By Wyatt Garrett, Cecilia Walsh, Torin Dunnavant, and Emily Griswold

This past weekend, Tree Davis and the Davis Manor Neighborhood Council co-hosted two volunteer work days at N Street Park, with over 75 community members coming out to get their hands dirty. Under expert guidance from Tree Davis, the group planted over 450 drought-tolerant, climate-ready plants throughout the park, including eight trees. In addition, staff and volunteers began the installation of a comprehensive drip irrigation system around the park, completed a natural log habitat feature and spread a fresh layer of mulch in the newly planted areas. All of this work is part of a larger, community-wide effort to transform N Street Park into a more engaging and inspiring public space.

N Street Park was built in 1960, and last renovated in 1996. Up until 2022 the park was limited to a basic open turf area with a small, aging play structure tucked out of view from the street. Over the last few years, the Davis Manor Neighborhood Council successfully advocated for the park to be renovated in order to make it more safe, welcoming, playful, and sustainable. Starting in 2018, the neighborhood planning committee worked closely with Davis Manor resident and landscape architecture student Tucker McPhaul to engage neighbors in re-envisioning the park. They ultimately submitted a conceptual design proposal to the City of Davis that featured an updated play structure, conversion of most of the turf into climate-ready planting sites, inclusion of a dry creek bed, and the installation of a log habitat feature. Many of these preliminary concepts were incorporated into the final design.

The N Street Park renovation project has proven to be a model of neighborhood advocacy and community engagement in park design and implementation. Initiated by the Davis Manor Neighborhood Council, the project has been made possible through collaboration with the City of Davis City Manager’s Office, Parks and Community Services Department, Public Works Department, numerous contractors, and Tree Davis.

(From press release) Join Tree Davis and the Davis Manor Neighborhood Council at the newly renovated N Street Park March 18th and March 19th! Come help install new trees, flowers, and shrubs that will make our park and neighborhood more beautiful!

Tree Davis is seeking volunteers to assist with planting, installing drip irrigation, and spreading mulch at this two day installation event. No previous experience is necessary. Sign up for a morning or afternoon volunteer shift and join us for a potluck lunch from 12-1 each day. There are limited volunteer slots so sign up early to secure your spot!

For more information visit https://www.treedavis.org/volunteer or email us at info@treedavis.org

By Roberta Millstein

Yesterday, I attended a wonderful event on the UC Davis campus.  The purpose of the event was to celebrate the new Environmental Humanities Designated Emphasis at UC Davis, and it brought together in conversation two renowned scholars, Donna Haraway (a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department and Feminist Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz) and Kim Stanley Robinson (an award-winning science fiction author who lives in Davis; the title of the event, “Ministries for the Future,” is also the title of one of Robinson’s recent books).  It was a wide-ranging, fascinating conversation – so popular that it was literally standing room only – that I can’t begin to summarize here (but you can watch online). 

Instead, I want to highlight two important and related points that Robinson made: one was about the purpose of the University of California and one was about regenerative agriculture.[1]

(From press release) On Friday, youth in Davis walked out of school to make their voices heard! On this Global Day of Climate Action, during a time when hundreds of thousands of youth marched for climate justice Davis youth joined them. Youth from Davis Senior High School, UCD Davis as well as adult allies of Fridays For Future Davis and Davis community members joined together to demand climate action and the end to fossil financing.

Youth climate activists and organizers Eliot Larson, Mattias RowenBale and Desmond Beach led the march from E 14th & B Street down to Central Park where youth participated in a die-in. Youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old staged a ‘death from climate change’ as a visual example of what will happen if our leaders continue down a path of inaction. 

After the die-in youth were invited to speak and share their thoughts, concerns and hopes with the Davis community. There were powerful speeches and heart wrenching calls for action demanding our world and local leaders take action today.

We were then led in song by freshman at UCD, Sam Saxe-Taller who brought our voices together as one before we gathered for a round table discussion with Davis City Council members Gloria Partida and Bapu Vaitla. Ms. Partida and Mr. Vaitla were led by youth in productive and inclusive conversation  discussing proactive ways the community can come together to fight the climate crisis as well as listening to the concerns of youth in this uncertain time.

Going forward, Fridays For Future Davis will continue to strike every Friday at the corner of 5th and B Street from nooin-1. Today was their 176th week of striking on Fridays.

A huge thank you to the many organizations and adult allies who join Fridays For Future Davis to help make this Global Climate Strike possible in Davis. And congratulations to all of the youth who bravely stepped up to take action!

(From press release) The global day of climate action is just one week away! We cannot wait to see everyone on Friday, March 3rd at E 14th and B Street at NOON! Our march will step off at 12:30 and we will march to Central Park for a demonstration and community discussion. 

In one week, all of Davis is invited to join in this Global Climate Strike that will put pressure on our world leaders to end fossil finance. We need to make sure they know that tomorrow is too late to take action, they must act now. Fridays For Future Davis youth activists will be walking out of school with other youth around the world, and we need your support. We need you to join us in showing up and demanding action.

Please visit our event page for all of the information on how Davis will be participating in this worldwide action for climate justice: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wlvIupioT0hwQwjsCRXwsEsAfW3w8o6buoFhllHF1EA/edit?usp=sharing

Pre-Strike fun! On Tuesday, February 28th from 3-5 at the Central Park Solidarity Space we will be making signs for the Global Climate Strike on Friday. Please join us for some fun sign making time and to learn all about how you can help our Earth survive climate change.

Public Forum on CAAP Feb. 26

Floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes….we all know that climate change is an existential threat, so what can we do?  The City of Davis declared a climate emergency and has drafted an updated Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) that has aroused public concerns.  Are these concerns valid?  What does CAAP include and how might it impact you personally?  And what actions and regulations is the state proposing that will impact CAAP as well as you personally?  Come hear Kerry Daane Loux explain it all and answer your questions Sunday February 26 at 11:15 at Davis United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road.  Kerry is Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Davis and project manager for CAAP.

The Final Draft CAAP document and other information is available at:

https://www.cityofdavis.org/sustainability/2020-climate-action-and-adaptation-plan-caap

Of special note, the Overview and Context for the CAAP on pages 11-12 are useful information in advance of our discussion.

FINAL DRAFT 2020-2040 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP)  PDF

Shared by Helen Roland Cramer

Action Alert - Global Climate Strike, March 3rd. E14th and B Street, Davis at NOON - step-off at 12:30 march to Central Park for guest speakers and strike demonstration.

Dear Davis Community,

On March 3rd, Fridays For Future is staging the next Global Climate Strike. We will be striking to send a message to our world leaders telling them to end fossil finance and save our future from the climate crisis. 

Fridays For Future Davis members have been striking for the climate every Friday for almost three years, pressuring leaders in Davis as well as world leaders to start taking big enough steps to stop the Earth’s plummet into climate chaos. This Global Climate Strike is a time for the Davis community to join us and  Fridays For Future groups around the world in demanding climate action from our leaders both local and global. 

To everyone reading this who feels the pressure of climate anxiety and feels like there is nothing you can do, you are not alone in that feeling. We all know what it feels like to wake up to news of another 100,000 acres of California on fire. We all know what it feels like to see orange skies filled with ash and toxins. We know what it feels like to be living through a severe drought not knowing when California will run out of water. We all feel what is happening in the world and we understand the feeling of wanting to help but not knowing how. This Global Strike is a way for you to help and be heard!

We can stand together, strong and united, demanding our right for a life in the future be honored and protected. Please join us at 12pm on March 3rd at E14th and B Street, Davis for a march to Central Park with guest speakers and a strike demonstration. For questions and more information please reach out to our coordinators on instagram @fridaysforfuture_davis or through email davis@fridaysforfutureusa.org

(From press release) The Celebration of Abraham, a long-time interfaith organization in Yolo County, extends an invitation to the whole community to join us for our 20th annual community conversation:  “Caring for Our Earth, Caring for Each Other.” Helen Roland, President of Celebration of Abraham explained, “It seemed fitting that our 20th anniversary community conversation theme revisits one of our earlier events of caring for creation, and at the same time expands to reflect a common thread in the Abrahamic faiths recognizing a relationship between stewardship for our earth and for humankind.” The topic was arrived at by a multi-faith group of Celebration of Abraham members who gather monthly to plan for the event.

Regardless of spiritual traditions, all are welcome to join in the virtual ZOOM gathering from 3 pm to 5 pm on Sunday, February 5. Please register here: https://bit.ly/CeleAbraham20.

By Darell Dickey

Polluted air makes me sick.

Every year when the cold settles in I am precluded from working in my yard and taking walks. I cannot participate in outdoor activities due to the air pollution produced from fires lit by Davis residents.

The EPA informs us that burning organic matter releases numerous toxic air pollutants including benzene, formaldehyde, hydrocarbons, and of course fine particles. Smoke can trigger asthma attacks as well as heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure. In my case the smoke from fireplace burning aggravates my autoimmune disease and advances my heart disease. Though many people in Davis suffer serious health risks associated with air pollution, and though the city has declared a Climate Emergency, the City of Davis has no firm rules against fireplace burning.

Instead of treating the toxic smoke appropriately as a health hazard, the City of Davis defines it as a “nuisance,” the same as an over-grown yard or another unsightly condition. And the smoke is considered a nuisance only under limited conditions.

By Marlen Garcia, Anuj Vaidya, and Juliette Beck

Yolo County has a lot at stake in how we address the climate crisis. In September 2020, the Board of Supervisors passed a visionary resolution calling for a Just Transition approach to climate action and community resilience planning.  Just Transition is a critical policy framework for ensuring that historically marginalized communities are centered and empowered to actively participate in the development of climate solutions. It is deeply relevant to Yolo County, which has the deepest levels of inequality in California. 

Unfortunately, Yolo County’s recent choice of a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) consultant team that did not include a Just Transition approach in their proposal is squandering a critical opportunity to address worsening socio-economic disparities.  As members of a team that also submitted a proposal, we are intimately familiar with the process and motivated to share our concerns by a sense of moral obligation to our community and future generations.

Yolo County’s houseless, BIPOC, rural communities, outdoor workers, and youth are already being hit first and worst by climate breakdown. Summer temperatures in Woodland and West Sacramento average ten degrees hotter than in greenbelt-lined Davis; air pollution has worsened along the 1-80 corridor; eviction rates have increased by 57% since last year. Alarmingly, multinational companies are mining groundwater to feed thousands of acres of perennial orchards, while small, family farms and the wetlands at the Patwin-Wintun Tending and Gathering Garden in the heart of Yolo County have gone dry.

By Torin Dunnavant and Greg McPherson

In this interview Torin Dunnavant, Tree Davis’ new Executive Director is interviewed by Tree Davis Board President Greg McPherson.

Greg: Torin, it’s great to have you at the helm of Tree Davis. You spent the last five years as Director of Education and Engagement with the Sacramento Tree Foundation. Prior to that you were Director of Engagement and Partnerships with TreePeople in Los Angeles. How will you be applying your experience with Tree Davis?

Torin: Thank you Greg, I am so excited to be a part of the Tree Davis team. It’s a fantastic organization and I am humbled to step into this role. I have been a part of the urban forestry world for fourteen years now – and a big part of my focus has been canopy equity. One of the greatest predictors of the health of a community is its urban forest - healthy trees means healthy people. Some neighborhoods have greater obstacles than others to plant trees, but that doesn’t mean that we should wait for the obstacles to remove themselves, it means the opposite - that we need to work harder to plant trees in places where there are less, so that more folks can be supported by the many benefits that trees bring. I look forward to connecting with the groups that partner with Tree Davis and learning from community leaders throughout the area to understand how Tree Davis can support them.

Davis is in the process of developing a new Urban Forest Management Plan and is hosting feedback sessions (the first virtual public meeting was on Nov. 10). Why and how should Davis residents get involved?

By Juliette Beck

With the existential threat of climate breakdown looming, this is quite possibly the most important election in human history.  We need to elect leaders at all levels that will help navigate our sinking ship to safer shores. The City of Davis has the potential to lead a just transition to ecologically sustainable, socially just and climate-resilient communities, but we need to elect the right leaders and make some significant changes in how this city operates.

I've watched with great interest as the city council election has unfolded with two progressive candidates in West Davis running on a climate platform - Kelsey Fortune and Bapu Vaitla. There are differences between these two candidates and I'm supporting Kelsey Fortune because I believe she has the right combination of skills, knowledge, experience and the dogged determination to help our city chart a course to safety through these troubled times. 

Kelsey Fortune came to Davis nine years ago to pursue a PhD in Economics with a focus on transportation, energy and climate policies that drive equitable outcomes to ensure that all community members are included in a just transition to a green economy.  Over the past decade, as an active community member and a city council candidate, Fortune has stepped up to offer her pragmatic, evidence-based solutions to guide our community. During her first campaign for city council two years ago, I was impressed with Fortune’s knowledge of our city - who owns property and who doesn’t, our transportation system, zoning laws, the needs and rights of renters, etc. Fortune has consistently advocated for infill development and affordable housing for working families and low-income individuals. Her expertise in designing climate-friendly communities are at the heart of a just transition.

I'm not endorsing any candidates this election but I just wanted to give a long overdue shout-out to Kelsey Fortune for re-purposing No on H Signs for her campaign by covering them with her compostable campaign signs. You can see the "downside" of the ecological option, but to me the action speaks louder than the durability of the compostable signs ;)

When I ran for Yolo County Supervisor in 2018, I advocated for a "great lawn sign truce of Davis" where all candidates would agree to stop printing lawn signs that end up in the landfill and are made with toxic materials that can take up to a century to break down but alas, the allure of advertising won the day for many candidates.

In this City Council race where each candidate has expressed their hard-fought advocacy for the environment (very trendy in election season, less trendy when it comes to taking meaningful action while in office), nothing speaks more clearly than principled actions they are taking to proverbially speaking, put their money where their mouth is.

And if you were still looking for a clear signal of where the candidates stand on Measure H, and how they might engage in future development proposals, look no further than what's right in front of our eyes.

David Abramson

Some of DiSC’s proponents called it a tiny city. That suggests it is a microcosm of Davis as a whole and all of the issues it faces.

By Roberta Millstein

In a recent interview with the Davis Enterprise, Gloria Partida said that “I know that people right now are very focused on what happened with Measure H” but that being a member of Council is “not a one-issue job.”

However, Measure H represents a large number of central and key issues that future Davis City Councils will have to weigh in on.  It would have been bad for Davis in variety of ways, as Davis citizens widely recognized when they rejected the project by an almost 2-1 margin. 

Thus, a candidate’s stance on Measure H speaks volumes about their values and how they would govern.  Gloria Partida (District 4), Dan Carson (District 1), and Bapu Vaitla (District 1)  were strongly in favor of Measure H.  In contrast, Kelsey Fortune (District 1) and Adam Morrill (District 4) strongly opposed Measure H.

As the No on Measure H campaign emphasized in its ballot arguments and campaign literature, each of the following issues was relevant to the proposed project. In no particular order:

(From press release) Youth leaders from Yolo County led a colorful all-ages march today in central Davis to protest the city’s failure to address the climate emergency. The marchers made their way from the library to central park and the city hall, mirroring thousands of actions across the world on September 23 organized by the #FridaysforFuture movement.

The young marchers denounced the city council and administration for their failure to listen to the demands of young people and for not giving them a seat at the table in the planning and delivery of the city’s new Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

“We young people are the most impacted by climate change and yet our demands for action and change have consistently fallen on deaf ears in the City of Davis,” said Eliot Larson, coordinator of Fridays for Future Davis.

Kelsey Fortune

There is only one progressive and environmentalist running for Davis City Council in District 1.  That person is Kelsey Fortune. I had the opportunity to speak privately with Kelsey for more than an hour on a Zoom call. I was impressed with her intellect and her planned approach to city-wide issues. Kelsey believes in diversity, honesty and transparency, the last of which has been missing in our current council. Kelsey will also be a strong advocate for affordable housing and in-fill development projects.

But let’s look at the other two candidates. Dan Carson and Bapu Vaitla supported the Davis Innovation Sustainability Campus, Measure H.  Davis citizens disapproved this project 64% to 36%, which political scientists define as a landslide defeat. Carson was the honorary chair of the Measure H campaign which had lawn signs that implausibly read “combat climate change” – for a project that predicted 12,000 daily vehicle trips. What do these facts tell us? Carson and Vaitla are out of touch with the Davis electorate.

In a recent Sierra Club questionnaire to city council candidates, Bapu Vaitla stated that he would consider overturning the City’s phase-out of glyphosate, which is the primary ingredient in Roundup, an herbicide made by Monsanto and now Bayer. Here’s Vaitla’s quote: “If no effective organic herbicides exist for our context, we should reconsider the glyphosate question.” None of the other four candidates made this risky claim. In 2020, Bayer agreed to settle over 100,000 Roundup lawsuits, agreeing to pay $8.8 to $9.6 billion to settle those claims.

If elected, Kelsey Fortune will focus on our climate emergency, work on the city’s budget to make it sustainable and will help ensure that every decision the city makes is fiscally responsible.

For decades, the Davis City Council has had a progressive-environmental majority. Unfortunately, the current council has swung to the center-right. We need to get back on track. Please join me on November 8, or earlier, and vote for Kelsey Fortune for Davis City Council, District 1.

David L. Johnson

>>from press release<<

You may have seen some No on H signs popping up around town over the past few days. The No on H campaign, rather than throw away or recycle their campaign signs, provided those signs for Kelsey Fortune’s reuse, since she was the only candidate in District 1 to oppose Measure H. This is a candidate who is walking the walk with her campaign. Her care for the environment isn’t just a talking point, but actually influences her choices during the process. Instead of creating additional plastic waste, this campaign for city council is simply covering old signs with compostable posters. The much appreciated rain has hastened the breakdown process and revealed the signs beneath. Please excuse the surprise change in signage!

We’ll be replacing signs this week. If your sign didn’t stand up to the rain or otherwise needs replacing, please reach Kelsey by text at 530-220-2001 or email at fortunefordavis@gmail.com, and we’ll make sure to bring you a new one! You can also contact her if you don’t yet have a sign and would like one, and further information is available at www.fortunefordavis.com!

(From press release)

Dear Community Members. 

Three years ago, in September of 2019, Davis participated in the first Global Climate Strike with nearly 2000 youth and adults alike demanding climate action. This year, Fridays For Future Davis is inviting you to join us again to fight for all of our future. On September 23rd 2022 at 11am we will march from E 14th and B Street down to Central Park. We are asking students across Davis to walk out of school and adults to walk out of work and join this international movement to demand we have a livable future. 

At the 2019 school strike for climate action we delivered a letter of climate action demands to the Davis City Council and DJUSD, and since then not one of our demands for climate action have been met. We, the youth and Davis community, will not stand for this. 

Elected officials are holding our future in their hands and it is up to them whether we will have a livable planet or not. But it is up to us to tell them when it is time to act, and it is past that time. The Earth’s clock is ticking. We cannot and will not wait until 2035 or 2030 or even 2025 for change to come. We will not wait any longer. 

This September you can be part of this international school walkout and strike to show the world that we will not give up on our future and we will not back down.

(From press release) Youth for Climate Action Justice is holding a rally at the Capitol 1-4pm on Friday, September 16th. Bill AB1919 creates the Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program, a program that will help young students access free public transportation. It also establishes a report requirement to show how effective public transit is at reducing carbon emissions. Join Youth for Climate Action Justice at the Capitol on September 16th and tell Governor Newsom to sign this important bill!

Register here: https://forms.gle/MBBNiYygXJdbMRUS8

EVENT: Rally for Youth Transit
WHERE: West side of the Capitol building
1201-1231 10th Street, Sacramento CA 95814
WHEN: September 16th 2022
TIME: 1-4pm