A Band of Pomo takes on the task of restoring Ukiah Valley creek

During the Ukiah Valley Russian River Cleanup on September 28, we met a crew from the Pinoleville Pomo Nation at Ackerman Creek. Ackerman Creek, (Ya-Mo-Bida in Northern Pomo) runs through Pinoleville lands, and the Nation is working to restore the riparian habitat. Terri McCartney, Pinoleville Environmental Director, invited MendoFever to come check out the work being done at Pinoleville to preserve and protect Pinoleville natural resources.

Pinoleville is prioritizing the cleanup of Ackerman Creek because it is imperative to remove the toxic waste and plastics before Ackerman Creek restoration begins a cultural burn can be done, which will eliminate invasive species, improve soil quality, and reduce fuel load. 

The next steps for the clean-up effort include coordinating a task force of agencies and individuals to develop a long-term strategy for addressing the unhoused transient population living in Ackerman Creek and many of the other creek beds in the Ukiah Valley. The task force will include law enforcement, homeless services, Tribal and County substance abuse programs, Fish and Wildlife, and hopefully a broad spectrum of water agencies and social services.

Thanks to a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Nation is able to work on planning for Ackerman Creek Restoration and groundwater recharge. Yurok Tribe member Dakota Perez, originally from Klamath, is the Pinoleville Water Resources Specialist. He told us the NOAA grant is for the restoration of the critically endangered Central Coast Steelhead, Coho, and Chinook fisheries, and to improve groundwater recharge. 

As a Water Resources Specialist, Perez identifies source and non-source pollution in the watershed. Source pollution is discharged directly into the creek, such as from a culvert, or runoff from pesticides. A nonpoint source of pollution would be from people illegally camping along the creek and dumping their garbage. Pinoleville works with EPA programs for clean water under the Federally Funded Clean Water Act. The State Water Resources Control Board also provides programs for surface water and groundwater monitoring and cleanup. Perez monitors surface and groundwater testing for Pinoleville, which has its own wells and monitoring wells.

Restoring riparian habitat is a complex project. The first step is identifying existing conditions, including flows, critical spawning habitat, invasive species, elevations, and fire-adapted native plants that are suitable for collecting seeds for native plants that grow along the creek banks. GIS and Lidar imaging (a type of spatial mapping), and other technologies are used to get a detailed picture of the vegetation, soil depth, and other information. Then the seeds are started, and the plant starts are nurtured in a greenhouse. The restoration team, along with interns, goes out and replants the creek banks. Some of the plants are grown to full size to facilitate future seed collection. In the restoration garden, there were young alders, riparian rose, milkweed, willow, coyote bush, California fuchsia, elderberry, aster, native grape, and others.

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This native plant nursery will be providing plants and seeds for Ackerman Creek and other Northern California Tribes to use in riparian restoration. The restoration garden goes hand in hand with a community food and flower garden, planted in beds using hugelkulture, a raised bed, which contains large chunks of wood debris at the bottom, and then various organic materials and compost layered on top. Each Spring, seed and vegetable starts are available for Pinoleville Citizens.

Pinoleville has a team of Type 2 Certified Wildland Firefighters, including Tyrone Mitchell (also the Remote Stream Incubation Coordinator), and Tim Bettega. Bettega recently fought the fires in Lake County.

Mitchell spoke of the importance of restorative cultural fire. Preventative burning reduces the fuel load ahead of fire season. Speaking of wildfires, Mitchell said, “If we were cultural burning for the last 200 years, we wouldn’t be in this nightmare every summer.” Mitchell said that Pinoleville would like to share its successful restoration techniques with other agencies. The program is a blend of science, biology, and technology with traditional cultural methods.

The Community Garden grows traditional foods, one of which is mushrooms. Pinoleville’s mushroom incubation project uses logs that have been drilled with holes, into which mushroom spores are inserted. The mushrooms are of various native species, including lions mane, blue oyster, and turkey tail, along with non-native reishi mushrooms. Mitchell said they recently had a group dinner of traditional foods, including quail, buckeye mush, acorn mush, and mushrooms. He has seen pictures from the old days of giant baskets of acorns stored for the winter, and he is also working on cultivating acorns.

Pinoleville coordinates a robust internship program for young adults, to support the next generation of environmental workers and decision-makers. Some interns have participated for up to three years. The interns go on field trips and are taught how to gather seeds, the importance of cultural burning, work on restoration and water quality monitoring. The interns come from Pinoleville and neighboring tribes. The focus of the program is stewardship of the environment.

Pinoleville also works with the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, based in Lake County, “a cross-cultural, multi-organizational collaborative that works to revitalize ecology, economy, and culture through indigenous-led stewardship.” (from the TERA website). One of the current TERA projects is cleaning up the pink fire retardant dropped by the planes. The pink retardant is generally considered safe according to the U.S. Forest Service, but it does contain ammonium phosphate, hexylene glycol, and other chemicals that need to be kept out of the water supply.

We wrapped up the garden tour with a look at the rainwater collection system with a storage capacity of 35,000 gallons of rainwater, used for irrigation. Rainwater is fed into a galvanized steel tank from a roof pipe decorated with salmon artwork.

After the tour, we met some of the Tribal Leaders: Chairperson Leona L. Williams, Self-Governance Leader Lenora Brown, and Vice Chair Angela James, who provided more information about the programs.

Brown said the current programs began in 2010. At the time, Pinoleville had an Environmental Director who wanted to address climate change, and he sought out grants to do that. They also received grants for help with water rights and restoration of Ackerman Creek. Later, McCartney came on board with knowledge of environmental programs.

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James and Williams spoke about how Ackerman Creek used to be full of salmon, but now they have to get their salmon from the Hoopa Tribe in Klamath. In the old days, the creek didn’t dry up in the summer. Williams’ opinion is that most likely illegal grows and water pumping from the creek are the contributing factors, as well as climate change. Pinoleville Citizens also traditionally traveled to the coast to harvest surf fish and seaweed.

Potential interns have to apply and interview in front of a panel. James said, “It’s wonderful to see how the shy beginner interns blossom and gain more confidence as they go through the program.” There were 25 interns this past summer.

Pinoleville has a vibrant Boys and Girls Club and a Head Start preschool. Transportation is provided to pick up children from other local tribes. Every year up to 80 children are enrolled in the Pinoleville Head Starts. The kids are taught about environmental issues and they learn to garden from a young age. The 6 to 18-year-olds in the Boys and Girls Club also learn about taking care of the land, in addition to sports and social programs. “Stewardship starts with young people,” said Brown.

If you would like more information about efforts to address the transient population in Ackerman Creek please contact Terri McCartney, terrim@pinoleville-nsn.gov.

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