, mechanical treatment, herbicide application).

Támal-ko ancestors would not employ destructive actions as it makes no sense to harm the very ecosystem that sustained and gave them life. They would not harm their Mother. Their descendants who are Indigenous ecologists would apply practices in alignment with ancestral teachings and recognition of the interconnectedness of all life beings. Why would the Park propose utilizing Western treatment methodologies such as fossil fueled heavy equipment to masticate trees and shrubs or herbicides for restoration?

The California Land Stewardship Network advocates “We understand our approach to conservation must evolve to be more inclusive and to support the leadership of under-resourced people and communities of color, who have long stewarded the land or been denied access to it. We can no longer work in isolation. We must leverage the tremendous power of partnerships to ensure that stewardship action drives the changes that both people and nature need.”

Here are a few resources familiar to me. There are many more within the state. The Cultural Conservancy is known as promoting Indigenous ecological practices. The Cultural Conservancy has an Indigenous food garden, Heron Shadow Farm. They are also known for teaching cultural burns with Redbird Willie, Indigenous ethnobotanists. Their board chair is Melissa Nelson, professor of Indigenous Sustainability at Arizona State College (Marin resident). Cultural burn experts include Don Hankins, professor of geography and planning at CSU Chico. There are more Indigenous ecologists this is just a few whom the Park could start conversations with to integrate Indigenous stewardship practices.

As Indigenous people we come to state and federal public lands not as tourists or outdoor enthusiasts, but as relatives returning home.

Respectfully,

Theresa Harlan, Director

Public Works Plan No. PWP-2-MAR-24-0001-1 (Tomales Bay State Park Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Public Works Plan)

The hearing originally scheduled on Friday, March 15, 2024 has been *postponed* but you can still submit your comments via email (see link in agenda). The Commission will hold a series of hearings this day starting at 9am and will move through each agenda item in order. This matter is on the agenda as item number 10a on Friday, March 15, 2024.

How to provide testimony at this hearing. Please see the Coastal Commission’s Virtual Hearing Procedures posted on the Coastal Commission’s webpage at www.coastal.ca.gov for details on the procedures of this hearing. If you would like to receive a paper copy of the Coastal Commission’s Virtual Hearing Procedures, please call 415-904-5202.