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Remembering Dorthy McKinnon

On her birthday, we honor the life of Dorthy McKinnon. A longtime member of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council, she helped guide the Tribe with wisdom,

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October 31, 2025
Office of Emergency Services

CERT Instructor Meeting

On 8/11/2025, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) leaders from around Humboldt County came together to discuss the latest updates, training opportunities, and resources available for CERT

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October 31, 2025
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This summer, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s Daluviwi’ Community Garden, and Consortium for Tribal Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Tribe’s education programming, will have internship opportunities for both college and high school students. In early spring, capstone students from Cal Poly Humboldt completed their senior project at Daluviwi’ Community Garden, and learned how the system in place supports the Tribe’s food programs, farm stand, and restaurants. Students received practical experience in their field of interest, which include: - sustainable food growth - land management - sustainable agriculture
Capstone students from Cal Poly Humboldt complete their senior project at Blue Lake Rancheria
In the coming weeks and months at Daluviwi’ Community Garden, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will have internship opportunities for college and high school students. Interns will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning, and gain knowledge about sustainable agriculture practices on property, the composting system in place that reduces waste, and methodologies to propagate plants at the Tribe’s greenhouses and high tunnels. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about food sovereignty and traditional native foods such as nuts and seeds, which are grown at the Tribe’s garden. The Tribe’s Daluviwi’ Community Garden is being cultivated into a workspace, where students receive hands-on learning about sustainable food production and improving food security on Tribal lands. For more information: https://www.tea.bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov/pathmakers/daluviwicommunitygarden/
Blue Lake Rancheria's garden cultivated into educational workspace for students
"For my senior capstone project, I have been given the opportunity to gain more experience with sustainable food growth and land management through Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s community garden. I’ve spent time creating new garden beds for the greenhouses, restructuring old plots for new crops, and helping out with taking care of the quail. My favorite part has been planting small seedlings in the soil, and being able to see them grow week to week.” Maya Branch graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt with a BA in Environmental Studies, and an emphasis in Appropriate Technology. This summer, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will have additional internship opportunities for college and high school students. Maya Branch graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt with a BA in Environmental Studies, and an emphasis in Appropriate Technology. This summer, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will have additional internship opportunities for college and high school students. For more information: https://www.tea.bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov/pathmakers/daluviwicommunitygarden/
Capstone students learn about sustainable food growth at Blue Lake Rancheria
“While taking a course on Sustainable Agriculture, I wanted to get some hands-on experience at a local community garden following sustainable farming practices. My option to be an intern at the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe working on the Tribe’s community food garden and food sovereignty initiative allowed me to do this. A lot of our work has involved planting seeds into seed trays, planting seedlings in the ground in the greenhouse and the garden, clearing heavy weeded areas for planting, setting up fences, and composting. We have used two different methods, till and no till, when preparing areas for planting." James Von Tersch recently graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt with a BA in Environmental Studies and an emphasis in Appropriate Technology. This summer, Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will have additional internship opportunities for college and high school students. For more information: https://www.tea.bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov/pathmakers/daluviwicommunitygarden/
Internship opportunitie at Blue Lake Rancheria
As part of its composting program, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s community garden staff uses a wood chipper to reuse materials that come from natural resources such as cardboard. Carbon rich materials such as cardboard, twigs, branches, and hay help keep the compost pile in balance. The shredded material can also be used as a mulch around the Tribe’s garden and landscape. This spring, capstone students learned about the Tribe’s composting system, which is intended to be a model for Tribes and small communities. The Tribe composts food scraps from the Tribe’s food programs and restaurants, spent grain from the Tribe’s brewery, and composts spent coffee grounds from a local coffee shop.
Blue Lake Rancheria's community garden staff uses wood chipper to reuse materials for composting
Aerobic composting is the breakdown of organic matter with oxygen. Currently the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe is practicing this form of composting using two methods: Outdoor composting Earth cube composting Once the brewery grain has gone through 4 weeks of hot composting in the earth cubes, it’s placed the mature pile of compost in the garden to cure. Aerobic composting works best with nitrogen-rich materials that are wet such as spent grain from the Tribe’s brewery. Composting with Earth Cubes is a way to speed up the process of “hot” composting by insulating the pile and forcing air through it. Once temperatures drop in the Earth Cubes it is a sign that the hot composting process has ended and the pile is ready to be cured.
Blue Lake Rancheria practices outdoor and earth cube composting
About 300 pounds of spent grain from Powers Creek Brewery is hauled to the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s compost pile on a weekly basis, that would otherwise end up in the landfill. A truck is used to transport heavy bins of material across the rancheria in a small amount of time, such as spent grain or food waste. In the near future, an EV utility vehicle will be used to haul loads from the brewery to the garden, which will further reduce the Tribe’s carbon footprint. Garbage from Blue Lake Rancheria is hauled 150 miles away to a landfill in Anderson. Composting reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating long transportation routes and recycling organic waste on property. The Tribe received a USDA Community Composting and Food Waste Reduction grant to expand the Tribe’s composting program.
Community Compost Program reduces long transportation routes by recycling organic waste on property
Recycling waste on property is one way the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe is leading the way in climate action, and reaching its goal to sustain net zero carbon emissions by 2030. So far in 2022, the Tribe has composted: 734 pounds of organic waste such as coffee grounds and food scraps from the Tribe’s food programs. 2200 pounds of spent grains from Powers Creek Brewery. About 40 percent of landfill waste is organic material such as food waste. Buried under layers of waste in landfills, food cannot decompose properly. When organic materials break down in landfills, methane gas is produced. Greenhouse gas is one of the main contributors to climate change. The Tribe received a USDA Community Composting and Food Waste Reduction grant to expand the Tribe’s composting program.
Blue Lake Rancheria leads the in climate action by recycling organic waste on property
The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe composts spent grain from Powers Creek Brewery, which can be as much as 80 percent of the total by-product. About 300 pounds of spent grain from the brewery is hauled to the Tribe’s compost pile on a weekly basis, that would otherwise end up in the landfill. Spent grain is the leftover malt after most of the sugars, proteins, and nutrients have been extracted during the mashing process. Composting is one common solution to divert spent grain from ending up in the landfill. Other options include using the leftover supply for livestock feed, a sustainable agriculture practice the Tribe is also looking into as the brewery grows. The Tribe received a USDA Community Composting and Food Waste Reduction grant to expand the Tribe’s composting program.
Blue Lake Rancheria composts spent grain from the Tribe's brewery on site
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