- Welcome to our new Administrative Manager & new Board of Director's member
- We Are Hiring: Agricultural Project Manager I and Engineer Positions Now Open!
- LandSmart Grazing - Phase 3 Updates
- FARMS Leadership Launches 28th Year with Apple-Focused Field Day
- Exploring Local Agriculture: TEAM Field Trips Begin at Open Field Farm
- Connecting Soil, Food, and Pollinators: RCD at Fall Community Events
- Upcoming Resources and Events
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Exploring Local Agriculture: TEAM Field Trips Begin at Open Field Farm
To commence the fall season, we launched our TEAM program this month, hosting fourth-grade field trips at Open Field Farm in Petaluma. This past month, we have hosted over six classes, serving a total of 124 students. As part of this program, our team visits students in class both before and after the trip to talk about how the farm is protected forever thanks to its conservation easement and the support of Sonoma Ag + Open Space. While on the farm, students take part in three different stations, exploring the importance of pollinators, playing CSA trivia, doing a fresh produce taste test, and taking a tour of the site to see a working farm in action. This program is a favorite among our staff and brings us hope in seeing how excited future generations are to learn about agriculture!
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Welcome Jen Franco, Administrative Manager
We are very excited to be welcoming Jen Franco to our staff as our new Administrative Manager! Jen brings significant experience working as a leader and operational backbone for several mission-driven organizations in the food, sustainability, and community education space. Most recently, Jen was a senior staff member at a non-profit dedicated to increasing food justice in Alameda County. Jen will support the Sonoma RCD with organizational-wide administration, human resources, and board of director relations. As a recent Sonoma County resident, Jen is looking forward to contributing her skillset to an organization that benefits people and natural resources within her new community. Outside of work, Jen enjoys being near the ocean, working in her garden, and sharing meals with family and friends.
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Welcome Board Director: Jen Kuszmar
Please join us in welcoming Jen back as our newest Sonoma RCD Board Director! Jen is the Acquisition Manager at Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, where she works with landowners to permanently protect the diverse agricultural, natural resources, and scenic open space lands of Sonoma County for future generations. Jen has worked in agricultural and natural resource conservation for many years, including in the fields of forestry, watershed and fisheries restoration, agricultural resource protection, urban open space, and grant management. She has been involved with the RCD in several capacities for well over a decade. Her career has provided her the opportunity to work in some of northern California's wild and rugged places and to serve her community. Jen currently lives in Santa Rosa with her husband and their dog, Rowdy.
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The Power of Grazing
LandSmart Grazing Program for Community Resilience - Phase 3 recently wrapped up its final grazing project. It was a targeted grazing program designed to support interested neighbors or community groups to utilize grazing as a way of reducing fuel load and making their communities safer in the face of wildfires. This program also aimed to serve previously burned properties in order to remove invasive weeds and reduce fuel load in preparation for future post-fire recovery activities Six projects were implemented from April to October throughout Sonoma County totaling roughly 74 acres treated with targeted grazing.
Program Assistant Sophia Pruden would like to extend her gratitude to our local contract graziers for their hard work on these projects. Grazing is an effective land management tool for terrain that is too extreme for mechanical treatments to be performed. When done with ecological goals in mind, grazing can facilitate a transition of the seedbank to increase abundance of native bunch grasses, improve soil fertility and create a more fire resilience landscape. This program was funded by the Ag and Open Space District's Vegetation Management Program.
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Be part of the future of conservation in Sonoma County
Agricultural Project Manager I
The successful candidate is a detailed-oriented individual who will work with our technical team to administer several projects including: conservation plans, climate smart farming practices, improve agriculture productivity, enhance agroecosystem resilience, through our regional LandSmart program. This position would also manage the LandSmart Grazing program in partnership with Gold Ridge RCD.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled, with an initial review of applicants to begin on November 8, 2024.
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Engineer
The engineer position offers an exciting opportunity to apply engineering and project management skills to a meaningful and impactful work setting. The individual will work with a dynamic team of professionals, with a variety of projects in pursuit of multiple resource goals such as water quality, drought and fire resilience, soil health, and climate-beneficial farming.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled, with an initial review of applicants to begin on November 15th.
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Connecting Soil, Food, and Pollinators: RCD at Fall Community Events
As the school year is back in session and the fall season is upon us, some of our RCD educators were busy this past month participating in a few community events. RCD staff attended the annual Petaluma Youth Ag Days, where they taught students about the important relationship between our foods and soil. Students were able to learn what healthy soil looks, smells, and feels like and connect how foods like ice cream also need soil in order to be produced!
Additionally, the RCD attended the annual LandPaths Bayer Farm Harvest Festival. Our team shared with community members the work, resources, and opportunities the RCD can assist with. We also led a watercolor pollinator craft, where people of all ages were able to get their creative side going while also learning about the importance of pollinators for our planet. We absolutely loved returning to this event and getting to know the Roseland community by celebrating La Cosecha with music, dancing, and good food!
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The Listos Tool Trailer is Ready for Use!
Thanks to funding from the California Fire Safe Council, Fire Safe Sonoma has a defensible space tool trailer that community groups can use! The tools have been selected to specialize in vegetation removal and hazard fuel reduction.
Fire Safe Sonoma will provide drop off and pick up of the trailer! To begin the process of using the trailer, fill out the online intake form prior to booking the resource.
Contact tooltrailer@firesafesonoma.org if you have any questions!
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Sonoma County RCDs Accepting Applications to Fund Conservation Practices
Sonoma and Gold Ridge RCDs are accepting applications to fund conservation projects for local socially disadvantaged and historically underserved farmers and ranchers. Some project ideas include cover crops, grazing, compost application, hedgerow installation, and many more!
If you have any questions, please reach out to:
Sonoma RCD contact: Anya Starovoytov, Agricultural Program Director, astarovoytov@sonomarcd.org
Gold Ridge RCD contact: Emma Wood, Climate and Agriculture Resilience Fellow, emma@goldridgercd.org
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Sonoma Ag + Open Space Launches Program to Make Ag Land More Accessible
Sonoma Ag + Open Space recently launched its new Buy-Protect-Sell program, to explore a new way to help make agricultural land more accessible to producers. Ag + Open Space will purchase land from an interested landowner, protect it with a conservation easement, and then sell it to a qualified farmer or rancher.
They are currently accepting applications for potential buyers. You can apply here!
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GSAs are Looking for Applicants for Agricultural Interest Seats
The Santa Rosa Plain, Petaluma Valley, and Sonoma Valley GSAs are all taking applications for the Agricultural Interest seat on their Advisory Boards. Anyone working in or with an agricultural interest can apply! In this role, you will work alongside other Advisory Committee members to provide input and feedback on policies, programs, and projects to each individual board.
The term will go from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026 with the option to apply for additional terms. The deadline to apply is December 6, 2024!
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"Celebrating the Laguna" Open House
Cotati Historical Society and Laguna de Santa Rosa
Sunday, Nov. 3rd
12:00-3:00 PM
FREE to attend!
201 West Sierra Ave., Cotati, CA
Join the Cotati Historical Society and the Laguna de Santa Rosa in this series where guest speakers will talk about the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed, the work done in collaboration with City of Cotati, and the education programs offered, along with discussion of future plans.
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Biodiversity to Optimize Production
Thursday, November 21st
8:00 - 1:00 pm
$10-$20 (Sliding scale and includes lunch)
1525 E Jahant Road, Acampo, CA
Wild Farm Alliance is hosting a field day for producers to learn more about how biodiversity can be used to optimize productions. Speakers will cover topics including hedgerows, worm casting, brewing aerobic compost tea, nestboxes for benefical birds for pest control, regenerative vineyard planning, and more!
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Conservation at Work with LandSmart®
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