“Saving The Sierra: Voices of Conservation in Action” is one of eight documentary projects funded by the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council's California Documentary Project.
Through public radio broadcasts, a website and a series of community audio workshops throughout the Sierra Nevada, the project will shed light on how community-based conservationists are working together for a better Sierra. The project focuses on the role of conservation in preserving regional heritage and character while connecting people to the land and to each other.
Saving The Sierra is co-directed by Peabody award-winning public radio editor and producer Catherine Stifter of Nevada City and educator, media-maker and community development practitioner Jesikah Maria Ross of Davis. “We want to help radio listeners and others, regardless of their political views, economic circumstances or geographic location, see the issues facing the Sierra as ones affecting the health of the entire state of California,” Stifter said.
“Our partnerships with The Sierra Fund, Sierra Nevada Alliance, and The Center for Sierra Nevada Studies at Sierra College provide opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders to hear each other's perspectives, struggles and concerns around these issues,” said Ross.
The California Council for the Humanities awarded $400,000 to eight projects–five films, two radio documentaries and one documentary photography project. The projects include a film about a Cambodian American rapper and a photography project documenting little-known Oaxacan farm worker communities in California.
The California Documentary Project is an ongoing grant line that seeks to create enduring images and sounds of contemporary California life. Visit http://www.calhum.org/programs/doc_saving_sierra.htm
For more information about Saving The Sierra, contact project co-directors Catherine Stifter at cstifter@theunion.net or Jesikah Maria Ross at jmross@ucdavis.edu