By the time you read this, it might be outdated as things change rapidly with wild fires. At this moment in time (August 25, 9:00am) the Woodard Fire is still burning four miles north of Commonweal. It has consumed over 2,500 acres of wilderness in Pt Reyes National Seashore. The firefighters have been able to secure 5% containment. The winds are mostly blowing toward the north, moving the fire away from Bolinas. We are still under an evacuation warning order, but starting to breathe again. Fires have become part of living in Northern California. As climate change causes our summers to be longer and dryer, we know these fires will be part of life. We will keep you posted here if anything changes. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes and deep gratitude to the 211 fire fighters on the front lines.
Oren Slozberg
Executive Director l Commonweal
August 19
Dear friends,
Resilience is at the heart of Commonweal. This year has tested our resilience a few times already. And we are in that spot again.
An 800-acre forest fire is burning on the Woodward Valley Trail in the Point Reyes National Seashore about five miles north of the Commonweal site in Bolinas. At the moment there are evacuation warnings to all Bolinas residents. All of our staff are safe. We will keep you posted if anything changes. There are updates on the Marin County Fire Twitter feed and website.
Some of our staff in Sonoma County and other areas of Northern California have been evacuated due to the fires. At the moment everyone has a place to stay and are safe.
Please hold our Bolinas land and Northern California staff in your hearts during these next few days.
With prayers to the fire crews who are on the front line,
Oren Slozberg
Executive Director l Commonweal