Active Living

The NRS Active Living Program fosters local and regional partnerships to cultivate a stronger focus for healthy community design, local food security, and community empowerment. The Active Living team plans and implements projects to support local jurisdictions, residents, and grassroots organizations in efforts around the built environment, trails, transportation safety, community health, equitable development, community gardens, and outreach and education.

Abuelita's Demonstration Garden

RCAA Demonstration Garden - or Abuelita's Garden - is located on 6th and T Streets in Eureka, in the backyard of the RCAA's Energy Services division. Overseen by NRS staff, the Demonstration Garden provides organically grown produce and gardening opportunities for RCAA clients and the public. Community volunteers help manage the space, and more gardeners are welcome!

To learn how to get involved or support the garden, please contact Matt Drummond at mdrummond@rcaa.org or call (707) 269-2071. 

Baduwa’t (Mad River) Floodplain 

The Baduwa’t (Mad River) Floodplain and Public Access Enhancement Project was a habitat restoration project that included a backwater channel and pond construction in addition to a public access trail with amenities and interpretive signage. RCAA designed cultural signage in partnership with the Wiyot Tribe and MCSD for signs about their land use practices and fisheries enhancement.

  • Project dates: 2016-2023

  • Funder: CalTrout Maixed Funding

  • Project Partners: CalTrout, McKinleyville Community Services District (MCSD), Wiyot Tribe

  • Service: Interpretive planning, design and implementation

  • NRS Watershed staff designed the revegetation design implemented post-construction.

Eureka Bike Kitchen

Since opening in June 2013, the Community Bike Kitchen has provided tools, resources, and mechanics knowledge to help people learn to repair or build used bicycles. Located in the Jefferson Community Center, the Eureka Bike Kitchen is a program of the Redwood Community Action Agency. We provide bicycles and bicycle knowledge to Eureka’s Westside community and beyond, and we envision a healthy, sustainable, bike-friendly North Coast in which all people have access to bicycles and the resources necessary to maintain them. We have connected hundreds of people with affordable bicycles. We teach skills in bicycle maintenance, repair, and safety while improving transportation security and fostering a sense of community. 

Flying Pig Farms

Natural Resources Services (NRS) and the North Coast Community Garden Collaborative (NCCGC) are excited to announce our new community farm project at the North Coast Regional Land Trust’s  Freshwater Farms Reserve on Myrtle Avenue in Eureka. The community farm will be named Flying Pig Farms! We have been busy prepping and planting a community u-pick garden that will open to the public starting in Summer 2024. We plan to grow blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, artichokes, flowers,  native plants, herbs, and more. U-pick produce will be available for a sliding scale donation, making our  produce affordable for all income levels. Next year, we plan to have strawberries, flowers, and herbs  available and will add more u-pick produce options in the coming years.  

The produce grown on site will be donated to RCAA programs, Food for People, Betty Chin Day Center, and Cal Poly’s Oh Snap! Student Food Programs. The farm will be run by RCAA staff, Cal Poly’s College  Corps program Fellows, and volunteers.  

NCCGC plans to host garden workshops and community events at the community farm in the coming  years. We will offer interesting garden workshops and events like seed and plant giveaways and farm  fundraisers. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to stay up to date on our events.  

We are looking for volunteers to help get the farm up and running. If you are interested in getting involved, email Matt Drummond at mdrummond@rcaa.org. We want input from the public about the  new community farm project. Please send emails with your feedback. We are also looking for monetary  donations to help jump start and sustain our farm. Please email us for more information on how to  donate to this exciting community food project.

North Coast Community Garden Collaborative

North Coast Community Garden Collaborative (NCCGC) formed in 2009 to be a support network of and for community gardeners and their partners, working together to increase access to fresh, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods for all North Coast residents.

NCCGC aims to bolster autonomous sustainable gardens by connecting gardeners to resources such as:

  • Each other! So they may share strategies, seeds, tips, tools, and people power;

  • Best practices for creating and managing community garden spaces, and for growing healthy foods;

  • Material resources - NCCGC's broad network pools resources, enables bulk purchases, and builds sustainable mutually beneficial partnerships with local businesses, often serving as a "clearinghouse" for donations;

  • CalFresh benefits, formerly food stamps, which can be used to purchase seeds and starts for growing food; 

  • Local gardening and food programs and groups such as University of California Cooperative Extension, which offers Master Gardeners and Master Food Preservers programs; garden clubs, Humboldt Permaculture Guild; Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy Communities Division; Food for People; the Humboldt Gardening Collective; Mattole Self Sufficiency Project; and Transition Humboldt;

  • Local gardening experts including farmers, Master Gardeners and Food Preservers, and business owners;

  • A website with calendar of events, resources, and great links!

North Coast Community Garden Collaborative has one part time staff member through the Natural Resources Services division of Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) with funding from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services’ CalFresh Outreach Project. Learn more below and by visiting the website or Facebook page.

Peninsula Beautification Project

The Peninsula Beautification Project is funded through the Clean California Local Grants Program, a Caltrans initiative to beautify and reduce litter in our communities. Redwood Community Action Agency and the Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District are partnering with the community to implement the project, which began in the summer of 2022 and runs through 2024.

Clean California was established to beautify and clean up local streets and roads, parks, pathways, transit centers, and other public spaces. Project goals include creating welcoming, multi-purpose areas on the peninsula where communities maintain their sense of place and identity; reducing illegal dumping of large items, littering, and vehicle dumping/abandonment; beautifying public spaces to increase the number of welcoming locations where the community can recreate with an enhanced feeling of safety; and provide engaging opportunities for the community to participate in the project. While there is still much work to be done, with the help of regular community meetings held by the Peninsula Community Collaborative, RCAA has made significant progress toward attaining some of these goals.

A series of murals have been installed to beautify public spaces in Manila, Samoa, Fairhaven, and Finnetown. Several murals were completed in the Summer of 2023, and many more are planned between now and the end of summer. In addition to murals, many infrastructure improvements have been installed, including dog pots, trash cans, picnic tables and benches, art sculptures, and boulders to curb vehicles driving on the Samoa dunes. Also, watch for a series of new interpretative, wayfinding, and safety signs!

The Peninsula Beautification Project, with the help of Cal Poly capstone students, has launched a 'Keep the Peninsula Beautiful' campaign to keep the Samoa Peninsula safe, welcoming, and trash-free beyond the grant's life. Look out for our new signs, follow the campaign on Instagram, stop by the Manila Community Park workday to get a free car bumper magnet, and remember, when visiting the Samoa Peninsula, please take responsibility for your waste—pack it in, pack it out!

Planning Study to Extend the Humboldt Bay Trail from Eureka to College of the Redwoods

The County of Humboldt contracted RCAA to implement community engagement activities for a Planning Study to improve multi modal connectivity between Eureka and College of the Redwoods. Engagement activities include community workshops, surveys, tabling events, and one-on-one conversations focused on soliciting feedback on safety concerns and ideas for improved walking and biking connectivity between Eureka, south Humboldt Bay communities and schools, and College of the Redwoods.

  • Project dates: 2023-2025

  • Funder: CalTrans

  • Partners: The County of Humboldt 

  • Service: Community outreach, trails & multimodal connectivity

Rio Dell-Eel River Trail (Non-Infrastructure) Education and Outreach

The Eel River Trail Non-infrastructure project is funded through Caltrans Clean California Grant Program awarded to the City of Rio Dell. GHD is designing and managing infrastructure; construction for the multiple-use trail along the river bar that will connect neighborhoods in Rio Dell. The infrastructure includes trailhead enhancements, amenities and interpretive signage. RCAA is working with Eagle Prairie elementary students as ‘trail ambassadors’ as they learn about the area’s natural and cultural history and participate in a community art installation component. RCAA will design interpretive trail signage. 

  • Project dates: 2023-2024

  • Funder: Caltrans Clean California Grant Program

  • Project Partners: City of Rio Dell, GHD 

  • Service: Community outreach, K-12 education, interpretive signage, stewardship 

  • Project dates: 2024-2026 

  • Funder: CalTrans

  • Project Partners: City of Arcata, GHD 

  • Service: Community outreach, multimodal safety improvement

South Arcata Multimodal Safety Improvements Plan

The South Arcata Multimodal Safety Improvements Plan (SAMSIP) Project is funded through Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant awarded to the City of Arcata. The goal of the Project is to improve the quality of life for Arcata residents, prioritize safety, improve and bridge gaps in multimodal access, and make it desirable for active modes of all ages and abilities to travel in South Arcata. RCAA has been subcontracted by GHD to lead community outreach for the project included community workshops, tabling, classroom presentations, social media posts, community input surveys and on-on-one conversations with businesses and community leaders. 

Wind Energy Outreach and the North Coast Offshore Wind Community Benefit Network

The North Coast Offshore Wind Community Benefits Network (Network) is a diverse coalition of Tribal Nations, local government agencies and educational institutions, labor leaders, local community-based organizations, and community residents united in their belief that if our region hosts offshore wind development, it must benefit our communities. The Redwood Region Climate and Resilience Hub (CORE Hub) supports the Network with the goal of fostering strong, collaborative regional leadership to help ensure that the wind industry happens in a way that will help the North Coast thrive for generations to come. RCAA is a member of CORE Hub and supports Peninsula residents in participating in the Network. RCAA works with the Network to advocate for strong Community Benefits Agreements as a part of offshore wind development that benefits Humboldt County in a meaningful and enduring way.

  • Project dates: 2021-2025

  • Funder: Humboldt Area Foundation 

  • Partners: Peninsula Community Collaborative

  • Services: Community Engagement/ Outreach, Advocacy, Education