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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020 • SANTA ROSA, • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM Trump zeroes in on nominee WASHINGTON » Sources death of Justice Ruth Bader Gins- gest she might vote to further limit ter, who spoke on the condition of burg, putting forth a nominee who, if abortion rights, an issue that ani- anonymity because the decision close to president say he’ll confirmed, would likely ensure a sol- mates conservative Republicans and has not been announced, cautioned choose Catholic Barrett id conservative majority on the high evangelical voters. that Trump could always change his court for years to come, according to Barrett, 48, could hold the lifetime mind ahead of the announcement By ANNE GEARAN, SEUNG MIN people familiar with the matter. seat for decades. She would join two but said he is telling others that Bar- KIM AND JOSH DAWSEY Democrats have little chance to other relatively young, deeply con- rett is his pick. She is the only can- WASHINGTON POST block the nominee, but a bitter Sen- servative jurists chosen for the high didate he is known to have met with ate battle looms in the weeks ahead court by Trump. Trump’s first two about the vacancy. Administration Amy Coney WASHINGTON — President Don- of the Nov. 3 election, the results of appointments, Neil Gorsuch and officials and campaign advisers were Barrett ald Trump has told people around which Trump has said may end up Brett Kavanaugh, are in their 50s. preparing for a Barrett announce- Judge on Trump’s him that on Saturday he plans to before the high court. The trio would represent one-third ment, and remarks for the president list of Supreme nominate federal appeals court Barrett’s confirmation would re- of the body and form a new 6-3 con- disclosing her as his choice have Court Justice judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the place a liberal icon with a deeply servative majority. candidates to fill Supreme Court vacancy left by the conservative jurist whose views sug- The people familiar with the mat- TURN TO NOMINEE » PAGE A2 empty seat

WALBRIDGE FIRE » CONTROLLED BURNS SONOMA COUNTY 347 ag Help with firefight workers have had COVID Many travel together, share homes which makes them vulnerable By MARTIN ESPINOZA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

About 350 Sonoma County farmworkers have contracted the coronavirus during the pan- demic and nearly a third told local public health officials they likely got infected at work. The county’s most detailed assessment of the effect of the virus on its prized agriculture sector, which includes wine grape growers, revealed public health workers have document- ed 12 outbreaks that averaged 11 infections each for a total of 347 cases among ag workers. The biggest cluster of cases involved 38 workers associated with one unidentified agribusiness. Health officials said infected ag workers identified 88 local vineyard, wineries and ranches as their places of employment, PHOTOS BY ALVIN A.H. JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT though not necessarily where Crew members from the Good Fire Alliance walk along a trail Sept. 12 during a tactical patrol in the Walbridge fire burn zone near Cazadero. they contracted the virus. Dr. Kismet Baldwin, the coun- ty’s deputy health officer, said Volunteers used as backup as blazes become more frequent, destructive Friday the county’s farmworkers share a number of characteristics By MARY CALLAHAN that make them particularly vul- THE PRESS DEMOCRAT “This program nerable to contracting COVID-19. Ag workers often live in ai Dalgleish, 33, took a allowed us some crowded homes where it’s hard break last month from outlet, even if it to isolate when someone gets Kdesk work as a software infected, Baldwin said during engineer in southern Oregon to was prescribed a press briefing. What’s more, dig for smoking roots in Arm- she said, they often share trans- strong Redwoods State Natural burning. It gave portation, traveling to and from Reserve and put out hot spots work in groups, increasing the on steep, remote slopes near me the sense possibility of virus exposure Cazadero. when a coworker gets sick. Peter Nelson, 37, an Amer- that I could “If they’re sharing bathrooms ican Indian Studies professor or sharing a kitchen and a living at San Diego State, also put in go out and do room and transportation, that’s time on the Walbridge fire, tak- one of the things we’ve noticed ing three-day shifts on the fire something for that’s contributing to (coronavi- line between teaching remote rus) transmission,” Baldwin said. classes from his new home in my community.” Santa Rosa. PETER NELSON, a professor TURN TO WORKERS » PAGE A2 Environmental educator Audubon Canyon Ranch resource ecologist and land steward Jared who took three-day shifts Katja Svendsen, 47, had grown Jacobs, left, receives his helmet from Adam Sawicky on Sept. 12 as their on the Walbridge fire line between teaching remote INSIDE crew prepares to patrol in the Walbridge fire burn zone near Cazadero. classes TURN TO FIREFIGHT » PAGE A10 HARD LABOR : Workers in physically demanding jobs are a vulnerable group especially when signs of aging kick in / B10 Tossed 2018 envelopes fuel vote conspiracy theory SANTA ROSA High 90, Low 56 By GUY KOVNER let, claiming they were actual ballots ago, to return mail-in ballots in the THE WEATHER, C6 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT dumped in the trash set off a search November 2018 election, Proto said. for answers Friday by internet The empty envelopes were finally Advice B9 Home D1 The images spread rapidly on conserva- sleuths and a furious debate online sent for recycling this week. Business B10 Horoscopes B5 tive websites and social media feeds Friday: about what, if anything, the images “It was our stuff,” Proto said. photos showing hundreds of envelopes used proved. State law requires elections ma- Classified D4 Lotto A2 by voters to return mail-in ballots discarded No, they were not ballots, said terials to be retained for 22 months, Comics B8 Nation-World B1 in a dumpster at the Sonoma County land- Deva Marie Proto, the county’s regis- and Proto said it has been her of- Crossword B9 Obituaries B3 fill. trar of voters. In fact, the county will Deva Marie fice’s practice to dispose of them at Editorial A8 State news A5 Was it proof of the “rigged” election and not send out mail-in ballots for the Proto the end of that period. voting fraud that President Donald Trump Nov. 3 election for another nine days. Proto acknowledged, however, has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, But the pale blue envelopes in that the photos were “bad optics,” will result from the use of mail-in ballots? photos taken at the Sonoma County Cen- and said that return mail envelopes will be A provocative tweet from the host of a tral Landfill on Mecham Road were used by show on BlazeTV, a conservative news out- Sonoma County voters — nearly two years TURN TO VOTE » PAGE A2 ©2020 The Press Democrat A10 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

cally just in reserve for an email, and she was able to obvious recruits — sever- incident and that could be ABOUT THE GOOD FIRE ALLIANCE schedule mostly three-day al are local land managers FIREFIGHT utilized — and not just in The Good Fire Alliance was formed in the aftermath of the shifts, using a Windsor and fire ecologists, for CONTINUED FROM A1 the way.” October 2017 North Bay firestorm from a collaborative of public, location owned by the instance. Others are less Though not employed private and nonprofit landowners. Together, they decided to Center for Social and so. increasingly intrigued by for the initial firefight, better cooperate on improved vegetation and fuels manage- Environmental Steward- Dagliesh, who uses the fallout from flames where professional crews ment going forward. ship as base camp. Most gender-neutral pronouns, on the landscape through faced down flaming people did at least two, is slowly relocating from three years of leading fronts on high-elevation Their collaboration is part of a growing movement embracing three-days stints, the days Oakland to a new place on hikes in wildfire-scarred ridgetops at the peak of prescribed, or broadcast, burning as a land management tool, lasting about 15 hours, the outskirts of Medford Sonoma County parks. the wildfire’s growth, the one used for centuries by indigenous people that has only with transport out to the and wants to be able to She landed on the same group performed critical recently come back into favor, experts say. field and back. protect their rural home hand crew as Dalgleish mop-up from Aug. 31 to About 170 members of the Good Fire Alliance have basic The fire district paid and build local resiliency, and Nelson — all rela- Sept. 14, digging lines in wildland training that allows them to participate in prescribed their wages and overtime particularly given the tive rookies involved in rough terrain, chasing burns, as well as wildlfire suppression. At least 120 were trained pay, and assumed liability, scarcity of firefighting a new bid to spread fire down skulking flames and on burns run by Fire Forward, a program of nonprofit Audubon while Fire Forward provid- resources. knowledge and experience rooting out underground Canyon Ranch. ed gear, fire safety garb, “That was not some- among everyday civilians. patches of heat. They packs and emergency fire thing that I had expected They were among more worked 12-hour days, shelters for daily crews to do in an official capac- than three dozen people sometimes in triple-digit biodiversity and restore much trauma from recent of 17 people assigned for ity,” Dalgliesh said. “I who recently rotated temperatures, and were wildlife habitat. fires. roughly the first week to wanted those skills just through two weeks of generally covered in dirt It’s “neighbors helping “Let’s get back to the Armstrong Redwoods and, in my own home defense, duty on the 55,209-acre and ash. neighbors,” but on an a land, and let’s try to heal later, to the Red Slide area but I did not think there Walbridge fire, part of a “It’s not for the faint of fairly large scale, given ourselves as a commu- near Cazadero and The was space” to be part of a growing volunteer force heart,” said crew mem- growing interest and nity,” said Svendsen, the Cedars. structured incident. being trained in basic ber Devyn Friedfel, 29, a passion for the subject, regional parks educator. “I think it’s a good con- Nelson is a tribal wildland firefighting. The natural resource spe- said Berleman, who has a “Why not get our younger cept, and, you know, some member of the Federated main purpose: to expand cialist with Pepperwood doctorate in fire ecology generation, who’s being of what’s driving this is Indians of the Graton the know-how needed to Preserve, which started from UC Berkeley and affected — why not get we’re having more and Rancheria, and indigenous conduct more of the pre- using fire on its 3,200-acre is a seasonal U.S. Forest them on board?” more fires, and Cal Fire landscape management scribed burns that experts property in the Mayacam- Service firefighter. The opportunity to do relies on state inmates to is among his academic say will be needed to stem as Mountains in 2014. “We something more arose provide the fire crews, and specialties. He has taken catastrophic fire risk in were working on steep, Helping heal community only recently, starting there’s fewer and fewer,” part in paleo ethnobotany California and across the steep, steep slopes and The effort allows land with a conversation in late Turbeville said. research and studied the rapidly warming western carrying a 45-pound pack, managers to help each July between Berleman It also allows willing, environmental history of . and carrying a tool.” other safely burn large and Northern Sonoma qualified civilians an Tolay Lake Regional Park Their deployment in But the reward is pro- plots of land while pro- County Fire District Chief avenue for offering their and the native plant uses the forested hills west of found, all said, especially viding field training for Marshall Turbeville, a services in a structured, of the Coast Miwok, his Healdsburg came as part given the heavy toll of volunteers trying to earn partner and supporter of managed, accountable people. of a monthlong battle to destructive wildfires in the Type 2, or basic wildland, the Good Fire Alliance. way, Cal Fire Division A key motivator for tame an active wildfire. area. firefighting certification, The two were discuss- Chief Ben Nicholls said. learning basic firefighting, They were plugged into Friedfel, who was evac- which also requires 30 to ing the possibility that Berleman, 31, said it’s however, is his desire to be the incident as temporary uated from his Forestville 40 hours of classwork. alliance members might been her dream to be part a tribal adviser, keeping employees of the North- home for much of the About 170 members serve in a suppression ca- of a culture shift back to watch during future fire- ern Sonoma County Fire Walbridge, noted that the have basic training so pacity at some point in the more environmentally fights to ensure bulldozers Protection District, testing alternative “was sitting on far, roughly 120 trained future, and that’s where it beneficial land steward- and other efforts don’t a model organizers hope a friend’s couch, constant- through Fire Forward, was left — with little idea ship, reintegrating use negatively impact cultural will be replicated in the fu- ly getting updates from Berleman said. Another how soon the need would of fire on landscapes that resources and ecology, he ture for expanding backup Twitter,” thinking, “Why 45 are signed up for field arise. evolved with periodic said. ranks amid increasingly do I have all this training?” training Oct. 10, during a Once the Walbridge burns over generations. He also remembers the frequent wildfire emergen- and wishing he could be burn at ACR’s Bouverie fire was discovered Aug. That mission evidently 2017 wildfires, when so cies. deployed. Preserve in the Sonoma 17, amid dozens of fires resonates widely, given much of Sonoma County The crew was led by fire Valley, she said. touched off by dry light- the number of people who and neighboring commu- Utilizing volunteers ecologist Sasha Berleman, Certification require- ning around the state, joined from the larger Bay nities burned. It may be the first such director of the 3-year-old ments include an “arduous the need for firefighting Area. “I felt helpless,” Nelson deployment of its kind in Fire Forward program pack test,” in which can- crews was quickly under- “It has that natural, said. “I felt like I couldn’t the nation. for Audubon Canyon didates must hike 3 miles stood, and the pair pulled positive contagiousness, do anything. This program “It’s not unachievable Ranch, an environmental with a 45-pound pack in together a plan to join where people are excited allowed us some outlet, that there could be 300, conservation and educa- 45 minutes or less, so it’s trained Alliance mem- to get involved and be a even if it was prescribed 400 people that could be tion nonprofit. The group not for everyone. bers with three people part of it, and it’s inspiring burning. It gave me the trained and available for helped found the Good But participants said from Turbeville’s local some hope and connec- sense that I could go out this kind of work,” said Fire Alliance, a coopera- joining up provides a path fuels management crew, tivity between people in and do something for my hand crew member Joe tive of North Bay land- for positive action at a time who are technically not what can be some pretty community.” Plaugher, 29, a Santa owners and land manag- when wildfires are becom- firefighters, though they difficult times,” she said. Rosa-based field repre- ers seeking to expand the ing progressively more had become certified in at “We’re taking ownership You can reach Staff Writer sentative for Rep. Mike use of prescribed burning common and catastrophic, least some cases through of things that we can do to Mary Callahan at 707-521- Thompson, D-St. Helena. and other techniques as well as an opportunity Fire Forward. make a difference.” 5249 or mary.callahan@ “You could easily see a to control fuel build-up, to steward the landscape, Thirty-eight people pressdemocrat.com. On few hundred people in the eliminate invasive plants especially in Sonoma readily responded to Wide range of recruits Twitter @MaryCallah- community that were basi- and pests, encourage County, where there is so Berleman’s recruitment Some participants are anB.

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