Photo of Alicia Herrera – by David Ledger
Redding residents were treated to an in-depth report on monitoring soil, plant, and wildlife habitat on California Rangelands by Alicia Herrera, an ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science. After her talk, Jonathon Freeman of the Native Roots Network gave us an update on the Medicine Lake (Sattitla) National Monument effort in Siskiyou County.
Alicia and Point Blue scientists work cooperatively with landowners to help them understand and develop a plan that can provide the best ecological standards for their rangelands. With rangelands occupying 57 million acres of land in California, this is an important way to help preserve wildlife habitat and protect and increase soil productivity.
Perhaps her most controversial finding was that Project Blue and other soil scientists had discovered that rangeland soils store more carbon than any other land use in California. Rangeland, if properly managed and not overgrazed, helps achieve this. Rangelands primarily include grasslands, shrubland, savannahs, wetlands, and woodlands.
Her informative and provocative talk kept the audience engaged and brought about 30 minutes of questions from the audience indicating their interest in her presentation. To learn more please visit the Point Blue Conservation Science website at https://www.pointblue.org/
After her talk, Jonathon Freeman of Native Roots Network gave us some promising updates on the efforts to have Medicine Lake Highlands (Sattitla) declared a National Monument and a decision is in the last stage of development. Jonathon also briefly discussed Native Roots Networks’ success in acquiring 1200 acres of land in the Jones Valley/Bella Vista area. To learn more about the Native Roots Network go to https://www.nativerootsnetwork.org/