Five years ago, Plains Miwok cultural practitioner Don Hankins got a surprising invitation from Russ Ryan, a project manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The agency owns four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, including one called Webb Tract, and Ryan asked Hankins for help stewarding them from an Indigenous perspective. Hankins was skeptical at first. … But Hankins feels a deep-rooted responsibility toward the Delta. He was also moved when Ryan visited him at California State University Chico, where he’s a professor of geography and planning. On a walk in Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, the pair forged a partnership that included bringing tribes into planning a new wetland on Webb Tract from the very beginning. “It’s a game changer,” says Hankins, noting that this is the first time tribes have been integral to a restoration project in the Delta.

Other Sacramento and San Joaquin river news:

• Westervelt Ecological Services: News release: Valley elderberry longhorn beetle habitat restoration in the Sacramento Valley
• The Stockton Record (Calif.): Photos: The Sacramento River sparkles near the San Joaquin River Delta