Amah Mutsun Land Trust

10/14/2026

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🔥 Prescribed Fire at Año Nuevo State Park

California State Parks is conducting a 145-acre prescribed burn in the Cascade Field area of Año Nuevo State Park. State Parks fire personnel are managing the burn, with CAL FIRE CZU providing support and emergency response resources if needed.

The prescribed fire is progressing through a mix of native and invasive grasslands, with encouraging results. The fire is helping restore the natural landscape, reduce invasive vegetation, and create healthier conditions for native plant species. The ecological benefits of carefully managed fire are already becoming visible.

⚠️ Highway 1 Traffic Advisory: Motorists should expect intermittent closures and traffic control along Highway 1 near Año Nuevo State Park to ensure public and firefighter safety. Please slow down, follow traffic directions, and allow extra travel time.

Prescribed fire is an important tool for restoring California’s natural ecosystems while reducing hazardous vegetation and future wildfire risk.

CHP Santa Cruz CHP Redwood City Amah Mutsun Land Trust SC State Parks Public Safety CAL FIRE
San Mateo Coast State Parks Monterey Bay Air Resources Dis California State Parks

10/12/2026

What better way to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day than by highlighting the struggles that brought us to this point and uplifting the possibilities that lie ahead?

The Amah Mutsun Come Home. ❤️

Thank you to everyone who has walked this path with us and helped us realize the vision set out years ago. And to Save Mount Diablo for this lovely tribute.

For many years, the Amah Mutsun people have been separated from the...

10/12/2026

Did you know CA Prop 45 Threatens Tribal Cultural Heritage?

CA Prop 45 is a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would dramatically overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in a manner favorable to developers and real estate interests for a wide array of projects broadly deemed “essential.” Critically, Prop 45 would eliminate non-federally recognized California tribes, such as the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, from tribal consultation processes for eligible projects. This would leave large swaths of California, including many of the highest-value real estate market areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin, without any culturally affiliated tribal representation.

Beyond undermining tribes' ability to protect cultural heritage sites, Prop 45 undercuts CEQA in several key areas, harming public health and the environment. These changes reduce opportunities for public input and weaken public agencies' capacity to conduct adequate environmental review. AMLT encourages community members, our organizational partners, and local public agencies to join in a united effort to vote down this legislation.

To learn more, visit Vote No on Prop 45: https://bit.ly/4xUQLEb

✍️: Tyler Suttle

📷: Soon-to-be protected land at Chitactac

10/07/2026

On September 12, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB) Tribal Council, with support from AMLT, hosted a meaningful Tribal gathering in connection with Chitactac-Adams County Parks’ Family Day. Tribal members joined the County event in the morning, connecting with the landscape, visiting with one another, and enjoying activities that highlight the site's deep history.

In the afternoon, the community moved to AMLT’s soon-to-be-acquired adjacent property for a dedicated Tribal gathering. This part of the day offered an opportunity to gather on land that will soon support Tribal-led stewardship, cultural use, and future programming.

It was a grounding, reconnecting event that sets a positive foundation for future Tribal events on the land, and we thank all who traveled to attend!

10/01/2026

Thank you to Senator Becker and all who worked to pass SB 949 and help protect the Santa Cruz Mountains!

08/10/2026

For three weeks, eight transitional-age Mutsun youth participated in a summer field school experience with the University of Oregon, led by Gabe Sanchez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Latinx, and Native American Studies.

The Collaborative Archaeology Field School offers participants a deeply immersive introduction to Indigenous‑led, community‑based archaeology. The course centers shared decision‑making, reciprocity, and the leadership of Indigenous knowledge holders.

Participants learn how collaborative archaeology is practiced in real time while working alongside Tribal members, nonprofits, and public agencies within Mutsun territory. Through hands‑on fieldwork, museum research, lectures, and field trips, participants gain experience with low‑impact survey methods, ethnobotany, geophysical techniques such as ground‑penetrating radar and magnetometry, high‑resolution fieldmapping, excavation, and cultural resource documentation.

This field school trains emerging archaeologists in methods including the Integrative Cultural Resource Survey approach designed to protect and honor Amah Mutsun cultural heritage. Students contribute to land surveys and stewardship projects with partners such as State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, building the practical skills and cultural competency needed for careers in academic research, land and ocean stewardship, and cultural resource management.

Thank you to the University of Oregon team for all your knowledge and guidance and for welcoming the youth with enthusiasm!

We invite you to check out the KQED article and MC Weekly’s article about the replanting event field school participants engaged in this year, as well as this month's newsletter, where you can find links to both of these articles: https://bit.ly/4hbEdDV

08/05/2026

This year’s Youth Summer Camp at Redwood Glen in Loma Mar was one of those weeks that simply felt good. Thirty Mutsun youth, supported by 38 adult mentors, chaperones, and Elders, spent five days under the canopy of the redwoods learning, exploring, laughing, and building relationships with the land, the sea, and their culture in a real, hands‑on way.

Each day, Elders passed down the knowledge of the ancestors through stories shared around the fire at the Talking Circle, through craft projects that help the little and big ones alike engage with their culture, and through language lessons that help the youth speak and understand the words their families have spoken for generations. The kids hiked, played, swam, tried new things, and filled the camp with a sea of art projects—with plenty of paint and glitter on themselves, too!

By the end of the week, they left tired, but fulfilled; carrying with them new memories, new knowledge, and hopefully a sense of belonging to community, family, and the land that continues to teach us all.

Thank you to all the Mutsun Elders, teachers, and mentors whose guidance, wisdom, and presence made this year’s camp such a meaningful success!

Also, thank you to California State Coastal Conservancy and California Coastal Commission for your support, to Cabrillo College for your ongoing partnership and education, and, importantly, to the Ramaytush Ohlone Tribe for their blessing to gather in their ancestral territory.

Read more about the program in this month's newsletter: https://bit.ly/4hbEdDV

07/16/2026

Thank you to KQED for this fantastic article featuring the AMLT Native Stewardship Corps!

Incredible work being done every day. 🙌

Researchers at Elkhorn Slough are using hatcheries, habitat restoration and Indigenous stewardship to help bring back the state’s only native oyster and the ecosystem it supports.

07/15/2026

In June, seven transitional-age Mutsun youth embarked on their three-week summer field school experience with the University of Oregon, led by Gabe Sanchez, an assistant professor and curator of zooarchaeology at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and a faculty member of anthropology, Latinx, and Native American studies.

They will spend their time camping with the university students in Hollister Hills, learning various archaeological techniques at Juristac and other sites, partnering with Elkhorn Slough on their upcoming oyster replanting, and helping mentor the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Youth Summer Camp participants.

We look forward to sharing with you, our friends and supporters, next month about all the wonderful things they and Summer Camp attendees learned and experienced. Stay tuned!

07/13/2026

AMTB Youth Summer Camp is in full swing under the canopy of the redwoods. We all look forward to an educational, connective week!❤️

Thank you to California State Coastal Conservancy and California Coastal Commission for your support!