Signal Booster: Tahoe Weekly Interviews Writer and Naturalist Obi Kaufmann

It’s really an achievement, of sorts—it only took 170 years to settle the fairest place on earth and overdevelop it until the rivers ran dry and the air was brown with smoke. But naturalist, poet and visionary Obi Kaufmann has hope we can learn from the experience, and perhaps heal the Golden State.

In an article by Priya Hutner of the Tahoe Weekly, Kaufmann offers a scientific and holistic vision for the future of ailing California. According to Kaufmann, “the fires are related to the water, which is related to the air, which ultimately is related to the earth, as well.” His newest book, The Coasts of California, will be out in April 2022. For now, he has a film that screens on California Admission Day, Sept. 9. Kaufmann and his friend, State Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot, are viewed exploring the Sierra Nevada and discussing what they see, out doing the kind of trekking John Muir did so many summers ago.

Kaufmann grew up an East Baynian, hiking the Mt. Diablo area. He went to UCSB, and explored the mountains behind Santa Barbara. Crowfoot is a transplant from Michigan, a serious backpacker and the supervisor of some 2,000 state workers who aims to improve our chances of surviving the petroleum age. The two offer a message of possibilities. Perhaps what we’re facing isn’t a death sentence but a serious warning. Facing the reality of the situation is the first step. Offers Kaufmann, “Things are getting worse and they’re getting better at the same time.”

Read “Obi Kaufmann, Artist, author, poet and naturalist” on TheTahoeWeekly.com. Register at WildboundLive.com for the Sept. 9 screening of “A Walk with Obi and Wade.”