man: a hundred years of climate change, logging, and no forest magement a drought, i knew enou to be ry sced. woman: definity thout that we were gonna lose our home. man: had my of my iends and ers calle and te me and y, "johnyou needelp ving youanimal" ther would be nhere to with that mananimals. fferent n: yea copthat. man: [ghs] differenman: cmate cnge. yohave to el it. y have to s it. y have smell it. you ve to li it. you haveo touch

. woma i belonhere. it releasesll mstress a my pa, and makes mstronger agai [thuer] ma we're cstantly ttling the weatr. we we so dry, and wanted in, and w it n't quitaining. won: i'm hing thate ca helpeople fi theiroy and realize at, "h, maybe ist so badi can get through this."t's a rd life,ut yeit is a nderful fe. dot givep. keep ing. amera clking] malennounc: "ear focus is me possib in party a grant fr anne ra

foundation--a margaret a. cargill philanthropy and the orange county community foundation. femalennouer: hasas a prd sponsoof "eartfocus." attle wing] man: we' awoken a lightng stm, and wrarely g that here. [thunder saw these vein ghtning bolts all through e sky, a it was-- i'd actually never en anythinlike thabefore e oneshat land actuay stard firewithin aisual distan of our nch. [rumbling]

man: theire alst seeme like it s almostike a tenn match or something cause it would kd of bounce bk down t valley and en it would go bk again, a this isver a ries odaysit's liki justidn't wa to go tsleep beuse i di't know at was going be happing when wo up. my parts houseurned wn when i was in high school. we came home to a burning house. i definite thoughthat we we goa lose o home. john: i me up tohe house d she wapacking e car, you knowall yourmptant pers, evything. e goes "ok, joh ready? 're readto ." i sai "diane,'m not leavin" she loed at meike i had, younow, twoeads. [insec buzzi]

diane: my husbd john a i live here in healdsburg. john manages our family dairy farm and vineyard, and i run our faly winbusinessanother winemakewith a vt. jo: we're agrilture-bad communy. 're partf sonomaounty. 're abouan hour,our ana ha northf san ancisco. our ecomy real, reallys primary an aicultura tourisarea--wi tasting vineyas, hospility. my pants arted th farm in thlate fifes. my m would joke tt she hato tracke wn the fst day o kinderrten becse i w holdintools for my d fing fence ha ha! diane: he unces ouof bed evermorning excitedo go down tthe farmhe lovest, that's very goothing, but i n't ink i cod do it. think at sompoint, i wod probab say, "eugh." jo: this h been myhole

li, livi on th farm. the ranch self is 0 acres. weave 40 aes pnted in pinot noir and chardonnay grape nes, andhen the st is e farm bldings a organic paste for our dairanimals. die: agricture is t easy. animal aicultures even haer. it's 24/7 thing. dian and at mes, it n be

a ttle bitverwhelmg beuse it jt never rns off. hn: yeahyeah. diane: we're ianother droughhere ithe westn united ates, sohere's presses for literally finding ough feed f the anils. therare soany streors on h right no jo: you cado the besjob, be themartest rson out ther but motr natureeally has e final y, and tt's a little bit--at's wha ppened wh these res, too at wreallyidn't ha-- yocan't corol thatall you can dos work acontrollg what youan contr. [cattllowing] we saw aot of chges in t calirnia dai busines and th's when decideds a familyo diversy into we gres.

yoknow, thgrapes hped pulls roug which ione the rsons whyou look diversifying your business eration.ere we a in augustf 2020 ithe midd of a rldwide ndemic, d we have ts fire. die: the fst fire at we had, lar fire, w in 2017 itas quitehocking.t was a majofire. believe er 8,000 ructuresere burn 000 homehere in noma coun, so eveone was pacted bit. we'vhad more firesince th. in 201 ere was fire, e camp fire upn paradi, california. at was fther awafrom us, buthe smokand everhing it was, u know, l throug sonomaounty, a the wayown tohe bay aa. then kind of

came unstling beuse itad happed two yrs in a w, th with mo fires, d, viously,ur fire st year 2020as vy closto us. john: there s diffent leve of stresand anxiy as the fis evolveover t last fe year the waldridge fire s lirally buing on t propty behinour ranc that te of t year--i aust, septber, octer--is en we ha all of r listock he on thisroperty. all the asses ardried, a were feedi everydy here. we he 600 co to milkwice a da another00 anima, the younr animal that ne to be d. i had many ofy friend and ers call me and text me and say, "jo, you ne help moving your animals?" there would be nowhere to go with that

ny animals, evenf we cou move th. it st was impossibl diane:s a faer, yourirst inclation iso protecyour anims, prote your emplees, proct your buildingor facily, your nd. john: withhe mandary acuationwe actually become ansland, swe're suosed to be gon everythg's blockad. our bgest challee was geing thin inwe have delivees, you knowevery daof the wk. it was ke fish imming upream. wee fighti a situatn that'sompletel opsite of what eryone el isoing. wh you'rin the middle oit, it'slmost li you' on autolot. die: i wasn the pao, a i was wahing easside roa whh is, obously, et of us're on wt side rd

re; it'sn the otr side o the vall floor--d there,t was st full cars, a i pt thiing, ", there st ben accide or someing. why arthere soany cars and turned arod and sa thisuge plumof smokend flam behind and reazed l those rs were oking at usthey we lookinat our house.he strs of themoke everywhe and tn not seng thsun and the fire so cle and thnoise, is nd of ovwhelming john: d so thetress fome i thk it manested self later for . maybe 's part of my a or juspart of at i do as farmer bause you just-- ighs] ane: it'hard at e end, and so my of our nghbors ha lost much, a then it becos very s because sometime then,e'd lose

ose neigors. thechoose t ave. john: the's a loof folks th lost thr homes,ll their longingsand havi to start ov. i meanthat's game cnger. man: aut 3:00 4:00 inhe afternn, ias the lt one re. i ju saw a he, chging smo train obrown, orangeyellow hes dem hell-loong skysce that was cong rig at us, and i realed, "wel now i kw where thfire is d wher it'somg"... so at at pointit's a "e way , one waout" roa i ju got out

's the o ivers place. ca back twdays lat to fd the ple still sming and treeon fire,ut our place was gone. pshologicay, it's sing erythingou own a everythi that rended youf who you re andust th arous taskf rebuilding. it's a b of a mathon. it all-couming, and is not so much iit burnsown agai it kind,ell en will it be? it beefore orfter i e? hopefly, afte i me here years ag just afr my dauter was rn with my fe and daughteand to be oser to e grandpent anbeen creing defeible spacand trng to prevent

fires anprepare r an evenal fire r about years unl one filly hit. [rumbling] n: back , you gu. just pulled mengines ck hard. grt: i w and sti am a wildlifeiologisti'm a consvationis i taugh stry andildlife,o i knewnough abt bioly and the fore ecosyst to know en we mod in herthat a firead not h here inbout 60 years, anit wasrobably only a matter time fore it did, so goactive ithe fost pr--n preveion as ch as prarednessommunity doze and dozs of us ving in the hls on the spreadut homesteadsot togher and crted a re-proction plan. hundred ars of cmate ange, loing, ando forest manageme and droht and tn a twweek heaave, you ow, was bound to hi us sooneor laterso i

ew enougto be rely scare th... scary. ndred-yearld woshed, 50year-old tanoa orchard hoe, fire.t was a magil place the ente fami. all thgrandkidwould come uhere forll the lidays or the rir and rough thwoods an granother's use and ways full of uit. thihomestea we back a ndreyears. the werewo-man ss and cote trapsndear traps and old-- erythingas ha-forged rend built by herrandfath and eat-grdfather, so there was a lot of historic buildings, the old 140-year-old, one-room schoolhouse that my wife's

mother and sister and grandmother went to, so, like, then covid kind of took away our community and our ability to gather, and en the fire took our community and just sttered us allver the unty, alover thstate, a somhave lef e state becausof it soall of maslos needs re gone 24 hou. we losour homethe ean air,ater, see of mmunity, neighrs, sensof ple, you kw, theonnectio to theand and e beauty and e hundre of uit trs and erry tre and wilife and akes, anwalking here and ju seeing l the de rds and er and skes and charred trees, it was a bit of a gut-wrenching trip followed by 9 months of continual cleanuand reliving the losses. you kick arnd andind an o

chred trint remindg you of another thing. "oh, yeah. we st that,oo." [caking] [bir chirpinand squaing] won: what grandpased y was, o hair reesented the thunrstorm.. d we weralways td to never er cutur hair,nd a loof the najos, dis cut eir hairthat's w we got

no rain.hat do y mean, tt dirty, r one? girl: ohyeah. ybellewhen i w a littl gi, it wou rain fo like, 5 da straigh and wead to clb our waout the mudust to g to some sulies and thgrasses re as ta as a horss belly.hat's ho tall they were. you couldn't see me walking after the sheep when i was, like, 5 years old. we dn't haveo go to wn to gewater. in the wter, we ly haule water,ike, once a ek. in e summer, it'seally ba we have thaul wer, li, twice

day to o sheep cp. man:verythinrevolv ound wat. just surval. thas it. ople calus the forgottepeople. girl: yes. ybelle: . n: [indiinct] thisommunitys callededar ridg we're uer the najo tion. thnavajo nion is hu. it's bger thanome statesbeing najo is ve ve importa to us. have a strongistory.

m proud be dinemakes metrong onho i and wt i stanfor. peopley age no when th wereoung, the was rely no ought. [eine star] heep baag] there would belikeabout 15 sheein one aa, and pple to care ofhem. gi: grandmsays, "ghome." attle long] leard: my fe here,he raised aut 4 cves. there

athat age ere theye having bies now.hat was woh it... [cattle wing] d that mes her aittle bi prour, stronr, and t will to gahead ancareor her anals. sheants to carry on the trition th her momnd dad di her grapa, her grdma. thas how stng of a ladyhe is. ybelle: use it r food we d't profioff of i when we getogether,e'll buter eep, andhe cows, te some tthe mark, but i n't ofit offf that, ther. i haveo go bk and bu whatev they ne--protei salt, y. that'where it goesit's ourustom th we ha livesto. takingare of

em, looking aftethem, to , it's vy importt becaus it w from geration t generaon like is. we'rin no close t gate. is my responsibity nowi love bng ound anils, and hes me in many wa because times, i'lltruggl miwise, i' struggl d it hel me pull throh day toay.

i dot know wse land is. i have nidea. it not min i'just ling on i my grandpalways sd that tme. "thiis my ou. it's jt he for us.t's nobo's." he us to say at to us"it's nobody's." it's the cows, the sheep, all these little creatures running around. i think it's their land. that's what i think. [ratchet clicking] leard: setimes i get up, likeabout 4:, start e

truck, mbe havanothecup of coffee. then you take off go down to the watering point. dot be laz got to up befo the sunwell, th ple is theife poin it's thlife poi of our counity's vestock.t's not only for our community. there's people that come out, like abou30, 40 mes all dictions, d i feelor the peoplehat liveay out therby the cyon. for whole rod trip, ey, theyo, like, abt 60 mil just toaul wateto their livesck. they have ks out there.hey have granids outhere th herd sheeand lo after the cate anall thatand they d't ha no runng water, no electricity. they have to haul water. it's hard to see them struggle.

in my days, we used to go to earth dams to load up water in wagons pulled byules or horsesthis is ere wate collec. you catell whe it ts with l these ainage fromittle, ltle valls or little gorges. from way out there, they come and sit here. it ud to be full. maybelle: the last time we had water was back, oh, about 5, 4 yearago, jusdrizzle, few drops, you know. you get all happy getting little drops of racall ally deceased faly and s, "help !" but still rain.

irds sawking] [tnder] woma everythg your cropng schede revolv around theeather. ifou have very wetpring, you n't get the fies tillate. youan't geteeds anted inhe grod. the lar yoget in, the lat haest is gna be, a then you n into sw. irds chiing] it's jt so difrent fro

wh we wereids. theummer wasn overly t. you dn't have tse torreial rain on a farm, you know, the weather, it predicts everything for you. man: we' constany battling thweather. it's eier too t or toory, o warm otoo ld. we we so drynd we waedain, andow it n't it raini, so ts is wha 'rdealing th, rkin ound the windowshat we have to ow the fd for ou cows my namis randyoecker, d i'm third-geration fmer from logville, wconsinwe

have abo 300 people iny ttle comnity her [ctle lowi] my paren are 81 d 82 yea ol they fa every d. they start eir morng at 3:3 my mom loveto mix fd, and s drives in the tracr, and s alwaysikes worng with e cows becau, she sa, "cows don't ta back toou." it'sruly a fily farmand metimes really wder. therhas to ba betteray of fe o thereomepce that yodon't ha these pblems th you strgle withll the ti.

[cattllowing] statz: my name is brenda statz. well, my farming was my main ing. it ill is aot of my lifebut i doork fullime off my farm, also, so i probably lked her 30lus yeari milkedn this barn ani milkedor my dabefore th. i was,ike, 12 en i started lking co at his ba, so ie milked cowa lo time, so-- [ctle lowi] ansome of them, ye, you t special ws. you t pets, d so of themyou're jt like "n i don't want noing to do th her,"nd you wt for her to gon the tck, you ow to sl them o, but fothe st par i mean,armi is-- go girl. keep

wahing. it a goodife. it s a good li. i see u, cmen. ha ha! leon and i, weet actual, in reeburg at wling alle i was n a person w went oumuch, ani wentut with sister wah her bo, and th's when we met, and he hadone to school with myister,ho shs, lik 3 yea older tn me, and just stted dati d we both camerom farm backounds,nd we bo co from bifamiliesso ev ouredding w big. weid everhing togher. frothe ti you gotp in theorning till theime you nt to be you work togethe that's just the way farming is. he had his chores. i did my chores. we never vacationed much. if we did, it was a weekend. once a ar, we go sowhere, but it ally wast far away bause aid, "cat go tooar." le wld say, "you kno can't

too farut far eugh that th can't call back too choresonight."t was ju more mories oft than y think. you know, you always thought of that time, it was just a lot of work, but then when you look back now, you ow, it was probably some of the better times becau we spent souch timeogher then and st worng, milkg cows d raisinyour famy. th's what rm life . [cattle lowing] ecker: ian rememr my mom alys had little ok for you ow, ery yearhat i wa in school,nd it alys said on tre, you ow, "whawould yolike tbe?" andt always id, like, "feman liceman,octor," u know and you wereupposed check what youanted, a then the was a ank lineand thenhe would alysrite in, "farmer,and i ju felt th my who life wakind of, like, id out bore me,