River-Lab

We researched indigenous-led river restoration in order to understand how this approach promotes long-term stewardship, a common challenge in the river restoration field. We were connected through the UC Berkeley community to the Pinoleville Pomo Nation in Mendocino County. We visited the Pinoleville Pomo Nation (PPN) to learn more about the restoration work they are conducting around Ackerman Creek, a tributary of the Russian River. They are incorporating cultural practices, long term monitoring, continuous maintenance, community outreach, invasive species mitigation, and native plantings into the restoration process. We then conducted a baseline survey of cross-sections and sketches, which may serve as a point of reference for gauging the impacts of future restoration activities. We learned that constraints to this stewardship approach come from limited jurisdiction of the tribe throughout the watershed, resulting in impacts from off-site factors such as dams and runoff. Even with built-in community engagement and synthesis of social connectivity and ecological health, the current on-site practices can not address upstream and downstream disturbances.