#Land stewardship

[wachinyeya]

https://ktla.com/news/california/goats-unleashed-by-san-manuel-tribe-as-part-of-fire-prevention-strategy/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaaJJAE-Kl55wk4vm1cYc0zjGRUEv8w6ps0HX0z-rxwwa7YXnTDCsgIU2vs_aem_0djT-2NoD-E87Ic6UeeqGw

Firefighting goats have been deployed by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to protect tribal land and neighboring property from potentially devastating brush fires.

The goats are unleashed by the San Manuel Fire Department to eat up dry brush and grass that would normally be ideal fuel for fires — a recent fire was actually partially stopped once it reached an area cleared by the caprine crew earlier this year.

The herd, officials said, is about 400-strong and is made up of generations of goat families.

On Tuesday, the goats were treated to a feast of fruit before being sent on their brush-eating mission.

The goats will spend the next several months trimming and thinning out vegetation on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Reservation and nearby properties in San Bernardino.

Tribal officials said the brush that covers the hillsides in and around San Manuel property is thriving and diverse, boosted by the recent history-making rainy season. The plant life is an ideal food source because goats prefer food that’s at their eye level.

The Tribe has used goats as a natural, environmentally friendly fire preventative tool since 2019; the plants get trimmed in a sustainable fashion, which allows them to survive and recover naturally overtime unlike most chemical sprays.

Tribal officials called the practice an extension of the Tribe’s “culture of lands stewardship.”

“Caring for the land is a sacred duty of the Tribe,” said Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. “Stewardship is a responsibility given to our people by the Creator. No matter who owns the land.”

San Bernardino County residents shouldn’t be surprised to see the goats in the mountains fulfilling this divine task from now through the end of fire season.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

🌿An Earth Day fusion repost from @theimeu and @muchachafanzine.

🌿In honor of Earth Day, please visit @zaytoun_cic, @handmadepalestine, or @plant.eenolijfboom to plant an olive tree in Palestine. 🕊

🌿From @theimeu:

This Earth Day, we mourn the 34,000+ Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza and Israel’s continued degradation of Gaza’s land, water, and other natural resources that make life possible for Palestinians.

In the past 6 months alone, Israel has destroyed farmland and greenhouses, contaminated natural resources with hazardous materials, bombed key water purifying infrastructure and wells, and created conditions for epidemics caused by an extreme excess of sewage, waste, and pollution.

Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s environment is part of its goal of making life for Palestinians in Gaza unlivable.

Link in bio to contact your reps and urge an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the immediate suspension of all arms and funds to Israel.

Sources: The Guardian, Scientific American

🌿From @muchachafanzine:

Reminder this #EarthDay that from Turtle Island to Pa1estine, your environmentalism doesn’t mean sh!t if you don’t support giving the #LandBack to Indigenous people. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[crippled-peeper]

My 3rd summer in this part of the country has been going so great despite all the drama in my personal life (my disability hearing etc)

My favorite, FAVORITE thing is finding little populations of native flowers that *I* planted 2 falls ago and they’re fully grown now, have gone to seed, and are slowly taking over the trails where there used to be just invasives and muck

I feel so rewarded encountering these little populations I planted directly. If I left I would’ve never known how many flowers exist because of my neuroticism :) 🌸

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 048 - Land Healing with Dana O'Driscoll

Now available on the Nerd & Tie Podcast Network and your favorite podcatcher!

Multi-talented author, artist, permaculturist, and head of the AODA Dana O’Driscoll drops by the virtual studio to discuss her newest book, “Land Healing: Physical, Metaphysical, and Ritual Practices for Healing the Earth.” Among the topics discussed are processes and procedures for connecting with the land spirits where you live, what’s in a crane bag, and how we can practice good stewardship and become responsible ancestors.

Check out her other works – 

Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year Through Earth-Centered Sustainable Practices The Plant Spirit Oracle The Druids Garden blog The Druids Garden etsy shop

Visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items. Make sure you also visit the Redbubble page for even more cool merch!

Check my ⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Proud member of the ⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠.

See you in October!

Upcoming Events:

Styx & Stones on Facebook Follow for upcoming moon markets!

Cottage Witch Market Sunday, July 28 2024, 12pm-6pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA Hosted by River City Witch Markets

Free Spirit Gathering August 6-11, 2024 Camp Ramblewood, Darlington MD Free Spirit Gathering Website⁠ ⁠Use my referral link to sign up!⁠ ⁠Free Spirit Gathering Policies⁠  (PLEASE READ IF PLANNING TO ATTEND)

Norse Witch Market Sunday, August 18 2024, 12pm-5pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA Hosted by River City Witch Markets

Pumpkin Witch Market Sunday, Sept 22 2024, 12pm-5pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA Hosted by River City Witch Markets

CritWitchCon 2024 September 27-29, 2024 Online Gathering via Zoom “Perception / Perspective Check” Hosted by Critical Thinking Witch Collective

MUSIC CREDITS

Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance” Host-Read Ads – “Danse Macabre – Violin Hook” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[padawan-historian]

(1) A Palestinian woman picking grapes

(2) Rabeha al-Husayni poses with her teacher at Schmidt-Schule (1930)

(3) Two women work to harvest cucumber crops in Birket Ramadan, also called Naher al-Faleq (June 1940)

(4) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (1915)

(5) Girls waving from the Barajneh Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon (1980- 1985)

(6) Graduates from the Friends School in Ramallah (1940)

(7) Abla Dajani with her bike in front of her family home in Lower Baq'a (1947)

(8) Christmas at the Christmas Herald Orphanage in Jerusalem (1919)

(9) A Bedouin family pose at the Tomb of Lazarus located near Jerusalem (1890s)

(10) A group of students in Ramah (1915)

Sources: Palestinian Museum, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestinian Question, British Mandate Jerusalemites Photo Library, and G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection

[roarrrrrrobinisincognito]

airplane spam cuz GODDAMN MOTHER EARTH IS FUCKING STUNNING i wanna fight for her 🙂‍↕️🫡

[ghostoffuturespast]

22 September 2023 - Friday Field Notes

Field work is not glamorous.

It doesn’t matter what field you work in. Often times you’re outside for hours on end, the weather doesn’t cooperate when you need it too, you’re covered in sweat, in dirt, you’re overworked, you’re underpaid, your organization is understaffed, you don’t have the resources or the equipment you need to do the work, and trying to get people to give a shit and effect the change that needs to happen is a perpetual uphill battle that rivals Sisyphus’s eternal punishment. But you adapt, you improvise, and you do the work anyway.

Because it’s important. Because it matters. To me. To you. And to every living thing on this planet. You do it so things can grow and thrive.

Part of my job doing restoration work is removal and management of invasive species, like this Mullein pictured above. Now, Mullein is a plant that originated in Europe and Asia and was brought over to North America for cultivation purposes.

However, it didn't originate in the ecosystems in N. America, didn't evolve along with the local flora and fauna, it has no biological checks in the Great Plains to keep it from overrunning an area like it would in Europe or Asia. Not having any biological checks allows species to create monocultures, which isn't great because it reduces the overall biodiversity of an ecosystem, making it less robust and unable to support the vast array of wildlife you should find in a given area. Some species in the Great Plains do utilize the Mullein as a resource, but again, since it didn't evolve here many species are essentially losing food and habitat because of this plant.

Monocultures also reduce the effectiveness of a habitat's ecosystem services that help support life for all living organisms. Including us. Clean air, clean water, nutrient rich soil to support the growth of food, capturing carbon to sequester to reduce climate change... All reliant on biodiversity. All reliant on populations of native plants.

It's not enough to just remove invasive species though. You can't take something out, without putting something back in. Good land management and stewardship practices should also restore ecosystems. Rabbitbrush and Rocky Mountain Bee Plant are both species that are native to my local area, and are a resource for all manner of species.

And that Bee Plant, we planted that last season. It was the only one that grew, but look at all the seed pods on that thing! Hopefully those seeds will go on to make even more Bee Plants and support even more wildlife!

I watched this documentary series last week for work and I'd highly recommend it. It's about the native seed supply chain in the western United States for restoration efforts. A really large area, that needs as much helps as it can get.

https://ser-insr.org/native-seed-film - You can watch it in sections, or they have a couple of different lengths depending on the time you have. But if you only have 12 minutes to give, for sure watch the introduction.

Now, I'd like to point out, these large scale efforts are important, but restoration efforts don't have to be big or elaborate. If you have a spare planting pot or a backyard, you have the ability to restore native habitat. You can bring those ecosystems to you. And it doesn't necessarily require you tearing out your whole yard or sacrificing the plants you do grow.

It may require a bit more homework (you're gonna have to research what plants are native to where you live), and some trial and error, but there are a lot of gorgeous native plants out there that require very little work once they're established compared to "traditional" garden plants.

Humans have carved out huge swathes of land for our own purposes, often to the detriment of other living things and ourselves. We've destroyed entire habitats and ecosystems due to human vanity and simply walked away. Cut our losses. Those habitats and ecosystems are lost. But the land is not gone. And who's to say all those things that are lost can't be found.

It's not easy work, but with some compassion, and a little bit of knowledge, and the willingness to be patient, perhaps we can weave the land back together. Not the way it was, but rather better.

A ghost can dream, right? And perhaps this Pronghorn does too.

It's hard to appreciate the subtle beauty of the prairie. It's not a forest. Not the ocean. Most people might only see grass and not see the richness. The diversity. But I've done a shit-ton of digging this week to try and install a native plant garden.

Field work, manual labor and sweating outside with a shovel, is not glamorous.

But I'm doing this so people can hopefully see the beauty of the prairie, so they can see the beauty in the land around them and perhaps consider planting some native plants of their own. So every living thing out here, big or small, can have a home.

And here's a Megacyllene (sp?), probably a Locust Borer Beetle. It has wasp stripes to dissuade predators from trying to eat it.

[defleftist]

Do people have the right to own property?

Legally? Yeah you can own land. Morally? That’s a bit more grey. I tend to think land stewardship is a more ethical concept. I often look to my indigenous friends for guidance on this.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The 1.4 million acres that are Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah are home to sacred Indigenous sites, cultural artifacts, countless wildlife—including desert bighorn sheep—and a cherished place for all to connect with the natural world. 

Please add your name in support of managing this vast landscape in full partnership with the Tribes who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

[protoslacker]

Since many of these traditional fire stewardship practices are criminalized under Canadian law, Indigenous people have not been able to manage the flammable materials near their local land. Now, due to climate change, higher than normal droughts and years of not practicing prescribed fires, Canada is seeing its worst wildfire season in history in terms of intensity and the number of fires.

Sissi De Flaviis at CTVNews.ca. Wildfires are disproportionately harming Indigenous communities

[stop-entropy-lie-down]

It's interesting that pro-nature types seem to have settled on 'biodiversity' as the measure of Goodness for an ecosystem or an area of land.

I think it's just a placeholder for 'naturalness', because un-humanified ecosystems tend to be very biodiverse (not that we've really seen many, especially since the age of discovery when humans found the last few islands).

Obviously everything is as natural/unnatural as anything else, but if we define natural as [being completely unaffected by and uninvolved with humans], any constant/stagnant state is unnatural for any area of land. A rainforest could desertify and most of the biodiversity disappear, and it would be just as natural. If a supernova boiled the oceans away and killed all life on Earth it would be completely natural - but Chris Packham would still protest it.

In land stewardship discussions I think it's useful to be very clear about what our actual aims are. 'Goodness' only means that it benefits sentient humans (and in my opinion many non-human animals). When we protect a rainforest it is because:

More biodiverse ecosystems tend to absorb more CO2, so climate change will slow down and humans will be happier

Humans tend to like that nature exists, and to look at it and be surrounded by it (including religious and emotional connections)

More biodiverse ecosystems often contain resourcess which are very useful to humans but aren't economically favourable to preserve under capitalism (e.g. forest gardens, huntable animals, undiscovered (or sometimes 'undiscovered') medicines)

I'm sure there are other benefits that I can't think of at the moment, but the point is that if something is 'good' it has to be good for someone.

I'm much less certain in saying that 'natural' areas are better to live in for non-human animals, but they do seem to support more lives. Whether that is Good is an open question.

Concomitantly it is also often Good to destroy part of an ecosystem. Humans need to eat food and subsistence farming sucks - a bit of wheat monoculture is very efficient and makes a lot of people's lives better. I like living in a warm dry house, and those make a lot of people's lives a lot better. etc.

In conclusion: anprims are full of shit.

[aquitainequeen]

Evicted from its ancestral land in the 1970s, a Maasai community has made good on its promise to reclaim the territory. Now it’s working to repeat the success elsewhere

Indigenous leaders across the globe are winning game changing environmental victories against the odds. In our ‘guardians of the wild’ series, we hear from those who have defeated oil companies, cancelled mining contracts and won the right to stewardship of millions of acres of land, risking their lives to protect the wildest places on our planet.

Read more...

[salonnierealexis]

The Chumash are looking to Mai Ka Pō Mai – a Hawaiian initiative that brings together federal agencies and Indigenous people to manage the land in the north-western Hawaiian islands – for inspiration. Such a collaboration has yet to translate to the US mainland , where for centuries government agencies have been at odds with Indigenous stewardship. “When land is conserved, native people are also eliminated from it,” Palumbi says. “That’s happened in pretty much every national park. There’s a strong movement to reverse that change but the damage has already been done.”

‘Six times the size of Yosemite’: the new tribal sanctuary off the super-rich California coast

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/18/six-times-the-size-of-yosemite-the-new-marine-sanctuary-for-the-super-rich-la-coast

[roarrrrrrobinisincognito]

✨farm photo spam✨

love is so abundant, love is so healing, love freely

i am so grateful for this beautifully abundant, chaotic life