Donate

Category: Environmental Stewardship

Ocean Teaching Us To Love Nature

por Michael Brito

Michael Brito grew up in Southern California, where the long stretches of sandy beaches inspired his love and connection to the outdoors. As a high school student, he would stake out bonfire pits with friends and watch the waves at the beach. Like generations before, he connected with his community around a fire. The fire’s warmth, crashing waves, and the painted sunset pulled him away from everything. Brito found a connection to the earth on those long beach days.

Brito attended UC Davis initially as a Political Sciences major. While he felt the need to pursue a career connecting people for the common good, he struggled to figure out how he could do so while finding an occupation that sparked a fire in him. After two years of struggles as an undergrad, Brito found his community among students studying Marine Sciences. Being part of this community allowed him to look closer at the coastal marine life they were observing. Very quickly, he created an even deeper connection with the ocean.

This community of students inspired Brito to switch his degree and pour all his remaining time into studying and asking ecological questions about coastal oceans. Becoming familiar with the neighboring marine life or how marine algae produces more oxygen than all the world’s forests sparked that fire Brito had been searching for. He became aware of how the world’s oceans are suffering from climate change yet protecting us by absorbing the carbon dioxide humans have been pumping into the atmosphere. Deeply moved, Brito was mobilized and became an advocate for ocean conservation. After college, he worked on the first ever captive rearing program for the critically endangered Sunflower sea star, Pycnopodia helianthoides. While this was important work, he felt he could make a more lasting impact on conservation by engaging with coastal communities.

Brito stumbled upon the Mendocino Coast on a road trip and was left in awe by the beautiful coastline. He immediately found a job in Fort Bragg with Pacific Environmental Education Center (PEEC), teaching fourth to eighth graders about the Mendocino coast’s natural history. He now works with the Noyo Center for Marine Science, supporting the mission of promoting conservation through the education of the local community. Brito hopes to work with the Noyo Center for Marine Science to reach Mendocino county’s Latinx communities and give them guided access to outdoor spaces.

Brito believes fostering an outdoors that welcomes diverse groups of people is essential because everyone must be given a chance to connect to the earth and green spaces. When Western thought-centric ideas dominate a space, they can exclude other ways of thinking and discourage others from being part of it. As a person of color, he understands that there is an egregious lack of leaders of color. Having navigated through white-dominated spaces, Brito believes that we must continue to engage local underrepresented communities so that everyone can one day be part of solving current issues such as climate change. The solution starts with creating opportunities for Latinx and people of color to get outside and have an enriching community.

The most significant barrier Brito anticipates as the major roadblock for people to get outside is the difficulty for low-income families of color to afford to spend time outdoors. This problem has only been made worse by the lack of accessible public transportation. As Brito continues his work, he hopes that more community members want to contribute to Latino Outdoor’s mission to get all people outside.

Michael Brito is a 24-year-old who recently joined the Latino Outdoors North Coast Chapter as an Outings Leader. He’s worked as a teacher naturalist for P.E.E.C. and gained a deep appreciation for the Mendocino Coast. Michael enjoys reading books about marine life and exploring the local tide pools. He looks forward to creating a more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming space for all in the outdoors.

Yo Cuento: Rim of the Valley

por Christian La Mont

In 2021, when it was safe to spend time outdoors with others, I was honored to join Representative Adam Schiff (CA-28) and outdoor equity leaders for a hike in the Rim of the Valley Corridor in Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains. We gathered at the trailhead, wearing masks and maintaining a safe distance, catching up with friends and colleagues we hadn’t seen outside of Zoom or Google Hangout calls in a year. 

I heard some familiar voices and saw Dennis Arguelles with the National Parks Conservation Association, Araceli Hernández of Nature For All, and other outdoor advocates. Representative Schiff, a public lands champion and avid hiker, led us up the trail. It had been a long time since I had heard the crunch of dirt underneath my shoes and the winded but determined chatter of hikers. As we walked and talked, I couldn’t help but think of how calming and motivating it was to be back in nature, reconnecting with others.

Our main topic of conversation was the Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act, which would add more than 191,000 acres of the Rim of the Valley Corridor to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and increase access to nature for urban LA communities. The bill has been championed by Representative Schiff and has already passed the House of Representatives. A few weeks ago, the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee passed the Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act which puts us one step closer to making it a reality. I hope the full Senate follows suit and passes the bill this year. 

Over the past few years, I’ve advocated for the Rim of the Valley expansion. I’ve traveled to Washington D.C. to speak to policymakers about the benefits of protecting and expanding public lands around the country, and in particular in my hometown of Los Angeles.

The bill isn’t only about preserving natural treasures like the Los Angeles River and Griffith Park, home of our beloved mountain lion, P-22. It’s also about protecting cultural treasures like El Pueblo de Los Ángeles near Chinatown which is near the area where the Tongva village of Yangna was located and near where the famed Aliso Tree once stood. Despite the often painful and violent history of this area, the Tongva, whose name means “people of the earth” are today a community full of advocates, artists, change-makers, and policy shapers. We should, as we move to expand the Rim of the Valley and continue to protect public lands and push for equitable access to the outdoors, always seek input, advice, and collaboration from the original caretakers of the land.

As we neared the top of the trail, I paused to take a photo of Araceli, Dennis, and Representative Schiff. In conservation and policy work we cannot forget the invaluable role Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) advocates and organizations play in protecting the lands we love and also the communities and cultures these lands represent. 

On the way back to the trailhead we talked about our favorite local hiking spots with Representative Schiff. I recounted a uniquely magical L.A. moment on another hike in the Rim of the Valley. I hiked on Cinco de Mayo and was greeted by a calm breeze, a magnificent view of downtown Los Angeles, and the distant sounds of mariachi bands echoing throughout the valley below. It was, to me, a representation of what the Rim of the Valley is all about: nature, culture, opportunity, Los Angeles, home. 

This summer, hundreds of outdoor advocates across the country celebrated Latino Conservation Week, dedicated to uplifting the power of Latinx community engagement and advocacy. I couldn’t help but think of all the public lands around L.A. and beyond that need community support, that need the advocates and storytellers, the legislators who listen, care, and act. Increasing access to nature helps make the world a better place, one park and one trail at a time. We have to make it easier for our communities to enjoy the outdoors. The Rim of the Valley bill is one such opportunity. It gives me hope that passionate leaders like Representative Schiff, Senator Alex Padilla, Dennis, and Araceli are willing to dream big and to be bold in re-envisioning our parks and open spaces. We need that kind of thinking, now more than ever.


If you live in Los Angeles and would like to learn how you can support public lands, you can learn how to take action HERE.

Sana Sana

por Maritza Oropeza Kritz

I walk amongst the trees 
Brisk breeze flowing through my hair 
I look up at my ancestors 
Protectors of the land 
Whispers of cries 
What have we done to the land?

I follow their cries to the mountains
Gazing at our beloved earth
I see her yearning of thirst 
Empty forest and black clouds 
On the brink of collapse 
Lands bare and seas empty 
Senseless wars against nature 
Man’s envy has overcome his humanity 
Days are numbered 
As we drift closer to extinction 
What have we done to the land? 

Nourish our earth for she will always forgive
Our shelter of wonders
Do not destroy her innocence 
Our strength in numbers can heal
The earth is our teacher
The earth is our mother
The earth is our home
Without our home, we are nothing

Poem by: Maritza Oropeza Kritz