Neighbors Along the Riverbed Episode 6: Ideal World

Neighbors Along the Riverbed Episode 6: Ideal World

Mickey Morgan 0:08
By focusing on imagination as a tool for change, I was wondering what people would need in an ideal world so that we can create conditions where the seven endangered and threatened kinds of California Coastal salmon that I'm focusing on for this project could thrive. The conversations in this podcast episode took place on the Muwekma Ohlone lands and waters. First, I talk to a small group of people who work in a lab and use fish for scientific inquiry. What do you think, would make things then easier for you to engage in, like, kind of environmental practices at least locally, like in an ideal world, in the dreamland of the best thing you could imagine?

Speaker 3 1:04
Like, I feel like there needs to be like a restructuring of the infrastructure that we have now in order to make it easier like to have those past like actually laid out better biking infrastructure, which makes it easier for people to bike to encourage people to do like car alternatives. Or having some sort of or like, increasing like tax rebates for environmentally friendly products.

Speaker 4 1:36
On a small scale, you know, just having garden sharing products with other people, you know, and like, I really like to make jam and pickles and stuff like that. And like I can make that for people and then give it to them.

Mickey Morgan
Yeah!

Speaker 4
That's like a really small easy thing that I feel like to do that would be nice. You know, other things, just working together for things that we all need. Those are things that to me, I think would feel really comfortable because I really like doing things that are community oriented.

Mickey Morgan
Yeah. Do you have thoughts?

Speaker 5 2:16
Yeah. In addition to everything you guys just like I feel like people from all classes, not speaking for the very rich, I don't know what goes on. Like normal people tend to like want to make, even if it's like slightly more effort, if things are like, generally accessible to them will make like more environmentally friendly decisions. And I feel like a big part of that is the emphasis needs to be put on, well, I feel like I'm only 24 so like, um, you know, the majority of my life has been in schools.

Mickey Morgan
Yeah. Yeah.


Speaker 5
So I feel like, you know, for young people that's like, you know, people are gonna be in home, school, at least until like, you know, high school, presumably, I feel like the responsibility should be put on like, these institutions to be offering those options. Like, my high school did not have like, you know, we recycled, there was like recycling, trash, but there wasn't ever like composting, compost. When I went to middle school in Utah, they didn't even recycle.

Mickey Morgan
Right.

Speaker 5
And I remember like, I had teachers, it would be like up to teachers specifically to like, decide whether or not they wanted to, like make a recycling bin and then put it all in their car at the end of every work day, like take it home and recycle things personally. And like a lot of them did, but like a lot of them didn't, because it's like, major extra work.

Mickey Morgan 3:37
Yeah. And teachers already, like…

Speaker 5 3:38
Yeah, and they're already like massively overworked, but I found it like so odd because like my family recycled, but then I was like, “Well, you know, like, that's so much extra work. And it really shouldn't be on them. It should be on like the school making these decisions.” And then when I moved to California, and like people recycled, I was like, “wow, this is great”. People recycle. If they're like, given the easy option to yeah, we'll make that decision to do that.

Mickey Morgan 3:58
While these are approaches that focus on infrastructure that would be maintained by governments or other institutions, there are approaches that can create change by people in community who just want to work together.

What do you think would make it easier for people to like, have access to like the knowledge to the language to the ideas around seeing, for example, salmon as like our kin and as creatures that we should consider in our actions?

Speaker 1 4:30
I feel like there's so much happening in the world. And there's so many issues within the US that are so broad, and it's very much like I'm not saying that it's exactly like politics, but you know, whenever people get fixated on like, voting for a president or something, and it's like, well, voting for presidents actually not going to do much like you, you know, you have to vote for people like in your who are like your mayor. Or your local officials. So I think people should think about the issue, those kinds of issues like the same way to, it's like, what can we do at the local level and within our community, you know, to honor and preserve that species and being community with it and also preserve, like, the waterways that it inhabits. And how can we, you know, in that support, like climate justice, and like animal justice, and things like that, that are seen, like as a bigger global issue, which they are, but I feel like one step towards that could be making more awareness accessible about ways to get involved at the local level, and within our home. I think, resources provided by like youth activists, or activists in the area, like panels and conversations and things are helpful. I guess I'm struggling to think of a way that could make it more normalized to because, you know, if, if there are education sessions, and like community sessions that are community oriented for like, growing knowledge, it's like another commitment that people have. So I'm like, what are some ways that we can increase education and awareness and like access to things but make it feel like somebody in the community has the capacity to, like, show up and be there for that?

Mickey Morgan 6:33
Yeah, yeah. That's actually yeah, you're not the first person to say that. Who is like, more like a younger generation, I guess, because the previous folks that I was talking with, also said that, like people get like, fatigued by like, the amount of stuff that we feel like we have to be like fighting for.

Speaker 1
Yeah.

Mickey Morgan
So that can, yeah, that can definitely present a huge barrier.

Speaker 1 7:03
Well something that's pleasure activism focused, have you read that book? Ugh it’s so good. But yeah, I think like, for example, one of my friends, that's huge into the community space, I don't know, he does everything. But he supported with hosting something like joyful, like a joyful gathering to support like “X” cause it was, I can't remember the exact cause. But it was something that was like, with indigenous communities. So they had people like you identify as indigenous, like selling, like artwork, like, other people of color that were like DJing, and like, selling their things, and it was like, “Hey, this is what we're here for, but we're gonna like, dance and eat food and like, buy things from people, like artwork and other beautiful like garments and stuff.” Because in that way, we're strengthening and building community, we're still learning about something and connecting with others. But you know, we don't have to be like, angry or, like, you know, feeling like we have to be on the street. Which I think that's important and impactful. But, you know, it does create for now, and we are allowed to be happy and with each other.

SCSC Workshop Speaker 2 8:33
Well, one thing I wanted to say, after one of the last comments, I spent a lot of time in southern Washington across the border from Florida and important and with friends a decade or two back, and they put in a lot of biofilters along the roads, fence them, and they would change all the plants every 15 years. They took like, a huge amount of the chemicals out and they did it for the salmon. And so we don't have much of that going on here. I know we we do have some you know, parking lot filters this and that. But you would drive along and southern Washington and you'll see a little native plant area with a fence around it. That's maybe maybe 100 foot or cross or 50 by 50. And that's a biofilter for the road chemicals, farm chemicals, and they did that a lot, and I… that's to make the whole ecosystem work. And like we're talking about that would maybe something that could happen down here, but that would also take educating people as to and they're cheap, actually compared to a lot of systems. I mean, they're just plants and set aside a little bit of land. That's all.

SCSC Workshop Speaker 3 9:56
Yeah, that point kind of connects to something that came up in our group, someone was offering the insight that, you know, we need to start building in a more informed way, you know, built whatever we're building, whether it's a new development, whether it's whatever hard infrastructure we're thinking about building for, for flood control, or for development, we need to do that in an informed way with increased awareness about, you know, what this might do to the last remaining elements of natural waterways we have in Southern California. So working more closely, I suppose on maybe the local, local city level, somehow understanding that relationship of you know, how we're constructing and how we're developing, and, and how to guide those in an informed way how to guide those processes. So people are aware and informed when we're trying to not flood someone's house, while also recovering the species that are important to us.

SCSC Workshop Speaker 4 11:10
Yeah, and the group I was just talking about, you know, all the time, I'm wanting to work on the watershed level rather than an each creek or each different area. And, you know, because all of it contributes and flows downstream. And also, it's the dis, the disconnection of all these, these creeks and habitats are a real problem for all the wildlife. And so if we can be connected, and start from the headwaters, and look at the habitats all the way down, and try to at least get some connection and restoration and routes for everyone including the steelhead. So that would be my wish.

CT Workshop Speaker 4 11:57
I was when we were discussing this, I was feeling like we need at least locally in Southern California has a willingness to do things a little differently than we're doing them in some ways. We kept going back to the picture of the storm drain going, you know, that's like it's become like standardized to do things like that and to try and to actually think differently about how we build and how we live in nature, and a willingness to look at how other watersheds work, a willingness to have the system operate differently than we've made it operate and have it operate the way it wants to operate.

Mickey Morgan 12:43
And in an ideal world, what would you need to make these endangered and threatened salmon safe? How can we make that happen? If you have any questions or want to add to this conversation, email salmon neighbors@gmail.com.