Disasters occur when humans get in the way of a natural process

Building in hazard zones creates a lot of emotional trauma through evacuations, rescues, property damage, injury, and death. Not just once, but repeatedly each time the hazard occurs. This type of short-sighted building ignores natural processes and creates disasters where there don't need to be any.

The Costs of Restoration

The Point Reyes Light published my essay in its March 12, 2025 issue. It was edited for space, and the editor suggested I add what I think of the Seashore ranching situation--that version lost some of the nuances of the first draft, which I present below. I like both versions--the published one I'm happy with, but there are a few elements in the first draft I wish could have been included.

3/28/25 update: In the March 27th issue, a letter to the editor says that my "argument wanders between philosophy, policy, and personal anecdotes without ever arriving at a conclusion." He wouldn't like my blog--wandering between philosophy, policy, and personal anecdotes is a good description of it. It is why I am here and hopefully why you are here on this blog--to gain thoughtful insights. And sometimes conclusions. The letter writer also said my "commentary lacks a clear position or actionable recommendations."  I think the editor's suggestion to add my thoughts on the Seashore situation muddled the point a bit, because my main point wasn't about the Seashore--it was about the commentary that had elements that I disagreed with. I do have a clear position and recommendations for the process--my points are all about the process. Process matters. The outcome will be right if the process is done right. The letter writer said he ended up "confused and lost," to use my words about the other commentary and point them right back at me. Perhaps I could have been clearer, and this page hopefully does that.

Respect and Kindness are Normal; Republicans are Not

The Insurrublicans have a strategy--make the world a hellscape, so that anything they do seems normal in comparison.

They are relying on making the world a meaner place in order to make everything they do seem more normal. It is so important right now to be respectful and kind all the time, going out of our way to make the world a nicer place for everyone, to contrast normalcy with the evil they are doing.

December 2024 Storm

On December 13, 2024, it started raining in the evening, and mostly stopped by 9am on Saturday December 14th.

The Nov 22nd and Dec 14th peak flows on San Geronimo Creek were the same: 1,105 cfs. Daily average flows were 423 cfs & 356 cfs, respectively. In November it took 8.75 hrs of 2.34" of rain (1/4" per hour) to get to peak from 113 cfs; In December it took 7.25 hrs of 2.32" of rain (1/3" per hour). These calculations use rounded times to the nearest hour for rain and quarter hour for flow & add an hour of lag time between rain and flow.

And then things got crazy.

They turned it into Muir Woods

 "They turned it into Muir Woods," I heard someone say as I was leaving Roy's Redwoods yesterday. Roy's Redwoods is San Geronimo Valley's busiest and most famous local redwood grove. There grows the tallest tree in Marin County. 

I had heard this criticism of the $3.5 million Roy's Redwoods rehabilitation project before. The Marin County Open Space District site was closed all summer and completely redone. It is nice to be able to go back this fall and see what it looks like.

The goal of the project was to "

• Restore the hydrologic function of the alluvial valley;
• Improve redwood forest and wetland habitats;
• Guide visitors through an immersive and accessible experience of the redwoods."

When something like this happens, it is like gentrification of the woods. The "new" Roy's Redwoods looks nice--nice trails, well-organized, nice stone work (although the large boulders are a bit out of place and seem to belong in the Sierra Nevada), nice new boardwalks and bridges. It is welcoming in a familiar National Park sort of way, and makes walking the trails pleasant and efficient. I really like the nested loops of the named trails--once you figure out that pattern it is fairly easy to remember where the trails go. The Wilderness Way exploration and adventure zone is a nice (and surprisingly hazardous, and a totally fun mud pit when rainy) touch.

Beautiful stonework at the entrance to Roy's Redwoods

Nice new bridges

Wilderness Way adventure area

November 2024 Atmospheric River

The November 20-22, 2024 Atmospheric River dropped 11.65" in San Geronimo Valley compared to much higher amounts to the north. It was not as wet as the October 2021 storm (that dropped 12.67" in 36 hours causing San Geronimo Creek to peak over twice as high). But the 2024 storm lasted longer--it rained for three days straight (except for a break during the second night). It was so nice to see the sun again on the bright yellow fall leaves on Saturday! San Geronimo Creek peaked at 1,105 cfs at 2:15 pm on Friday November 22nd (at day 3 hour 14 on the graph below). The creek started at its late summer-fall baseflow of less than 1 cfs at the Lagunitas gauge, and as of December 1st is still flowing at 7 cfs. The peak flow was similar in magnitude to last winter season's highest flow in January. We already have about a third of our annual average rainfall as of the end of November, and our 3rd-highest to-date total since water year 2012. Along with over an inch of rain in early November, this has been a wonderful start to our rainy season.

Barnabe and Woodacre rain are reported about 10 minutes before and after the hour, respectively, but shown on the hour here (the hourly differences are mostly due to that). The x-axis is day.hour. 

Reconciliation

On October 26, 2024, the Alliance for Felix Cove hosted a reconciliation conversation between a Tamal-Ko (Tomales Bay Coast Miwok) family and a Point Reyes settler family. The settler family's ancestor, C.W. Howard--who owned most of the land on the west side of Tomales Bay--in 1887 hired Captain Henrik Claussen to evict all the Indians living on the west side of Tomales Bay. Their houses were destroyed and the people were forced to leave. One house remains standing at Felix Cove (Laird's Landing, used by the Lairds to ship dairy products to San Francisco 1860-1866). The last of the Felix family was evicted from their ancestral home by ranchers in 1952, and then later the ranches became part of the Point Reyes National Seashore--owned by all of us and managed for us by the National Park Service.

Felix Cove in 2020

Looking up Tomales Bay from above Felix Cove

The road to nearby Marshall Beach

The thought-provoking conversation included how family members learned of their ancestors' history and how they feel about it, complete with long-overdue apologies. It also included discussion of reparations--specifically, returning Felix Cove to the now landless (aside from a recently-acquired parcel in Nicasio) and federally-unrecognized tribe. You can support their efforts here.

Etcha Tamal, rematriated Coast Miwok Tribal Council
land in Nicasio (photo taken in 2015 after pile burns, and
prior to the 2023 purchase)

The conversation was relevant to all of us, since we all are either indigenous to the land where we live or from somewhere else, and many of us from somewhere else have ancestors who came here and displaced the indigenous people. It felt personal to me, because I too have ancestors that pioneered a dairy industry in the 1850s on stolen indigenous land. And it made me realize that I too would like to apologize for those actions. This is that apology.

"At some point, you have to decide, are you going to live in a world of abundance, open-heartedness, and open-mindedness, or are you going to live in a world of exclusion, isolationism, and scarcity?"

--Theresa Harlan, founder of the Alliance for Felix Cove, describing why she laughed at herself when contacted by a descendant of the Point Reyes colonizers