Submissions:2016/"All Together Now": Support Towards Congressional Appropriation for the Flood Control Project in Orick, California by Revealing a Levee's Ethos

Title

"Echoes of Water is life: Wikimedia Aids in Estuary Restoration"

Theme

Advocacy & Outreach

Academic Peer Review option

y

Type of submission

Presentation.

Author

Kathleen Bromley

E-mail address

kcw236@humboldt.edu

Username

Levee Stories

Affiliation

Humboldt State University Applied Anthropology

Abstract

An error was made within the construction of an earthen levee in Orick, California. Fault was admitted shortly after the levee’s completion in 1968. Observation shows this design flaw invades the Redwood Creek estuary. This unwarranted annexation causes extreme damage to the ecosystem. The estuary sits at the western end of the flawed levee system known as the Redwood Creek Flood Control Project (RCFCP). The RCFCP is in the remote Pacific Northwest region of North America in Humboldt County. The alluvial creek is a vital waterway to some of the last remaining old-growth redwood trees. Effects which this flaw has on the ancient forest remain largely unknown, yet the damage done to fish populations has been passionately documented for years. Additional factors including area history, chosen aesthetics, social dynamics and spiritual myths cause immense complexities that make correction of the project’s equation difficult. From authentic fieldwork and archival research to mixed methods conducted in 2016, results show that all interested parties feel that work needs to take place. To acquire the appropriation needed to aid in restoration of the estuary, the primary step is to make the levee’s cultural significance known. Wikimedia platform allows the wisdom gained from the applied anthropological studies to disseminate the knowledge to a larger community. The fruitful broadcast of all current content to aid towards congressional efforts has been published under a fixed Dublin Core based website. This information is also made accessible directly from the Orick Wikipedia page. (244 word count)

Keywords: United States Army Corp of Engineers, Levee, Redwood Creek Flood Control Project, Humboldt County, Redwood Creek Estuary, Indigenous Studies (Yurok People), Ancient Redwood Forest, Critical Habitat for Juvenile Salmon, Philosophy of Social Science, Role of the Anthropologist, Archival Research, Fieldwork, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods, Linguistics, Management Science

Length of presentation

15 min.

Special schedule requests

None

Preferred room size

25-50

Will you attend WikiConference North America if your submission is not accepted?

No

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1. Joshua VanNoord.
2. Weenfan (talk) 18:40, 30 August 2016 (EDT)weenfan