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Estuary / Lagoon

Mill Bend Preserve Conservation Plan

In September, the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) unveiled the Conservation Plan for the Mill Bend Preserve at a public meeting and celebration. This was a major achievement and the result of two years of collaboration between the environmental consultant, Prunuske Chatham, Inc., and a dedicated Working Group of RCLC individuals that included FoGR representation. The Abstract to the Conservation …

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Gualala Estuary: Native Aquatic Vegetation versus Algal Blooms

Drought Changes in the Gualala River Estuary’s Summer Lagoon: Native Aquatic Vegetation versus Algal Blooms A virtual field trip with questions and answers – (more than you wanted to know) Friends of Gualala River, August 2021 Peter Baye, Ph.D, Coastal Ecologist, Botanist Question: What is all the green stuff in the Gualala River lagoon? Is it one of the “Harmful …

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River mouth opens on Dec. 27, 2020

  The mouth of the Gualala River opened to the ocean on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020 at ~11:30am, reconnecting the important lagoon fish rearing habitat for out-migrating salmonids, synchronized with suitable stream conditions for returning spawners. This is a high tide, high swell, low-energy breach condition in the photos. When the lagoon is full and it breaches on a low …

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Mill Bend in Conservation Hands

The yellow lines in this photo show the approximate boundaries of the Mill Bend (lower left) and Lower Mill Bend properties. Photo courtesy the Mill Bend Coalition.

by John Walton   In the fall of 2017, the Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) working group considered a proposal to engage the community in a discussion regarding the 112 acre Mill Bend Properties, including the estuary of the river, that had recently been offered for sale for the first time in nearly 70 years. FoGR’s Board suggested presenting the …

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Conservationist bids on Mill Bend

Mill Bend, photo by Bill Oxford

by W.W. Keller news@mendonoma.com © copyright 2018, Independent Coast Observer reprinted with permission The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy and the Mendocino Land Trust announced on Thursday, Nov. 8, that an offer to buy the Mill Bend property in Gualala by an unidentified conservation buyer, has been accepted. The deal includes both the Mill Bend and the Lower Mill Bend parcels. …

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Keep Gualala Estuary in Marine Sanctuary

Gualala River estuary

Friends of the Gualala River is astonished to learn that NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the federal agency responsible for the recovery of coho salmon and steelhead, is PROPOSING TO REMOVE THE GUALALA RIVER ESTUARY (our beautiful lagoon from the beach upstream through the regional park) from the Marine Sanctuary. Incredibly, they are proposing the same for the Russian …

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Interview with Richard Charter, long-time defender of the coast

Richard Charter

On Friday, June 13, 2014, Peggy Berryhill interviewed Richard Charter, long-time defender of the coast, on KGUA, 88.3 FM in Gualala, CA. Listen to the interview on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kgua/richard-charter-ocean-santuary-613/ “An interview with the legendary Richard Charter about the NOAA hearings in Point Arena, Gualala and Bodega Bay on permanently protecting our ocean from Bodega Bay to Point Arena from oil drilling, …

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Time-lapse videos of the Gualala River mouth

These are 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. They were taken with a time-lapse package from Harbortronics (www.harbortronics.com) at 20-minute intervals. This was taken with the permission of Don and Jan Plenty, who let …

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Gualala River – Retaining wall

(CDP 55-2006) Current Status The California Coastal Commission de novo hearing has been postponed. History 05/2010 Commission approves replacing old wall; takes no action on proposed new wall 04/2008 Commission finds substantial issue 03/2008 Appealed to Coastal Commission 02/2008 Appeal denied by Supervisors 11/2007 Appealed to Mendocino Supervisors 11/2007 Approved by Coastal Permit Admin. 08/2006 Proposal filed for a new …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor

by Peter Baye This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. Editor: What’s in a name? Will something called a “soil retention system” rather than a “retaining wall” conserve the natural, mature coastal bluff vegetation along the river bank? In a word, no. Regardless of whether the scenic coastal bluffs along the Gualala River bank …

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Retaining wall: Open Space article, by Britt Bailey

by Britt Bailey, Director Environmental Commons This Open Space article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. There are a myriad of opinions with respect to Mr. John Bower’s proposal to build a retaining wall or retaining structure on the bluff in Gualala. Speaking for Environmental Commons, I’d like to clarify our reasons for opposing and …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor

by Peter Baye This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on February 22, 2008. Editor: The ICO’s editorial on “The Surf project” (February 15, 2008) is right about the benefits of a new downtown building layout that opens up coastal views. But it misses the point entirely about the nature and problems of “piecemealing” the bluff project ahead …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor, by Karl Anderson

by Karl Anderson This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. Editor: With his new proposal John Bower would seem to acknowledge that a large concrete wall in the Gualala River estuary would be an eyesore. But his “soil retention wall” ignores the fact that the bluff is stable and does not need to be …

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Retaining wall: Letter by Julie Verran

Letter regarding CDP #55-2006 by Julie Verran Ms. Beddoe, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Hall, CDP #55-2006 should be denied. The only viable alternatives are No Project, or public use as a park with a bluff trail, parking and more native trees and shrubs planted to help shield Highway 1 and the rest of downtown Gualala from tsunami run-up. That would be …

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Muddy River Meets Blue Ocean

3/15/2006   Harmony “New rains have recently joined the Gualala River taking with them all sorts of dirt and debris. As the river flows into the ocean you can vividly see how it is not an instant union.” “The colors of the ocean show just how far the river water stays together. Over time it will assimilate and the two …

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Mud Season

3/6/2006   John “Old-timers say that Annapolis has two seasons… dust and mud. Well, with several days of non-stop heavy rain, I have to say we are definitely still in the mud season.” “Here’s a mudslide that closed Annapolis Road during yesterday’s storm. The Gualala River is down in the canyon to the left.” “A small muddy stream is flowing …

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Storm on Gualala Point Beach

1/26/2006   Jeanne 1/26/06 Storm on Gualala Point Beach; photo credit, Jeanne Gadol“I was driving south from Gualala towards the bridge around noon on a very stormy January 26th when I noticed the waves flowing over the sandbar. I grabbed my camera and settled in along the bank just below the pullout south of the Breakers. There was a small …

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Winter is beautiful on the Gualala River

 12/2/2005   Jim “Hiking in Gualala Point County Park gives a fine view of the Estuary. It is especially fine as the sun is setting and the shadows lengthen, heightening the peaceful colors of a clear early December afternoon.”

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