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 …
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Protect Threatened Salmon & Steelhead: Support Improved Low-Flow Closures
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 …
Read More »Friends of Gualala River needs your financial support
Download pdf version: 2014-FoGR-fundraising-letter.pdf Support Friends of Gualala River
Read More »FoGR Files Lawsuit over Sonoma County’s Vineyard Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance (VESCO)
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 …
Read More »Wine industry resists rising tide to regulate groundwater as California drought deepens
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 …
Read More »Protect state’s groundwater and the public interest now!
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 …
Read More »Keep Gualala Estuary in Marine Sanctuary
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 …
Read More »Environmental groups’ lawsuit could upend Sonoma County vineyard policies
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 …
Read More »Interview with Richard Charter, long-time defender of the coast
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, …
Read More »Artesa vineyard plans near Annapolis shelved
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 …
Read More »Thursday, June 12 – Author-Activist Greg King at Gualala Arts Center
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 …
Read More »Fish Emulsion – a poem
by Randall Sinclair “Fish Emulsion” Mankind has tried many ways To rid this planet Of unwanted species. Coyote, Puma, Pomo, Coho. Religion, bullets, treaties, clearcuts. Now he poisons the Mother Tree. The She-Oak that feeds us Without discrimination. High in carbohydrates, The Oak has seen many cultures Through hungry winters. The Timber Barons Think that Tanbark Has become a problem …
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