Fred Collins, Chumash tribal council leader and environmental justice advocate, dies at 71
Fred Harvey Collins, a powerful local advocate for environmental justice and the protection of sacred Northern Chumash lands, died Friday, Oct. 1. He was 71 years old.
Collins was the chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, a nonprofit corporation that is “involved in consultation with county and local governments to improve the respect for our cultural resources and to improve the quality of archaeology performed” during land-use projects, according to its website.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Collins at a city council or county Board of Supervisors meeting advocating for the protection of Native American lands and cultural sites, or demanding environmental justice for everyone.
“I don’t think any of our elected officials, current or former, are ever likely to forget the sound of his voice — which was like rolling thunder, reminding them in public meetings their obligations to respect the rights of Native Americans and consult with the tribes when they permitted a project,” said Andrew Christie, director of the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club. “He was unswerving in that cause.”
Friends described Collins as a passionate, kind and loving human who loved to give hugs and show off his gardening skills.
Born on Dec. 31, 1949, Collins was the child of Consuelo Magdalena Lopez and Fred Harvey Collins.
He is survived by his two daughters, Violet Sage Walker and Charity Renee Collins, and grandson, Joseph Hudson.
“He lived an incredible life,” Walker wrote in an email to The Tribune. “Fred is the Eagle Chief ‘SLO’W’ in the next world with the fighters for the human race, with the elders and the wisdom of the ancients, the warriors, the people who protected the fragile and the weak or the small, the giants that fought for the oppressed, and celebrated a beautiful life lived.”
Collins fought for Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
Perhaps one of Collins’ largest undertakings was his 2015 application for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary — a proposed ocean conservation area off the Central Coast.
The sanctuary would cover an expansive area of the Pacific Ocean stretching 140 miles from Cambria to Santa Barbara, where Chumash villages and cultural heritage are said to lie beneath the ocean’s surface.
“Designation of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary will ensure protection of one of the most culturally and biologically diverse coastlines anywhere in the world,” Collins wrote in his June 2015 application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA is still considering whether to approve Collins’ application for the marine sanctuary.
“We, the Sierra Club, feel an even greater urgency now to help achieve his vital goal, his greatest cause,” Christie said of Collins’ push for the marine sanctuary. “We are pretty hopeful; we are optimistic with cause (the marine sanctuary will be approved) I would say at this point. I so wish it could have happened sooner rather than later so he could have seen it.”
Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal said he considers it “an honor” to have worked alongside Collins on the marine sanctuary.
“Fred Collins was an ardent defender of our environment and fierce advocate for Indigenous people, especially on the Central Coast,” Carbajal said. “I will miss his constant reminders that we are not the first people to live on the land we so often take for granted and that it is up to us to be good stewards of our environment.”
Worked to ban off-riding at the Oceano Dunes
Collins also fiercely opposed the continued use of off-highway vehicles at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
He drew attention to the Chumash cultural sites located within the dunes that had been damaged and destroyed by off-roaders, and he spoke passionately at California Coastal Commission meetings about how the sacred Chumash lands had been turned into a “killing field” due to the dozens of people who died on the dunes in off-roading accidents.
“He had a lot of weight, and definitely his voice made a difference,” said Cynthia Replogle, a coordinator for the Dunes Alliance, a coalition of organizations that advocate for the ban of off-roading at the Oceano Dunes.
Collins brought the Northern Chumash Tribal Council into the Dunes Alliance to protest against the continuation of off-highway vehicles in the state park on San Luis Obispo’s southern coast.
“We’ve lost a strong advocate,” Replogle said. “He had a lot of knowledge and background and history on the area that now we don’t have anymore. So I hope someone steps up and tries to fill his shoes. They’re pretty big shoes to fill.”
Collins was also an instrumental advocate for the protection of Native American cultural and spiritual sites in countless local development projects such as the Los Osos and Cayucos wastewater treatment projects, the Morro Bay water reclamation facility pipeline, the future of the Diablo Canyon lands, the proposed high-energy seismic testing by PG&E near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and much more.
“I always enjoyed working with Fred,” said San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson. “He was a great advocate for Native American interests and he was a good person. I’m very sorry to hear of his passing, and I’m going to miss him.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
