On Leadership; How Point Arena Scored a National Monument

December 01, 2014

Standing around the desk in the White House Oval Office, five Mendocino residents and two congressmen witnessed President Barack Obama sign the proclamation designating the Stornetta Point Arena Public Lands on the Mendocino Coast as a national monument. It was the culmination of years of effort by a diverse and committed local community and its wide swath of supporters.

Leslie Dahlhoff, former Point Arena mayor; Merita Whatley, from the Point Arena Lighthouse; Scott Schneider, Visit Mendocino; Walt Stornetta, Stornetta Brothers Dairy Ranch; Eloisa Oropeza, Manchester Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians; and Congressional Representatives Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman, joined President Obama on March 11, 2014 for the celebratory signing.

With six pens waiting on the desk, the president eloquently described the scientific, historical and cultural significance of the new national monument and signed the document, a portion of his signature with each pen. "We could hardly believe it," says Whatley, who with Schneider and Dahlhoff had been part of a local lobbying effort going to Washington DC twice to meet with members of Congress and the appropriate committee staff.

It took a community, no opposition and several years to get to the White House signing. The journey began in 2000, when, just before leaving office, President Clinton designated all the rocks and islands along the California coastline as the California Coastal National Monument (CCNM). About eight years later funding was authorized for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to hire a manager to oversee and involve local citizenry in learning more about this CCNM.

Point Arena was selected as a Gateway Community. Representatives from the local Audubon Society, Native Plant Society, historic preservation, lodging, conservation groups, chambers of commerce, Visit Mendocino, Point Arena government, Pacific Community Charter School, the Mendocino Land Trust, the Redwood Coast Conservancy and other coast lovers met with BLM folks to make a plan for Point Arena to be a CCNM Gateway. In those meetings, the idea came up to make the Stornetta Public Lands, which at the time encompassed more than 300 acres from the Garcia River to just past the Point Arena Lighthouse, the first land based connection to the CCNM.

When Congressman Huffman's bill to add the property to the CCNM received a hearing, Whatley and Schneider testified on behalf of it. Huffman's bill went on to pass the House of Representatives, but was stuck in the Senate. Getting the president to make a declaration by authority of the Antiquities Act became the most expedient option.

Fourth and fifth grade students from the Pacific Community Charter School actively participated by making water colors of photos they took on a field trip on the public lands. In 2013 they crafted a book with their wishes and observations along with prints of their artwork. The entire school wrote a letter to the Obamas inviting them to Point Arena and requesting adding the public lands to the already existing Coastal National Monument.

"We want public land where we can hike, take photos, bicycle, watch the seasons change, surf, walk to the beach, picnic, and explore tide pools," wrote the Students Protecting the Coast. When Interior Secretary Sally Jewell held a hearing at the Point Arena City Hall on the expansion of the CCNM to the Point Arena land, the students testified and led the 300 participants in heartfelt singing of "This Land is Your Land."

Innkeepers, business owners, tribal representatives, tourism promoters, and Supervisors Hamburg and McCowen all testified at the hearing. Even the whales were in support as three breached repeatedly as if jumping for joy when Secretary Jewell hiked the property from the Lighthouse to City Hall.

As the concept gained momentum, an online petition was signed by thousands. By the end of 2013 an additional 1,000 acres of coastal property was acquired by the Trust for Public Lands and The Conservation Fund. The public lands now stretched for seven miles all the way to the headlands overlooking Point Arena harbor.

"Being a part of the campaign to add these public lands to the California Coastal National Monument offered students an opportunity and a voice to be a part of a successful grassroots organizing effort," says their teacher Jennifer Ketring. Just after the public lands were added to the CCNM, the students took a trip to Washington D.C. Because of their participation, these students were able to meet with their Congressman on the capitol steps, visit with Secretary Jewell in her office, and meet with the White House Council on the Environment.

"To be heard by so many people, across the country, from our small town is an incredible experience," says Ketring. "Beyond participating in the National Monument campaign, students are continuing to steward this land and deepen their relationship with this beautiful place."

"I was anticipating a boon to the local economy, which has already been realized by many business people here," says Dahlhoff. "What I didn't anticipate was the community building that working together around the protection, appreciation, and celebration of these beautiful lands has brought about. And what Merita said about "pride of place", that's a big deal here."

"I think it is cool that the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands is a national monument because now people know about this place, and I helped make that happen." Logan Duggan, 12.

Heidi Cusick Dickerson is a local author and the director of Leadership Mendocino, a 10 month program in which local citizens learn about issues, challenges and amazing successes around Mendocino County.


Source: By Heidi Cusick Dickerson