Yolo Land & Water Defense

Yolo Land & Water Defense is a group dedicated to protecting and restoring Yolo County's land and waterways.

The organization was founded in 2021 by Yolo County residents. Their mission is threefold. First, they aim to lessen the environmental damage caused by open-pit surface mining companies. The group recently filed a lawsuit against Teichert Mining to repeal its Environment Impact Report, which allowed the company to continue with a 30-year mining plan that would cause land, air, water, and noise pollution. More specifically, the project would introduce toxic methyl mercury to fish and wildlife, result in the loss of 300 acres of prime farmland, release air pollutants, and potentially cause unknown damage to underground water supplies. Yolo Land & Water Defense is currently partnering with the Sierra Club Yolano Group to raise money and stop this sand and gravel open-pit mining operation.

Second, the group supports the Tending and Gathering Garden in the Cache Creek Nature Preserve, which is a Native American reclamation project that is currently threatened by Teichert Mining due to insufficient support.

The group’s third and final goal is to fight climate change in Yolo County, in line with the Yolo Climate Action Plan, to preserve its natural resources for all future generations.