|
A Proposal in Progress Salinan Tribal Council leaders are discussing preservation of the cultural and natural heritage of their homelands with others who have abiding interests in this rare region. They all want to create a protection for the area that allows others to learn from it. |
|
A program of economic development for the Salinan Nation with ecological and cultural restoration projects is being studied. A citizens’ group, the Big Sur Sanctuary Coalition, is discussing the possibility of creating a new land use management group- a multi agency, an interdisciplinary group- of which the Salinan Nation was a principal partner. There are private effort to acquire the Hearst Ranch. The Piedras Blancas coastline, a community of U.S. Dept. of Interior environmental agencies in and around the lighthouse, and the remarkable elephant seal colonies is included in the envisioned area. Land conservancies, now stakeholders in the future of the area, want to jointly produce long range resource protection plans for the region. It is of great interest to them that San Antonio Valley be part of the plan, and that it be part of a visitor user concept. From the talks with Salinans and others who place value on indigenous people’s stewardship of the land, and this area’s textbook experience with the advent of California exploitation by other cultures, a vision is emerging. Because of the unique state of superb preservation for the cultural and natural history elements of the area, a cultural and ecological resources campus is envisioned for the surplused lands and buildings of Fort Hunter Liggett. This is a place that affords a grand and rare opportunity for learning the California experience. A campus would be designed in partnership with learning institutions (possibly Hartnell College, MPC, Cabrillo, CSUMB, UCSC, UC Berkeley), service providers (eco tour operators), state and national parks, private industry (straw bale construction, native plant nurseries, hospitality lodging), and more. The evolution of a multi agency management plan would be highly inclusionary – it would be necessary to include all local business interests, the Army, outdoors sportsmen (i.e., hunters), ranchers, wilderness advocates, historical and religious groups, and natural history conservationists, all to work in partnership with the Salinan Nation. A principal objective of the campus partnership would be an ecologically and economically sustainable community. Along with learning campus functions, there are facilities needs for the Salinans, such as elderly housing and medical care. Historical prizes abound in the San Antonio Valley region, indeed as much as to warrant designation as a special district, and a recreation in the spirit of Williamsburg and Columbia. Even though the Army used old adobes for target practice, there is a plentiful inventory of pioneering homesteader sites; mission and Spanish rancherias for the Salinans; the Hearst Ranch hunting reserve and Lodge; and the recreation of the Portola Trail which presents incredible learning opportunities. And, of all the California missions, San Antonio de Padua is one of the most authentically restored to its original functions, and so is the most instructive of that critical era in our state’s history. The Salinan heritage sites are of special significance. There are literally hundreds of certified archaeological sites in the region that testify to the Salinan 10,000 year presence in the Valley. The well preserved state of the subject area in tandem with the recovering of the Salinan culture presents a marvelous learning opportunity. Because of disease, slavery and cultural oppression, the Salinan population was decimated. For much of the past century, the culture was considered extinct. But, they were not, and are now flourishing. Now they are ready to work with hikers, ecologists, artists, historians, teachers, parents and students, to create a proposal for a natural and cultural resource reserve that shall be a viable alternative to the Army and Navy proposal to bomb their homeland. |