California Open Lands

🌿 Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workshop 🌿
California Open Lands is partnering with Native Star Foundation to host a 3-day TEK Workshop at the Tule River Indian Reservation – Chollolo Camp Grounds, facilitated by Ali Meders-Knight.

This training is an opportunity to reconnect with land stewardship practices, cultural responsibility, and community-led climate adaptation.
All participants who attend the full three days will receive an Introductory TEK Certificate.

📅 November 23–25, 2025
🕰️ Sun 1–5PM • Mon 8:30–4 • Tue 8:30–3
👥 Limited to 35 participants

📍 Tule River Indian Reservation — Chollolo Camp Grounds

To register, contact Polly Orosco
📧 [email protected]
📞 559-615-1428

Each One Teach One

Two crews, from Chico to Fresno, walking an ancestral path—a path remembered, not new. This is T.E.K. Chico training Fresno T.E.K. Each one teach one peer-to-peer, homie-to-homie learning in action.

Restoration is not just work. It is healing. When we heal the land, the land heals us. That’s why Traditional Ecological Knowledge (T.E.K.) matters every single day. To step into the wilderness, to feel its medicine, and to return that care through our labor—this speaks volumes.

We are grateful for the chance to do this work and grateful to California Open Lands for providing the opportunity to make it possible. These photos come from one of our youth in the Ishi Wilderness, reminding us why we show up.

Join us every Friday at 9 AM for our weekly volunteer day at Verbena Fields! For more info, check out our Facebook Events page!

🌿 She did it! 🌿
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ali Meders-Knight on earning her PhD!
A fierce advocate, cultural leader, and visionary steward, Ali has devoted her life to healing land, community, and memory. This milestone is more than academic, it’s ancestral, it’s generational, and it’s deeply earned.

Dr. Meders-Knight, we see you. We honor you. We are so damn proud of you. 🌎✨

Hello everyone and happy Earth Week!
We'd like to take this opportunity to highlight vernal pools and specifically, Butte County Meadowfoam - a flower that blooms here in Butte County and nowhere else in the world. This endemic species can only be found surrounding vernal pools like at Table Mtn. and our Meriam Park Preserves. It blooms in spring before the water dries completely, leaving a brief window where you can spot it for the year.

Join us January 25 at 10am at COL headquarters on Fair Street in Chico to process basket materials. We will be working mostly with redbud, willow and sedge. Click here to sign up: https://forms.gle/fgGvu5ARYpgBpEAv6

A couple of weeks ago, we planted 10 flats - that's 320 milkweed seedlings - and it's all thanks to YOU! 🙏 We appreciate everyone who joined us to bear the cold and get those suckers safe and snug in the ground for winter. Thank you so much for the help and we can't wait to see what blooms in spring! These milkweed patches will provide much needed habitat for the endangered Monarch butterfly. 🦋

Many thanks to Monarch Joint Venture for providing us with the milkweed seedlings as part of the Monarchs and More Western Habitat Program; and to Rachel Ostrander for the awesome photos 😀

Stay tuned for more planting events coming up in 2025!

BIG thanks to all the people who came to our dogbane and other basket materials Community Workshop on Sunday, December 22! We had a great time connecting with everyone and look forward to hosting another one so stay tuned!

This workshop was free to attend but donations are always appreciated. You can donate to our Community Projects fund to support these kinds of workshops: https://givebutter.com/YeGh3B