What is Wigi and why should we protect it?
Wigi is the word for Humboldt Bay in Soulatluk, the language of the Wiyot People. Many of the culturally significant lands surrounding Wigi are still remarkably intact natural areas, as a result of decades-long efforts by the Wiyot Tribe, local community members, nonprofit organizations, and state and federal agencies to protect and restore lands around Humboldt Bay. Protecting this land as a National Monument will allow for a coordinated response and the shared expertise of multiple agencies, Tribes, and organizations to address challenges like climate change, sea level rise and invasive species-- as well as an opportunity to honor and incorporate Wiyot land stewardship. Designating Wigi National Monument will protect this special place for current and future generations.
Establishing the Wigi National Monument will permanently protect a unique, culturally significant, and profoundly beautiful Northern California coastal landscape. Designating these lands as a National Monument is both a way to recognize the national significance of the lands surrounding Humboldt Bay and to protect this truly special place for our children and grandchildren. A new Wigi National Monument would help permanently protect an area that is culturally significant to local Native American Tribes, conserve the region’s diverse habitats, continue a decades-long effort to collaboratively manage the lands, and preserve places for locals and visitors to enjoy and explore.
© Bob WIck
U.S. National Monuments have been around since 1906. They take different forms based on the “objects of historic or scientific interest” that they contain, the different land ownerships involved, and more recently, the ancestral Tribal lands within their boundaries. This new National Monument proposes to bring together the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Wiyot Tribe, Friends of the Dunes, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife into a cooperative management framework. The Wigi National Monument would create a unifying land management structure for working cooperatively across existing boundaries, pooling and attracting new resources to address common challenges, honoring traditional ecological knowledge, and managing for the shared goal of protecting this place for future generations.
Have questions regarding National Monuments? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
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Photo by Andrea Pickart