Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it

ACORN Partners in Education’s Students Protecting the Coast program with Pacific Community Charter School 6th-8th grade students and Friends of Gualala River.

  This photo is typical of how it was, back in the day when fishermen could walk across the backs of steelhead and Salmon in the Gualala River. No one considered conservation, because there were so many fish. Unfortunately with habitat degradation and people all killing their limit, things have changed radically. Now that the regulations require catch and release, …

Comments by Dr. Peter Baye (coastal ecologist, botanist) on the latest version of the “Dogwood” floodplain logging plan (THP 1-15-042-SON): Download & read the entire letter (8 pages, 310 KB)   The entire letter is well worth reading, but here’s a short excerpt (not a summary) to whet your appetite: Seasonal wetlands are widespread in the floodplain of the river, …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, April 25, 2019 [excerpt:] Provoked by a new round of scrutiny over hard-fought plans to harvest timber in the Gualala River floodplain, a contingent of North Coast residents has launched a petition drive to use the land for expansion of a public park instead. It’s the stuff of fantasy for the moment, given the …

Spanning from bridge to bridge along a wild and scenic river A unique and majestic coastal redwood park with paths wandering along the Gualala River – protected and preserved for this and future generations to visit and enjoy. The park would preserve a seven mile corridor important for wildlife and complete with natural beauty. Public access to world class second …

CAL FIRE has reopened the Dogwood Timber Harvest Plan (THP 1-15-042-SON) once again for public comment. Friends of Gualala River’s (FoGR) preliminary assessment of the recirculated Dogwood THP is presented in summary form below, for consideration by any citizen or organization preparing comments on the recirculated THP. FoGR encourages all commenters to independently read and assess relevant parts of the …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) will be hosting a table at the upcoming community Earth Day at the Gualala Community Center on Monday, April 22, 2019 from 2-5 PM. The theme for this event is climate change and what our community can do. We invite you to visit our table, hear the general presentations, enjoy light refreshments and join discussions. …

  Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) held a successful Public Forum recently. One of the highlights was the presentation of the importance of the Gualala River’s floodplain by Dr. Peter Baye. If you missed the Forum, you can download a pdf version of Peter’s slideshow presentation. Peggy Berryhill of KGUA radio also recorded some of Peter’s presentation that night, though …

Download flyer (pdf)   Annapolis Historical Society presents “The Beautiful Tree” A Regional History of the Tanoak An exhibit celebrating the local legacy of a coastal resource Old Horicon Schoolhouse Saturday – Sunday, April 27-28, 2019 12 – 5 p.m. Free to the public Light refreshments provided

Presented at Friends of Gualala River’s Public Forum on March 5, 2019.   Download: Download a pdf version (4 MB) of the presentation: Importance of the Gualala River Floodplain: Presentation by Dr. Peter Baye   Audio excerpts: 1. Peter Baye describes Gualala River floodplain: 2. Peter Baye describes the evolution of the floodplain: 3. Peter Baye explains which agencies are …

  Tuesday, March 5, 2019 5 to 7 p.m. Gualala Community Center 47950 Center St., Gualala, CA 95445 You are invited to join members of Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) at a Public Forum at the Gualala Community Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, from 5 to 7 p.m. Jeanne Jackson, author of Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year, and ICO …

  February 26-27, 2019, flood triggered a major landslide on the Wheatfield Fork, Gualala River, above and below Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Road. The large landslide occurred on steep north-facing slopes near the Soda Springs site (USGS map place-name), near the east end of Fuller Mountain, approximately 2.5 air miles east of the Annapolis Road bridge. The landslide extends from about …

  Fuller Creek, South Fork, is running almost clear on March 3, 2019, less than a week after the record-breaking 14” rainfall on February 26-27, 2019.   A large adult steelhead, about 18” long, was sighted at the west end of Buckeye Forest (formerly Preservation Ranch). It survived the intense floods that scoured the banks of the creek to levels …

More river flood action photos. In this set: the Wheatfield Fork. Includes floodplain submergence (deeper than mid-February) at Twin Bridges, showing the Dogwood THP Haul Road covered in mud. Also shows Annapolis Road Bridge at Clark’s Crossing with log and wood debris on top, for the first time in decades!              

  Below are a few photos that show some unusual flood features at the river mouth…. not just the spit erosion, but it’s transformation into a shallow submerged bar outlined by breakers oblique to the shoreline, extending offshore! This is temporary, forced by the river jet, against the shoreline configuration waves normally establish.    

Here are some photos of the the Gualala River estuary & Highway 1 bridge during the heavy rains of the recent (Feb. 25-26, 2019) ‘atmospheric river’ event. The river is over its banks on both sides — the campgrounds on both sides of the river are flooded, as is Mill Bend and the Gualala Point Regional Park land across from …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) and our allies once again recently prevailed in court. The timber harvest plan called Dogwood has been found twice to fail to meet California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for failing to evaluate project alternatives with less environmental impacts. FoGR also won on the lack of a Cumulative Impact study. Dogwood III is just as …

February 14, 2019 After the heavy rains of the recent ‘atmospheric river’ event, the Gualala River floodplain (threatened by the Dogwood logging plan) is doing its job.       South Fork bridge (Twin Bridges, Annapolis Road):  Large log and debris jams on the upstream side, and downstream to the confluence with Wheatfield Fork. The willows on the opposite bank …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) would appreciate your continued, or perhaps new, enthusiastic support. Please aid our efforts to protect the river and its forests, speed their recovery, fight global warming impacts, and thus, most important, help preserve wild places for future generations. A good introduction starts with our mission statement: FoGR’s goal is to protect the Gualala River watershed …

This December, 2018 update details where FoGR is at the end of a tumultuous year of persistence. Everyone involved in the legal battles to protect the Gualala River floodplain should heave a sigh of relief, but not too deeply, for the struggles continue. Here we learn what may be next and why FoGR folks have to remain steady and vigilant. …