Napa RCD Monthly - August 2020

Helping you care for our land, water, soil, and wildlife

This Month's News

Program Spotlight

Napa RCD Celebrates 75 Years

News & Announcements

Napa RCD Announces Scholarship Awardees
Re-Oaking North Bay Strategic Plan Released
NRCS Napa Office Welcomes Erika Valek

In Case You Missed It

Trash Talkin' with Tim and Kendra- live on Wednesdays
Napa County WICC seeking Councilmembers

Upcoming Programs

See below for complete list

Program Spotlight

Napa RCD Celebrates 75 Years

with a new Strategic Plan and updated look

Napa RCD has been helping our community care for its land, water, soil, and wildlife since 1945.

A lot has changed over the past 75 years. We began as an all-volunteer organization, but today we have 12 staff with a range of expertise in addition to a volunteer Board of Directors. We once focused almost entirely on stopping soil erosion, but today we operate a range of programs from water quality monitoring to forest management to youth environmental education.

What has remained constant through the years is that we exist to serve the natural resource needs of Napa County no matter how they change over time.

This year we had to quickly adapt to be able to serve our community safely during this time of COVID-19 related disruptions. We continued to monitor water quality to ensure that we have clean drinking water and a healthy river and streams. We continued to help residents make changes to minimize wildfire impacts on human life and property. We also helped parents and teachers create safe and positive learning environments for kids, including helping them get outside with guided environmental lessons.

Since March, Napa RCD has delivered three vineyard workshops, an entire month of Bay-Friendly Garden tours, four WILD Napa lectures, 7 virtual classroom presentations -- all online! With all of this programming, we have reached 450 people via Zoom presentations, and over 3,500 people through our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other forms of digital media. We've heard that our online and recorded programming is appreciated by those who found it difficult to attend in-person events even during “normal” times.

As we look to the future we feel excited and energized. We've just completed a 5-year Strategic Plan with input from our partners to imagine and strive towards a vision of Napa County as a model of sustainability. We invite you to join us in contributing your unique strengths and talents to help realize this vision!

Our newsletter and website will keep you informed of a variety of opportunities to get involved. We also invite you to invest in the Napa RCD to help foster a healthy natural environment and thriving communities. Whatever you can give today will have a huge impact!

News & Announcements

2020 Napa RCD Scholarship Awardees

Napa RCD is proud to support youth as important partners in conserving and stewarding the environment for generations to come.

One way we celebrate youth is through awarding our $1,000 Napa RCD Scholarship for Emerging Environmental Leaders to an outstanding high school-er each spring. Daniela Ceja has received this year's esteemed award.

Daniela recently graduated from Valley Oak High School and has exhibited strong commitment to conservation through community service. Daniela served for 2 years on the Napa Youth Stewardship Council, guiding numerous volunteers, and completed multiple service projects restoring habitat in the county.

RCD's Board of Director didn't want to stop with one award this year due to the impressive applicant pool. So, the Board voted to award an additional $500 Scholarship of Merit to Isabel Martin of New Tech High School.

Join us in celebrating Daniela, Isabel, and all youth who will lead the next generation of conservation action. We look forward to the positive impact you will have wherever you go!

“Conservation for me has been the light at the end of a long tunnel. I haven't done or experienced many things in life that brought me so much hope, but working to replenish California's beautiful environment brings it out of me. I'm excited for the career ahead of me in environmental conservation.”

-Daniela Ceja, 2019-20 Emerging Environmental Leader Scholarship Awardee

To donate to support youth environmental leaders, please visit Naparcd.org/Donate

Re-Oaking North Bay:

A strategy for restoring native oak ecosystems, focusing on Napa and Sonoma Valleys

Re-Oaking North Bay is an initiative to restore our native oak communities in places where they could once again thrive.

We are thrilled to release a new strategy for bringing valley oaks back to Napa and Sonoma Valleys. This 15-page, richly illustrated report presents a straightforward approach to reoaking that is grounded in science. At the heart of the strategy is a map that shows areas in both valleys where we should focus our attention towards planting new oaks and protecting old oaks.

Re-Oaking North Bay was developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute, Napa RCD, and Sonoma RCD, with insightful collaboration from a long list of partners. This strategy was funded by the North Bay Watershed Association.

You can view a PDF of the strategy here and printed copies of this publication are currently at the Napa & Sonoma RCD offices!

Napa RCD is currently looking for landowners that would like to plant valley oaks. We can work with you to see if there are good spots on your property to add new oaks, or possibly other types of native trees. Need help doing the planting? We have some suggestions for that too. Connect with us today! Contact Frances@NapaRCD.org to talk oaks.

NRCS Napa Welcomes Erika Valek

Erika Valek joined the NRCS Napa staff during the first week of August 2020. Welcome to the NRCS/RCD team Erika!

She was raised in a military family and is lucky to have called many states (Colorado, Texas, Hawaii) as well as countries (Germany, Italy) home.

Erika has a B.A. in Biology and German from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and a MSc in Land Reclamation and Remediation from the University of Alberta in Canada. In Canada, Erika’s research focused on establishing a fully functioning boreal forest ecosystem after surface mining.

Erika began her career with the NRCS as a Pathways Intern in Arkansas and has worked as a Soil Conservationist in Arkansas since Spring 2019. While there, Erika’s conservation planning focused on pasture and forestry practices including prescribed grazing, fencing, and livestock watering facilities as well as firebreaks, prescribed burning, and forest stand improvement. In her free time Erika enjoys swimming and hiking and is looking forward to living in this beautiful part of the country.