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

Comment letters from Dr. John W. Cruz, Forest Unlimited Logging Review Program Manager, regarding the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans: Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.     Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.

Comment letter from coastal ecologist & botanist Peter Baye regarding the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans, with emphasis on timber harvest activities in flood-prone timberlands and wetlands: Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.

[excerpt] …California’s ongoing drought has hit the region hard, reducing grape yields and depleting the vast aquifer that most of the area’s vineyards and rural residents rely on as their sole source of water other than rain. Across the region, residential and vineyard wells have gone dry. Those who can afford to — including a number of large wineries and …

Gualala Redwoods, Inc. (GRI) said Tuesday it signed a definitive purchase and sale agreement to transfer the majority of its timberland holdings in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties to the Burch family of San Jose. According to Henry Alden, senior vice president of GRI, under the terms of the agreement, GRI will sell approximately 29,000 acres to the Burch family, representing …

Friends of Gualala River is proud to sponsor the new film “Russian River: All Rivers, The Value of an American Watershed” on Tuesday, April 14th, 7:00 PM at the Arena Theater, 214 Main Street, Pt. Arena, CA. Come meet the film makers and hear their story at this showing and be a part of an event that has been co-sponsored …

Here are two photos of the South Fork Gualala River at Twin Bridges, taken two days apart: Monday, December 1, 2014 (before the recent rain) and Wednesday, December 3, 2014 (after some much needed rain)

by Jeanne Jackson posted on Mendonoma Sightings A friend called to say the Gualala River had opened this morning. Rick and I hurried down to see the action. It was low tide and the river was pouring through the opening with great force . . . To read Jeanne’s full report, visit Mendonoma Sightings.

December, 2014 It has been a productive year for FOGR with its mission to stand up for the river and its source – the 300 square mile Gualala River watershed. In the afterglow of our victory to stop the Preservation Ranch project, this year saw the successful conclusion of FOGR’s campaign to halt the forestland conversion proposed by the 324 …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, November 25, 2014 [excerpt:] Nearly 30,000 acres timberland straddling the Sonoma-Mendocino county border and stretching across the mouth of the Gualala River have been put on the auction block, creating what conservationists are calling a prime opportunity for a landmark preservation deal that could permanently protect and restore a giant swath of forest, allow …

Action Alert: The native, Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead of the drought-stricken Gualala River, in California, need your help. Thanks in large part to the pressure that [fishermen] put on the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) a year ago, the CDFW is finally taking action to fix the critically flawed low-flow closure system on the North Central-Coast …

Download pdf version:  2014-FoGR-fundraising-letter.pdf Support Friends of Gualala River

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR), along with Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club, has filed a suit against Sonoma County to close a major regulatory loophole. This time it’s not our typical campaign to stop destruction of redwood forest. It’s to fix a serious problem in a Sonoma County permitting process that is allowing developers to circumvent the California …

State legislation to regulate the depletion of groundwater is moving forward as the current historic drought continues and reservoirs draw precipitously down. State water agencies support legislative proposals to monitor and regulate groundwater in the public interest as the drought threatens both surface and below-ground water supplies. But North Coast grape growers and the wine industry are opposed to this …

Friends of Gualalal River (FoGR) is a member of the North Coast Stream Flow Coalition, which supports rational management and regulation of groundwater to protect streamflows. FoGR endorses Chris Malan’s policy analysis and recommendations in her op-ed essay, below. Protect state’s groundwater and the public interest now! by Chris Malan Chair, North Coast Stream Flow Coalition Op-ed published in the …

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 …

by Guy Kovner,  The Press Democrat,  June 13, 2014 [excerpt:] Three environmental groups are challenging Sonoma County’s approval of a 54-acre Annapolis vineyard in a case that reflects long-standing conflict over expansion of the county’s $600 million a year grape industry. If the lawsuit were to succeed, it would wipe out the county’s vineyard development law, itself born amid controversy …

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, …

By ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT June 3, 2014, 7:29 PM [excerpt] Artesa Vineyards and Winery of Napa has shelved its hotly disputed plans to plant a vineyard on forest land near Annapolis and has put the 324-acre property on the market for $1.5 million, the company announced Tuesday. The decision was hailed by environmentalists, who last year persuaded a …

The Ghost Forest — Radicals and Real Estate in the California Redwoods A Personal History of the Ancient Redwood Ecosystem and the Struggles to Protect It Historical Presentation by Humboldt Author-Activist Greg King Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. Gualala Arts Center 46501 Gualala Rd Gualala, CA 95445 Greg King is an award-winning and nationally published Humboldt County writer …

Redesigned GualalaRiver.org provides instant access, expanded capabilities and increased connection Friends of Gualala River is excited to announce the launch of its newly redesigned website, located at the same web address as always: https://gualalariver.org The new site’s homepage welcomes visitors with a clean, contemporary design and with featured content focused on our mission to protect the Gualala River watershed and …