(SPRINGVILLE, CA) – California’s historic 2020 fire season has been a grim one for the record books. State and local impacts have been severe, and SRT lands, too, have felt the heat. Fortunately recent precipitation has doused much of the fire, though plenty still smolders.

On a recent Saturday at Kaweah Oaks, Jennifer Malone, noted member of the local Wukchumni Tribe and accomplished weaver for 25 years, had some kind words as I dug into the earth searching for deergrass root of adequate length to include in her baskets. We value our connection with the area tribes, and these collaborative experiences deepen that bond.

Today in the office, Nadia Omar, new member of our advancement team, mentioned to me that her stepdad performed the grading that turned Dry Creek Preserve into a gravel mine years before Sequoia Riverlands Trust terraformed it into a nature preserve. The subject arose because the two of us were among a group who recently toured there, with John Greening speaking to folks about wasps, oaks, cottonwoods, and the hard work behind SRT's efforts to restore an area that not so long ago resembled a moonscape. 

John also spoke to four new AmeriCorps Volunteers. Alexis Wilkman, Audrey Mahinan, Celeste Argueta, and Lindsey VanderMolen were surveying the places they will spend the next year helping us protect. These talented young women were fresh from a trip to our Carrizo Plain lands where they took a wonderful photo with SRT staff members Sneha Kumar, Camdilla Wirth, and the salt flats of the Carrizo in the background.

SRT Board Member Mark Larsen, in his capacity as General Manager of Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, recently convened a working group collaborating on a flooding and groundwater replenishment project at Kaweah Oaks Preserve. His fellow Board Member Gary Smith hosted a whole crew of us at the 20,000-acre farm (10% in habitat) that he manages for Ingleby Farms, including SRT Finance Chair Don Kaplan, who is completing his duties in that post, and whose mastery of numbers has saved our balance sheets multiple times over the last decade, along with education professional and SRT Board Member Mimi Schuler, whose enthusiasm and commitment have saved me multiple times over the past year.

(VISALIA, CA) - How will California's public lands thrive in the future amidst so much uncertainty? What's the vision for increasing public access as we move into the new era ahead?

Sequoia Riverlands Trust has released a video short highlighting its role in advocating for our important public lands throughout Central California and the Golden State. In the documentary short we hear from SRT Board Member Mike Chrisman who was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger as California Secretary of Natural Resources; SRT EARTH Academy alumna Dalia Gonzalez; Conservation Advocate Sarah Friedman; and SRT Executive Director Cam Tredennick discussing the organization's stake in SRT and Public Lands: California’s Nature for All. 

(LEMON COVE, CA) - Though the SQF Fire continues to smolder and advance in the more remote areas despite the recent snowfall, recent precipitation arrived just in time for SRT’s Homer Ranch Preserve's annual reopening for its annual weekends-only schedule. The season customarily runs from Nov. 1 through June 1, conditions permitting.

(VISALIA) - The Tulare County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board announced Oct. 29 that SRT Board Chair Mike Olmos has been named its interim president/chief executive officer effective Nov. 2. The appointment follows the retirement of longtime president and CEO Paul Saldana. Olmos’ post will continue until the board has found a permanent CEO.

(VISALIA, CA) - SRT recently welcomed new staff members this fall, including Conservation Department staff as well as an expanded and renamed SRT Advancement Department.

Austin Fontanilla joined the SRT Conservation Department in September as Land Stewardship Associate following the departure of Katie Panek, whose engagement took her to new life as an expat in Chile.

Following a vacancy left by the early 2020 departure of SRT Development Director Diane Hayes, who joined the Kaweah Delta Hospital Foundation as a grant writer, Logan Robertson and Nadia Omar joined SRT in October Each holds the title of Advancement Officer.

Fontanilla previously served as Consulting Utility Forester for two of California’s energy giants: PG&E and Southern California Edison. Previously he served his country as an AmeriCorps Member in the Salinas, California area. He is a graduate of Cal State Monterey Bay with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. Additionally he studied abroad in South America for a year at the noted Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago.

Logan Robertson joined SRT in October, having worked for over two decades in the nonprofit and education sectors in California, Guatemala, and Honduras. Her work at SRT allows her to leverage her professional experience, as well as expand upon her deep interest in the natural environment of the Sierra foothills and Central Valley. Throughout her career, Logan has helped to identify, foster, and secure government and foundation funding sources. As a nonprofit board member she has been involved in cultivating donor relationships and fostering relationships with current supporters. She holds a Ph.D in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has served on the faculty of the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program. She is also a trainer and mentor for the California School Age Consortium (CalSAC). Logan lives on a ranch outside of Three Rivers with her family, which includes a dog, a cat, a horse, and a dozen or so cattle.

Nadia Omar joined Sequoia Riverland Trust in October, thanks to solid networking with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s regional office. Nadia graduated from Richmond, the American International University in London with a B.A. in business finance. Afterwards, she attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where she received a certificate in technical and production management.

On view most recently in an Arts Visalia exhibition entitled California Farm and Foothill, Buxman’s paintings reveal the mature style and technical mastery expected of a painter who honed his craft over many decades while spending those years working the land, keenly observing the shifting light, indigenous colors, and captivating geometries of the fertile fields whose yields sustained him and his family for 40 years.

But it is not the Pop Art of Thiebaud (though he notoriously distances himself from the label) that drives Buxman’s art but rather Impressionism, which as a contemporary movement may have breathed its last well more than a hundred years ago. But Buxman keeps the style alive and vigorous, doing it more than justice. Monet and the Impressionists staked their artistic claim in Europe in the late 19^th Century when the Valley was first occupied by European American farmers. Closer to home the California Impressionists imported the style in the early 20^th Century. But they derived their inspiration from easy allure of California’s breathtaking coastal terrain and misty atmospheres – not the Valley, which was and remains California’s afterthought as artistic subject matter. That’s especially true for plein air painters, who can find the Valley’s punishing summers and chilly winters to be a tough go out on location where Buxman often works.

Nonetheless the prolific Buxman fills in retroactively where those perhaps less hardy souls left a void in the historical record (Maynard Dixon and a few others notwithstanding), providing a what-if retrospective view of the Valley through an art historical lens in a region not generally known for having offered an extensive contribution to art history. But clearly, when writer Gerald Haslam observed that Cali­fornia’s heartland “resisted poetry” as he delicately put it, he did not have in mind Buxman’s skill, stamina, nor loving vision of the land he knows and treats so well, like the artist-conservationist he is. Where the region may resist, Buxman’s poetry prevails.

“A little more than one percent of the earth’s surface is actually farm­able. That’s it. Only that one per­cent enables us to survive. I don’t think people realize that,” the Reedley native says with a conviction that is equal parts professor and cautionary revivalist. “When you remove arable land and put it into something non-productive - at least in the way of producing food and fiber – to bring it back into some kind of agrarian use is a massive undertaking,” he said.

As distinct from conservationist, environmentalist is another bit of headwear the Dinuba-area rancher can rightfully claim. That’s because Buxman founded California Clean, an organization dedicated to working with farmers to promote healthful agricultural practices. His ailing son’s bout with leukemia, after he was exposed to ag chemicals, was the inspiration for that one. The group of farmers is committed to sustainable, pesticide-free agriculture.

Of all his pursuits, Buxman’s art and environmentalism have yielded perhaps the most enduring legacy (along with establishing the permanent ag conservation easement). Buxman has appeared on CBS, 60 Min­utes, Bill Moyers Journal, California’s Gold, and NPR, among many other U.S., Canadian, and Australian media outlets. In addition to his art hanging in numerous private collections, he has exhibited throughout California and the United States, in the chambers of the California State Senate and the U.S Senate in Washington, D.C. His work has been exhibited at the Fresno Art Museum, The Hanford Art Center, The Haggin Museum in Stockton, Bakersfield Art Museum, and The Modesto Art Museum, and Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s Kaweah Land and Arts Festival, among many other venues.

(VISALIA, CA) - Each fall brings to SRT a new team of AmeriCorps Members who serve their country and help advance SRT’s important mission. And what an accomplished group this year’s has proven to be!

Alexis Wilkman graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2017 with a double-major in Biology and Philosophy. Following her passion for the conservation field, she served with the SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps program, teaching in rural Massachusetts schools and working on trails throughout the state. She then returned to her home in the San Francisco Bay Area to intern with Point Blue Conservation Science, where she discovered a love for native plants and healthy soils. Currently, she is an MA International Environmental Policy candidate at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, specializing in natural resource policy and management. Alexis comes to SRT as part of the inaugural cohort of GrizzlyCorps, and looks forward to serving our beautiful and critically important preserves. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and crafting of all kinds.

Audrey Mahinan grew up in the small agrarian town of Delano, CA. At UCLA, she studied biology with a minor in conservation biology, so she wanted to pursue a career in conservation and environmental resource management. She then volunteered as an AmeriCorps Member for the American Conservation Experience in Southern California for over a year, where she maintained trails throughout the mountainous ranges in California and performed habitat restoration in the Mojave Desert. Working with ACE, she was able to better appreciate the beauty of the outdoors and the arduous physical work necessary to conserve it. She is now a Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) Member working as the SRT Stewardship Specialist, training to do more watershed monitoring and restoration work. When she’s not hiking outdoors, she’s spending time inside illustrating and designing characters.

Visalia native Celeste Argueta is a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a degree in Environmental Studies. During her time at UCSB, Celeste participated and held leadership positions in multiple environmental organizations such as Student’s for Food Justice, the Environmental Affairs Board, and CALPIRG. In addition, she interned for the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division as Organics Waste Intern, focusing on reducing food waste in Santa Barbara County. Celeste tries to spend most of her time outdoors by kayaking, hiking, or rock climbing and introducing many of her friends to the beauty of the outdoors. Celeste is so excited to join the SNAP program and continue to help protect the outdoors!

Lindsey VanderMolen is one of our newest members. Lindsey is serving with AmeriCorps as the Education Technician at SRT. Lindsey grew up in Renton, Washington, not far from where she graduated college at the University of Washington in Seattle, with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. While attending school, she worked with several outdoor education and restoration organizations to further her passion for conservation. Lindsey has also worked for the US Forest Service as a Forest Protection Officer in Mt. St. Helens and as a Wilderness Ranger in Bridgeport, California. Being immersed in the Sierra high country in Bridgeport led Lindsey to fall in love with the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When her term with the Forest Service was over, she moved to San Luis Obispo and began working for SLO County Parks, but eventually was drawn back to the mountains. She now resides in Visalia, California near Sequoia National Park and is working hard to teach young people to gain a deeper appreciation for the environment. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, drawing, and exploring the wilderness.

(VISALIA, CA) - SRT Board Chair Mike Olmos recently announced the election of two new SRT Board members. But they’re no strangers to the organization. Each have their own longstanding affiliations with SRT.

The Board voted unanimously to appoint both prominent Visalia farmer, conservationist, and former California Secretary of Natural Resources Mike Chrisman, and Mimi Shuler, educator and SRT collaborator whose work with Porterville Unified School District’s Work-Based Learning Program was nationally noted.

Mimi Shuler may be new on the board, but the SRT community will find a familiar face in Shuler following her appearance in the PBS Nature-produced documentary on SRT’s work entitled Nature’s Keepers (2019).