THE FEBRUARY/WINTER NEWSLETTER IS HERE…
In this Issue…
- Executive Director’s Message
- Storms Scour Cooks Beach
- Featured Volunteer:
Deanna Boettcher - Weeding for Wildlife
- Updates and Our Wish List
Gualala Cemetery unveiled
Once buried under heavy brush and fallen tree limbs, Gualala cemetery Mill Bend is being restored by volunteers from Redwood Coast Land Conservancy who are, in the process, unveiling the history of early settlers in Gualala.
Local volunteers begin repairs to storm-damaged Cooks Beach
The January storms that left many without power for days scoured all the sand from Cooks Beach, leaving only rocks. That was the startling news from Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC)...
Hello all you amazing Gualala River Stream Team volunteers! Our kick-off training and monitoring event in July was a great success thanks to all of you! Click here to READ MORE…
Gualala River Stream Team Stewardship Project
The Coastal Commission recently awarded a Whale Tail Grant to the CA Urban Streams Alliance – The Stream Team. The grant is to initiate a stewardship engagement and watershed monitoring effort for the impaired, lower reach of the Gualala River and estuary, a habitat for endangered species such as young Coho salmon and steelhead.
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) and Friends of the Gualala River (FOGR) are partnering with The Stream Team in this volunteer, community-based project. The project is inclusive, aiming to recruit and involve a broad spectrum of Mendonoma residents from Manchester to Stewarts Point including students, teachers, and members of community organizations.
Although The Stream Team is based in Chico, California, Timmarie Hamill, the Director of The Stream Team, is not new to coast. Her involvement began in 2000, when she landed a grant with Friends of the Garcia River (FrOG) to engage students and community members in conducting water quality surveys of the Garcia River. In 2003, Timmarie completed her teaching credential while working at Point Arena High School and Pacific Community Charter School as a student teacher of biology. For Discover the Coast in 2016 and 2017, The Stream Team provided a docent station to test the water quality of a creek on Point Arena–Stornetta Public Lands.
The Gualala River Stream Team Stewardship Project has four main goals: (1) Raise awareness about the Gualala River and its estuary by promoting education and engagement through environmental stewardship; (2) Establish a Gualala River Stream Team to engage the community in watershed assessment; (3) Involve a wide range of Mendonoma residents; and (4) Build organizational capacity to sustain the projects.
The Stream Team’s annual training and quarterly water monitoring events will take place on RCLC’s Mill Bend Property. At the annual training in July, participants will learn about: 1) habitat and water quality impairments within the Gualala River watershed, 2) life cycle of Coho salmon and steelhead, 3) effects of climate change on watershed health, 4) effective stewardship practices, 5) proper use of monitoring equipment and sampling protocols, and 6) safety measures for field work.
Quarterly water monitoring events will evaluate chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the Gualala River and its estuary. FOGR is providing funding for The Stream Team’s preparation of the Monitoring Plan (MP) and Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP).
If you are interested in learning more about or participating in the project, Gualala River Stream Team will be taking part in Point Arena’s Almost Fringe Festival on Saturday, April 23, from 12 to 3 p.m., and RCLC’s Mill Bend Springtime, Partnering for the River at Upper Mill Bend on Sunday, April 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. For details about the Mill Bend event, visit rclc.org.
Help Us Continue to Preserve Our Beautiful Mendonoma Coast!
Mill Bend reflection. Photo by Carolyn Hand.
Join us throughout the year to continue to protect and preserve our beautiful Mendonoma coast!
Today the Mill Bend Preserve is protected forever because of the determination and commitment of our community. Work has already begun to protect the forest and wetlands, restore the estuary for salmon and other endangered species, and carefully repair the historic cemetery.
A network of trails is being developed at Mill Bend to provide public access and enjoyment of this amazing property. Conservation and more continues at Cooks Beach, Hearn Gulch Preserve, the Gualala Bluff Trail, and other public access sites under our protection.
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy is taking the lead on these undertakings, but our work is just beginning. Your continued support is needed to make sure that we can keep moving forward with the plans our community envisions for Mill Bend and the ongoing preservation of our protected properties.
Please consider making a generous, tax-deductible contribution today! Your support will help ensure the preservation of our natural coastal landscapes and wildlife habitats for generations to come.
Protecting salmon
It’s not often that a land trust gets to help an iconic species. The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) is preparing for that special opportunity as it completes the purchase of Mill Bend. The restoration of Coho salmon to the Gualala River is on the agenda.
Dan Wilson, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Fisheries Biologist, says salmon are a “keystone species” for this area, and bringing them back is a top priority. A keystone species is defined as one on which other species largely depend. When a keystone species declines or disappears, as with the salmon in the Gualala River, everything from Orcas and sea lions to birds of prey suffer.
Dan’s interest was based on the fact that the Gualala River is a historically important salmonid coastal stream in northern California. Read more >>
Preserving the Coast
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) covers the coastal region of southern Mendocino County and northern Sonoma County. It’s a place of scenic beauty and unique wildlife.
Several rivers-the Navarro, Garcia, Gualala and Russian- flow through this landscape. These riparian corridors, home to the endangered Coho salmon and Steelhead trout, provide the precious resource of fresh water.
Forests of pine, fir and redwood extend down to the Pacific Ocean. Wild rhododendrons, azaleas and iris show seasonal displays. If you’re lucky, you might see a river otter, bald eagle or migrating gray whale.
This land contains some of the rarest and varied habitats found on earth. It’s part of the California Floristic Province, named by scientists as one of earth’s 25 conservation “hot spots.” Read More >>
John Muir, Conservationist, on seeing the Redwood coast in 1897
“The redwood is the glory of the Coast Range. It extends along the western slope… from beyond the Oregon boundary…to the south of Santa Cruz. Its massive, sustained grandeur and closeness of growth surpasses all the other timber woods of the world.
Trees from ten to fifteen feet in diameter and three hundred feet high are not uncommon, and a few attain a height of …even four hundred feet… while the ground beneath them is a garden of fresh, exuberant ferns, lilies, gaultheria, and rhododendron.”
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy public-access properties
Visit our new properties map. Click on map image for more information.
View our printable Public Access brochure here >>
MENDONOMA WEATHER & EMERGENCY ALERT LINKS
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