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"Protecting the Gualala River
watershed and the species
living within it."
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Support the purchase of
Preservation Ranch
Please send a letter of support TODAY for the California Coastal Conservancy grant to purchase Preservation Ranch.
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Preservation Ranch Acquisition
Coastal Conservancy staff recommend that the Conservancy authorize the disbursement of up to $10,000,000 to The Conservation Fund to acquire the property known as "Preservation Ranch."
Letter from FoGR supporting the purchase of Preservation Ranch
Friends of the Gualala River enthusiastically supports the Coastal Conservancy staff recommendation to assist The Conservation Fund in the purchase of Preservation Ranch in western Sonoma County.
Gualala River Lagoon Breach
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Annotated photos by Peter Baye,
5 MB pdf.
Gualala River Sightings
View the "Best of" the photographs presented at the 2013 Gualala River Sightings
on March 7 at the Gualala Arts Center
by Jeanne Jackson / Mendonoma Sightings and Friends of the Gualala River.
Preservation Ranch purchase
facing May 31 deadline
by Frank Robertson, March, 2013
"The effort to buy Preservation Ranch still needs money and a state board's okay before the controversial timber-to-grapes conversion proposed near the town of Annapolis is officially halted.
. . ."
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"A Sonoma forest is saved"
by Denny Rosatti, March, 2013
"The modern-day Northern California land rush to convert forests to vineyards lost some steam last month. The Preservation Ranch project, located in the northwestern hills of Sonoma County near the small hamlet of Annapolis, was a 20,000 acre proposal that would have permanently converted nearly 1,800 acres of timber forest to vineyards. In February, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported the deal between government agencies and private non-profit land trusts to purchase conservation easements . . ."
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The Conservation Fund reaches agreement
to purchase Preservation Ranch by May 31
The Conservation Fund
plans to buy 20,000 acres of forest land in northwest Sonoma County, ending the "Preservation" Ranch forest-to-vineyards conversion project funded by the state employee pension fund, CalPERS.
California Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and Sonoma Land Trust plan to contribute to the purchase.
"It takes a village to kill a monster like Preservation Ranch. We appreciate the power of many groups and individual supporters coming together to change the politics of destructive land use choices and to provide real citizen leadership. This broad coalition stepped forward to inspire CalPERS to switch from a position of developer to willing seller. And the community inspired its political leaders to take bold steps to protect our forested watershed instead of pursuing speculative, short-term profits," says Chris Poehlmann, president of Friends of the Gualala River.
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"The Vine and Its Discontents"
by Matt Gleeson
Sonoma residents fight an onslaught of forest-to-vineyard conversions.
December, 2012, California Northern Magazine
It's as if two iconic California landscapes - the coastal forests and the trim, pastoral wine country - have been chopped up into a coarse mix in a blender . . .
One may regard the grapes that follow with love or indifference, but either way the transformation of the land is total.
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Cumulative Effects of Logging
Linked to Coho Decline
by Rob DiPerna
January, 2013, Environmental Protection Information Center
Throughout the north and central California coast, Coho salmon are teetering on the brink of oblivion.
The primary deficiency of the Forest Practice Rules is the failure to effectively address cumulative watershed effects.
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Streamflow Depletion by Wells
Understanding and Managing the Effects
of Groundwater Pumping on Streamflow
by Paul M. Barlow and Stanley A. Leake
November, 2012, U.S. Geological Survey
Groundwater is an important source of water for many human needs, including public supply, agriculture, and industry. With the development of any natural resource, however, adverse consequences may be associated with its use. One of the primary concerns related to the development of groundwater resources is the effect of groundwater pumping on streamflow.
Read more →
Lawsuit Filed to Stop Clearcutting of Redwoods for Sonoma County Vineyard
June 7, 2012:
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging a controversial proposal by a Spanish corporation to clearcut 154 acres of redwood forest to plant wine grapes in northwestern Sonoma County.
The Sierra Club's Redwood Chapter, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Gualala River sued the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) for violating state law in approving the Fairfax "forest conversion" project, funded by Spanish company Codorníu S.A., the owner of Napa Valley's Artesa Winery.
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Please contribute to our efforts to protect the Gualala River watershed and its coastal redwood forests.
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Redwood forest slated for clearcutting
on the Artesa property in Annapolis, CA
FoGR receives forest protection grant
Friends of the Gualala River receives a $10,000 grant to protect redwood forestland from conversion to vineyards.
August 20, 2012, press release
Opponents file lawsuits over Artesa vineyard project
"Three environmental groups sued the state and a Spanish wine conglomerate on Thursday over approval of a hotly disputed vineyard project in northwest Sonoma County."
June 7, 2012, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
A Giant Step
Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) has taken a giant step to stop vineyard projects that clearcut the river's forest, and we need your help!
This is your opportunity to make a difference right in your own "back yard."
Gualala River in the News
Preservation Ranch purchase
facing May 31 deadline
The effort to buy Preservation Ranch still needs money and a state board's okay before the controversial timber-to-grapes conversion proposed near the town of Annapolis is officially halted.
March 27, 2013, Sonoma West Times & News
"A Sonoma forest is saved"
Activists, led in recent years by the Annapolis-based Friends of the Gualala River... have been mobilizing voters for over 10 years to oppose Preservation Ranch in its various forms.
March, 2013, Vibrant Bay Area
"The Vine and Its Discontents"
The dark side of the Sonoma wine industry;
Sonoma residents fight an onslaught of forest-to-vineyard conversions.
December, 2012, California Northern Magazine
FoGR Activists Receive Award
Sonoma County Conservation Action awarded the 2012 Dick Day Community Activist Award to
Chris Poehlmann and Peter Baye
for their work fighting forest clear-cuts for vineyards in Northwest Sonoma County.
Water Use by Vineyards Is Challenged
The dense forests of redwood, oak and Douglas fir that once covered much of Sonoma County have for many decades been giving way to pastures, orchards, subdivisions - and vineyards.
August, 2011, NY Times
Redwoods versus red wine
The redwood tree and the wine grapevine are both iconic in Northern California. Two wineries are petitioning the state to let them clear redwoods and Douglas firs to make room for new Pinot Noir vineyards. Environmentalists want the trees protected.
August, 2011, LA Times
Forest lands eyed for vineyards
"These vineyards are biological deserts. It's worse than a clear cut. This is permanent conversion from a natural landscape and it has its consequences."
July, 2011, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
People Who Belong To The Land
One of the greatest instances of harm ever wrought on the Kashia's ancestral land is on the verge of occurring. A pair of huge wine corporations have proposed two large forest-to-vineyard conversions in the heart of the people's ancestral homeland.
July, 2011, Anderson Valley Advertiser
The Mendonoma Coast's Second Spanish Invasion
Spanish wine corporation Grupo Codorníu is accustomed to doing things in a big way. It is reputed to own a greater expanse of vineyard acreage than any wine company in Spain, which in turn has more land under grapevine cultivation than any nation in the world.
June, 2011, Anderson Valley Advertiser
Gualala vineyard conversions get national attention
"Plan to cut forest for vineyards faces opposition",
an article published in newspapers across the country, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Sacramento Bee, etc., as well as Salon, Huffington Post, Forbes and many others.
June, 2011, Associated Press
Don't Drive in the River
Off-road vehicle impacts on wildlife
The Gualala River is a coastal treasure. Creatures big and small make it their home. Care must be taken to protect them and this beautiful wild river that is a part of our lives.
Video
"Clearcutting in California"
In California, 65,000 acres a year are logged by clearcut-type methods...
a video production by Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center (CSERC).
"Worse than a Clearcut"
The Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club has released a short video designed to educate the public and decision-makers about the proposed Preservation Ranch vineyard development project.
Time-lapse videos of the mouth of the Gualala River
A series of time-lapse videos of the Gualala River mouth in Northern California
during the months of February, March & April, 2009, taken by Dane Behrens,
a PhD student in Environmental Science at UC Davis.
Art in the Redwoods
"Fallen Giant" - photo by Scott Chieffo
Congratulations to local nature photographer,
Scott Chieffo,
whose photograph "Fallen Giant" (above) received the
Environmental Art award sponsored by
Friends of the Gualala River at the 2012
Art in the Redwoods Fine Art Exhibit.
Thanks, Scott, for capturing this inspiring image
of our local redwood ecosystem!
Friends of the Gualala River
PO Box 1543, Gualala, CA 95445
email:
info@GualalaRiver.org
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