California has been center stage for the massive wildfires now all too common in America’s West. Research has intensified as scientists and firefighters seek more
effective ways to both prevent and mitigate the effects of these “super blazes” primed by a warmer world.

Searching for the Gold Spot documents the remarkable return of life in forests after wildfire, following teams of researchers and first responders through the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Mountains, and beyond. The discoveries turn recent policy on its head. Rather than logging what was believed to be a destroyed forest, the documentary shows hundreds of living, breathing reasons why post-fire forests need to be saved from logging. Birds, deer, bears, butterflies, bugs — an extensive diversity of animals (and plants) thrive in burned forests.

Creator Maya Khosla reminds us that fire is an “ancient force” and that “out of the transformed backcountry rises a whole new world.” Ms. Khosla and her film drive home the point that human non-interference can be a powerful, healing tool. We humans, however, are not always as resilient. We need emotional release and support. This drive for help drives Maya Khosla’s other passion poetry. As Sonoma

County’s Poet Laureate, her project brings the power of words to match the power of nature unfettered. Join us for a night uniquely designed to look both beyond and within ourselves for answers that may have been there all along.

Wednesday, June 19, 2018
Social: 6:30 p.m.
Election of Board of Directors: 6:45 p.m.
Program: 7:00 p.m.