By Craig Tucker

California’s gold mining era of the 1850’s is often romanticized today in murals, books, film, and song. Revisionist accounts of this important period in California history often neglect to highlight the realities of the genocide and environmental destruction that resulted from early settlers’ unquenchable thirst for gold. Although the large scale hydraulic mining operations of the 19th century are now banned, contemporary gold mining by hobbyists continues to threaten the environment and traditional tribal cultures.

READ MORE..

By Larry Goldberg

Humboldt Village began as an offshoot of the Occupy Humboldt movement. After a few early meetings as an Occupy working group, participants decided to become an independent organization (Humboldt Village). Its expanded mission includes the lofty goal of  “building an interconnected sense of community; implementing ventures that strengthen our resilience as a geographically semi-isolated and primarily rural population against the fickle nature of economic, environmental and resource instability.”

READ MORE..

By Dan Equinoss

In an old industrial building on south G St., on a rainy Wednesday night, a group of people gathered to participate in a discussion about soil microbes. Often conversations about microbes, compost, rainwater harvesting and other topics of beneficial living go late into the night, as participants and presenters in the Beneficial Living Center’s Community Workshop Series engage in community building through permaculture.

READ MORE..

By Garrett Brinton

Many unprecedented challenges face our honeybee populations today, which include exotic parasites and diseases, agricultural mono-cropping, pollinator-threatening insecticides, and environmental factors like drought and climate change. Here on the North Coast, local beekeepers and others are working to increase the viability and sustainability of beekeeping in our region, which in turn is crucial to the success of local, sustainable agriculture.

READ MORE..

By Andrea Lanctot

Seattle’s plans for a seven-acre urban food forest in the middle of the city has been hitting headlines everywhere. When completed, the Beacon Food Forest project, started as a final design project by a group of permaculture students, will be the largest urban food forest on public land in the US.

READ MORE..