Healing together

The mission of California Open Lands in Chico, California, is to enhance and preserve Northern California wildlife habitat and waters on open lands in perpetuity. We are dedicated to the preservation and management of open space, the exchange of scientific information, public education and responsible conservation of the natural resources of the Sacramento River Watershed. We specialize in the stewardship of habitats in close proximity to population centers.

But now things are changing.

We are reeling here from the after-effects of the terrible wildfires. It will take awhile for this community to find its feet on the ground again. It is an unfathomably tragic situation for so many.

In light of this, our organization is contemplating a reorganization of its vision and mission. In the devastation that our community faces, we would like to see California Open Lands move forward as a force in reconnecting people with their landscapes and open spaces in positive ways, engendering a sense of ownership and caretaking, and fostering the connection of the entire community within its landscapes and relationship to open spaces.

The tragedies of these fires are a potential game-changer in the scope of the land ethic that land trusts embody. It now seems impossible for us to not directly address the human element in our landscapes. It is too easy, if we see ourselves as living separately from our landscape, to blame our environmental catastrophes on something “out there.” But this scapegoating only creates a sense of helplessness. We must all examine carefully our relationship to our personal landscape: how we live upon it and relate to it. It is in a community’s renewed sense of this, a sense of caretaking and mutual responsibility, that real change will happen.

Our hearts go out to our entire community. Know that we stand with you, and we will get through this together.

Holly Nielsen is executive director of California Open Lands in Chico, California.