July 4, 2025
When the Solano Resource Conservation District first started working at Lake Solano in Solano County and the Glen Cove Waterfront Park in the City of Vallejo, our goals were straightforward: revive ecosystems, protect species, preserve habits, and serve the general public. But as we began projects on these sites, we realized these efforts meant so much more.
What began as a standard regulatory requirement to ensure our restoration projects would not disturb culturally significant areas evolved into something far more profound with the help of Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation: a combination of ecological and cultural restoration, with centuries of history, stories, and tradition that have become paramount to our mission.
The Solano Resource Conservation District’s partnership with Yocha Dehe brought an opportunity to see our organization’s work through an entirely different lens.
At Glen Cove, a peaceful shoreline along the San Pablo Bay, our initial restoration game plan of removing invasive species and replanting native ones was enhanced in working with Yocha Dehe to protect cultural resources of immense significance to the Patwin people, as well as preserve native plants still used today for traditional medicine.
The same can be said for Lake Solano — a park tragically impacted by wildfires. Before our partnership with Yocha Dehe, our team did not realize the significance of this land that the Patwin people have called home for thousands of years.
For both of these projects, it was not just the Tribe’s direct guidance, but their stories, history, and identity around their Patwin ancestors on this land that brought newfound meaning to our work. We view this meaning as evergreen. The habitats we restore attract thousands of visitors every year, and we are proud to have the opportunity to assist in protecting these lands so that they can be enjoyed for generations to come.
When we restore habitats, it is not just to ensure wildlife and nature can best thrive, but so the public can learn about the habitats and wildlife on the land they are visiting. Our partnership with Yocha Dehe brought a novel sense of importance to our teaching efforts through infusing cultural education to traditional wildlife education.
Across both sites, our team has witnessed countless encounters between Tribal and local community members that inspire kids and adults alike to understand the importance of meticulous care for ancestral lands. This cultural lens has made us better conservationists.
Our team’s definition of “resources” now encompasses far more than wildfire and habitats. Yocha Dehe’s history and knowledge of the land allowed us to understand that traditional complexities between habitat restoration and cultural preservation go hand-in-hand.
In my 25 years of restoration work, 17 has been spent with the Solano Resource Conservation District, and I can say, with confidence, that our work with Yocha Dehe has created an experience that brings richness and fullness to my work.
One only does this work for as long as I have for the mission—to establish connections between wildlife, humans, and land we share. Understanding that the Patwin people are still here, still practicing, and still caring for the lands we all must work to protect gives a rich meaning to this mission, serving as the driving force that will move us collectively toward a brighter future for Solano County and beyond.
— Chris Rose/Executive Director of the Solano Resource Conservation District