A quarter moon floats in a morning sky of blue above the old
white farmhouse, which from Occidental Road appears achingly
lonesome. But close up, the abandoned two-story house with a high
pitch roof has loads of personality. Three stately palm trees and
myriad birds keep one of the oldest surviving farmhouses in Sonoma
County company.
Over the years its owners were hay, grain,
potato, hops and dairy farmers on ranches that took their names:
Valentine, Miller and Stone. Now, however, the house and the other
historic structures on the property are about to get a new life as
a learning center for the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation.
With the pending creation of the Laguna Learning Center, the
foundation takes on one of the most significant environmental and
education projects in the county¹s history. ³We view it as the
centerpiece of what we are trying to do and what we are working
towards Š the vision of a restored Laguna within a footprint of
30,000 acres, with a large part of it permanently protected through
different means,² said Dan Schurman, executive director of the
foundation.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa and its 14-mile
channel include most of the land between Santa Rosa and
Sebastopol and between Cotati and Forestville. It is the largest
freshwater wetlands complex on the North Coast and an important
stopover for thousands of birds migrating along the Pacific
Flyway.
As described on the foundation¹s website, the Laguna is a unique
ecological system and comprised of a mosaic of creeks, open water,
perennial marshes, seasonal wetlands, riparian forests, oak
woodlands and grasslands. It is home to more than 200 species of
birds, rare and endangered salmon, steelhead, salamanders, plants,
mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, mink, badger and river otter. It¹s
the largest tributary of the Russian River.
A $5-million fund-raising campaign is under way to restore the
mid-19th century house and barns and build a new interpretive
center on the property, leased to the foundation by the current
owners, the City of Santa Rosa. The interpretive center will
include an exhibit hall, a classroom and offices. There will be a
pond with native vegetation and a garden and an orchard reminiscent
of a 19th century family farm. Miles of trails, many open to the
public for the first time, will link the learning center to the
Laguna.
³It will be a place for people to come and
learn about all the things that make the Laguna special and
important to the community — its Native American, agricultural and
natural history, the environmental aspects of the Laguna and
the ecosystems that make it so important,²
said Schurman.
³There¹s so much to learn about the Laguna. It can be kind of
complex and daunting,² he added. ³A lot of people don¹t understand
why the Laguna is so important and why they should take care of
it.²
The new center will bring it all together in exciting, creative
ways.
To ensure that it provides a complete understanding of the
area¹s history, the foundation collaborated early on with leaders
of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria as well as leaders of
agriculture to shape the programs at the
learning center.
Sacred Site
³The Laguna was always a very sacred site,² said Greg Sarris,
tribal chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which
is comprised of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo.
It connected everything and everyone. Literally bonded by water,
the Native Americans who lived along the Laguna during the summer
months were joined by other tribal members from the coast and
mountains. They were multi-cultural, multi-lingual and peaceful.
And the environment was abundant: salmon and steelhead, grizzlies,
mountain lions and waterfowl so plentiful that, when they flew,
Sarris said the sound of their wings sounded like ³claps of
thunders, their countless numbers forming a blanket that obscured
the sun, rendering the earth lightless.²
The tribes saw themselves as a part of the Laguna, and they took
care of it. They understood, said Sarris, that the health of the
Laguna reflected the health of the people.
Archeologists claim indigenous people have been in Sonoma County
along the Laguna of present day Sebastopol upwards of 11,000 years,
said Sarris. ³Remember, there were more villages along the Laguna
than anywhere else. This area, along with the shores of Clear Lake,
was the most
densely populated area north of Mexico, so most
of us are descendents in some way or another of the group.²
Now the 1,088 members of the Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria, the documented offspring of 14 survivors of the original
30,000-member tribal members estimated to be in existence at the
time of European contact, are making a comeback. Part of their goal
is to support environmental restoration, teaching and collaboration
with organizations like the Laguna Foundation not only
financially but also by actively participating in planning.
³It¹s an incredible opportunity for both of us,² said
Sarris.
In terms of restoration, the Laguna like the earth is ³at
the tipping point. We either tip completely over or we tip
completely in the other direction, which is toward restoration,² he
said.
³What happens to the Laguna¹s landscape and the degree to which
it survived is sort of the degree to which we survived, because we
are now coming together as a group to try to establish our role
again as keepers of the land,² he said.
Plans are being developed to incorporate interpretive components
of Native American history, historical and contemporary, into the
new learning center. ³This could include restoration of plants
indigenous to the Laguna, including some that are used in cultural
artistry, such as basketry. We want to show the relationship
between humans, plants and animals,² said Lorelle Ross, vice chair
of the tribe and a member of the Stone Farm planning committee.
Ross said the tribe¹s partnership regarding the restoration of
Stone Farm is ³one of the first projects, in my opinion, to include
local native people from the start. We are glad to be working with
the Laguna Foundation.²
The Interpretive Center
The interpretive center will be situated between the farmhouse
and hops barn, offering a panoramic view of the Laguna with the
watershed as a backdrop. It will enable the foundation to expand
its flagship program, Learning Laguna, which uses docents to teach
hundreds of school children about the wonders of the water
system.
³We¹ll be able to serve a lot more kids,² said Education
Coordinator Mary Abbott. ³The younger kids will be able to come
onsite, rather than us bringing the program to them. We will also
expand the program into the middle school, which will involve a lot
more hard science.
³There¹s so much to learn that hasn¹t been documented, from
species accounts to water quality testing and experiments with
plant life, that we think the middle school kids will love to be
part of that real exploration of the Laguna,² said Abbott.
The foundation also hopes to start an internship program and
develop a junior docent program. ³We¹re going to be able to go off
in so many directions,² she said.
Foundation Director Schurman envisions a world-famous research
center in the future, with a research station where visiting
researchers could come to do their work. A new research director
has recently joined the foundation¹s staff, enabling it to further
scientific understanding of the Laguna.
³We can¹t answer the questions about restoration without asking
the scientific questions Š. We can guide the research so it not
only has a practical application and informs our work in the
Laguna, but those lessons learned can be extended to other parts of
the country.
³That¹s the big dream. The beauty of the Laguna is so unique and
complex it offers the potential to learn and teach valuable
lessons,² he said.
Some of those will include the role of agriculture, starting in
the hops barn.
Into the Barn
During mid-day at Stone Farm, a breeze rustles knee-high weeds
and wildflowers and rattles pieces of roof tin on top of the barns.
There¹s a lot of interesting metal here from a milk can buried in
the ground near the Stone¹s former milking barn to the antique farm
implements stored in the hops barn.
The 3,000-square-foot barn stays cool and smells of hay.
Sunlight shines through cracks, knotholes and where boards have
fallen out. Birds have made homes here: a snow-white owl peers down
from between rafters; pigeons fly out of the cupola. Feathers and
broken eggshells carpet some of the barn¹s dirt floor.
When the barn is restored, it will reflect its origins as a
working barn. Denise Cadman, a member of the foundation¹s board of
directors who is the natural resources specialist for the City of
Santa Rosa, will be involved in that work.
³We¹ve been brainstorming with a spectrum of agricultural
producers about important elements of county agriculture and
getting lots of contributions,² she said. ³There will be multiple
ways to showcase the history of agriculture in Sonoma County.²
Cadman lives on the Stone Farm site with her husband, who has a
large collection of farm equipment and a team of draft horses.
She¹ll be leading a ³grain to bread² program covering growing grain
to producing flour and incorporating the use of the restored farm
equipment.
Children will also be able to participate in hands-on elements
of the program, from planting of the grain to the baking and eating
of the bread.
Hops as well as heirloom varieties of vegetables will be
displayed in the barn ³so people can taste the difference between
tomatoes that you¹ve been saving seeds for hundreds of years and
the few varieties sold in the store,² said Cadman. ³Testing of
those delicious foods will be encouraged.²
The Laguna Learning Center will be ³one of the jewels of Sonoma
County,² she said. ³It will add depth to all of our lives and draw
attention and consciousness to the Laguna and the Laguna will
continue to become better and better.²
How you can help
The Laguna Foundation has reached 25 percent of its $5-million
fund-raising goal for the Laguna Learning Center. Financial and
in-kind donations of construction materials and labor are welcome.
Call 707-527-9277 or visit www.lagunafoundation.org. Offices are
located at 50 Old Courthouse Square, Suite 609, Santa Rosa, CA
95404.
In addition, the foundation¹s annual Art and Garden Gala will be
held Sept. 10 at Vine Hill House in Sebastopol. Sponsors are
needed. Contact Mark Green at ma**@la**************.org or
707-527-9277 ext. 103.
