This interview concludes our Women’s History Month series- view three more interviews with women landowners on the blog home page!
Every Forest Stewardship Workshop participant has their own, unique relationship with forests. For Amy Rathbone, purchasing a parcel of forestland with her husband meant entering an agreement with the land itself- to respect and collaborate with it. This has led to projects that are informed by multiple perspectives: foresters, neighbors, educators, and Rathbone’s own observations after 5 years of learning the land.
“My goal is to be in connection with nature here and learn to read the land. I want to be a thoughtful observer, and move at the speed of enjoyment, knowledge, and care,” she notes.
See Amy’s observations about working on forests, thoughts on beating the Mendocino heat, and advice for other landowners below. Answers have been edited for clarity. All photos used courtesy of Amy Rathbone.
Q: Could you please share about your forestland: where you are, forest type, ownership history, etc.
A: The parcel that I purchased with my husband is up on in Mendocino County. It's around 75% oak savannah and 25% forest. It’s mostly oaks, with some manzanita, madrone, some encroaching firs, and some toyon.
My husband and I have a small wood joinery company, and we were up in Ukiah building a barn for a friend of ours. We just fell in love with the landscape, and in 2020 we purchased this parcel. We named it Momo Oka, which is Japanese for Peach Hill.
We don’t really say that we own this land, we say that we are in partnership with it. It may seem like just semantics, but changing our wording has helped us feel respect for and a duty to collaborate with the land.
Q: Do you have a favorite spot on your forestland? What do you like to do for fun there?
A: It’s really hard to pick a favorite spot! There’s something about the expansiveness of the land that invites curiosity, so my favorites are ever-changing. Momo Oka has become one of my greatest teachers in that way, and just being here has changed how I think and relate to being a part of the larger world.
For me and my husband, one of our favorite things to do is just observe, like watching the acorns grow. It sounds like an odd thing! But we've been going up there for 5 years now, and each season the oaks produce different sized acorns or different amounts of acorns. We’ll see what time of year the leaves fall off the trees, and the rates that the leaves fall. Seeing what conditions are conducive to those occurrences is an endless curiosity.
Q: What is a management activity or project that you are most proud of? Is there a project that you’re looking forward to?
A: We’re at the top of Big River’s North fork, which is the watershed for this area. So, a lot of our projects have us doing our part to keep the river healthy. We took a permaculture course at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, which gave us a good framework for approaching these projects. We have also thinned the encroaching firs to allow the more shade-intolerant oaks room to grow.
Making things as resistant to fire as possible is also very important to us. We’re hoping that this winter we will be able to work with the local Prescribed Burn Association and learn more about that.
So much of this work is dependent on so many different factors, which is why my goal is to be in connection with nature here and learn to read the land. I want to be a thoughtful observer, and move at the speed of enjoyment, knowledge, and care.
Q: Are there obstacles to managing your land that most people wouldn’t expect? What about unexpected benefits?
A: It gets hot up on this little hill! That's an obstacle that I'm still trying to crack. We shouldn't really be moving any earth in the winter months, but it's too hot in the summer months to really work outside midday. I'm looking to Spain and Europe on how they wake up at 5 in the morning, take siestas in the day, and then work again late at night.
The ownership part is hard for me in general, because I wish nobody really owned any of this. An unexpected benefit is that I just didn't realize how grateful I would feel to be in connection with a piece of history. There are a couple of 500-year old bay trees here, and I never thought that I would be able to sit underneath a tree that old and contemplate who else has sat underneath the same tree.
Q: What are some resources that you found helpful when you began your landowner journey?
A: Occidental Arts and Ecology Center is an amazing group of people teaching land collaboration, and I took a class with them as soon as I could. I learned about stormwater management, conservation, hydrology and conditions conducive to life and really understanding the importance of water.
I definitely call our neighbors too. Some of them have been here a really long time, and they have an understanding of certain patterns that can only come with time.
You guys at UC ANR are an excellent resource. I’ve learned a lot from Kim (Forest Stewardship Education Program) and the people that she's brought together.
I’ve experienced a lot of generosity with knowledge, and I think that’s mostly because everybody has a stake in keeping things healthy.
Q: Is there a piece of advice you would give to other women landowners?
A: Allow space for opening awareness and curiosity and try to find places of enjoyment that already exist. Instead of trying to put a stamp of desire on the land, accept what it already has to offer, and learn more about the things that are of benefit to the land. This place keeps me in check with elements of control. There is so much that happens here which has nothing to do with me- it's the ever-evolving cycle of living and dying that I get to witness. I don’t necessarily feel proud of the work that we have been able to do, I just feel very lucky.
There's already a life of something happening here, and it might be a little bit more subtle, but it’s still important. There are things like lichen that are fragile; they won’t scream out at you if you step on them, but they have importance.
Q: What gives you hope for the future of California’s forests?
A: There’s some really bad news recently about our state’s forests, but I feel hopeful that we'll fight back. I have a lot of hope in the people that care passionately, and I’m thankful for the people that put their efforts towards knowledge or information gathering. We can't fall into despair. We have to stick together, and connect with one another, like mycelium. Just let that energy move through.