California Documentary Project
Saving the Sierra:
Voices of Conservation in Action
The Sierra Fund
Nevada City
Project Director: Catherine Stifter
How community-based conservationists are working together for a better Sierra
This project uses radio, a blog and a mobile recording studio to capture the many voices of people concerned about the future of the Sierra region.
Said Project Director Catherine Stifter, “We've talked to retired school teachers and Republican ranchers, rural youth and middle-age Sierra Club members, lawyers and loggers, environmental historians, and conservation visionaries as they grapple with critical questions facing Californians: How do people build bridges across cultural and political divides? How do you balance the demands for human use with the health of an ecosystem? What can communities, organizations and individuals learn from each other?”
Stifter is a Peabody award-winning freelance editor and independent training and production consultant for community media projects and public radio stations. She shares management of the project with community educator jesikah maria ross.
The "Saving the Sierra" website, a recipent of a Dottie Award honoring the best Northern California websites, features the stories Stifter and ross have collected to date.
A series of radio programs, with several still in the planning phases, are also a part of the project. "The programs feature residents who are reaching across divides to find solutions to problems," Stifter said.
“We want tradio 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,” she said.