News

by Amie Windsor August 21, 2015 © copyright 2015, Independent Coast Observer reprinted with permission More information around the extended comment period for timber harvest plan (THP) 1-15-042-SON, also known as “Dogwood,” has emerged: according to Cal Fire Deputy Chief Leslie Markham, the comment period has not been extended, as previously reported in the ICO. Rather, a new comment period …

Gualala Redwood Timber has proposed two logging plans targeting redwood forest in the floodplain of the Gualala River and on steep slopes directly above ( THP 1-15-042-SON “Dogwood” and THP 1-15-033 SON “Apple,” respectively). The plans fail to comply with state and federal laws protecting threatened and endangered species. Agencies which should be protecting those species (National Marine Fisheries Service, …

by Guy Kovner Santa Rosa Press Democrat August 12, 2015 [excerpt] Environmentalists are mobilizing in protest of a would-be bill backed by the local wine industry that would create an irrigation district intended to protect the water rights of about 1,000 grape growers in the Russian River region. . . . The move comes in fourth year of California’s historic …

Updated August 12, 2015 Friends of Gualala River hired a geographic information system (GIS) specialist to take the multiple timber harvest plan (THP) maps submitted and make new composite maps that are readable in context of the landscape and past logging. The full extent of the footprint of the logging plans in the lower Gualala River floodplain redwood forest and …

Letter — signed by Sierra Club Redwood Chapter, Center for Biological Diversity, Madrone Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society (Dorothy King Young Chapter), Friends of the Gualala River, Forest Unlimited, and Northern California River Watch — commenting on Timber Harvest Plans THP 1-15-042 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Dogwood” THP) and THP 1-15-033 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Apple” THP): Click on …

Technical comments on the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans from Greg Kamman, a hydrologist with over twenty five years of technical and consulting experience in the fields of geology, hydrology, and hydrogeology. The data analysis in Kamman’s letter concludes that GRI’s consultant’s 2010 “analysis is flawed and grossly underestimates the potential impacts on steelhead summer rearing habitat in the river …

Update: August 6 Thanks to efforts by Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, Mendocino County Supervisor Dan Hamburg, State Senator Mike McGuire, Congressman Jared Huffman and others, the deadline for public comments on THP 1-15-042 “Dogwood” has been extended for at least 30 days on grounds that CAL FIRE found “discrepancies” in the plan. Dear Friends of the Gualala River, You …

Friends of Gualala River An affiliate of the Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance P.O. Box 1543, Gualala, CA 95445  GualalaRiver.org July 20, 2015 Cal Fire – Forest Practice Program Manager 135 Ridgeway Ave. Santa Rosa, California 95401 santarosapubliccomments@calfire.ca.gov SUBJECT: THP 1-15-042 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Dogwood” THP) THP 1-15-033 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Apple” THP) Dear CAL FIRE: Friends of the …

by Peter Baye, Friends of Gualala River The lower Gualala River has a wide meandering floodplain rich in wetlands, mature productive riparian redwood forests and highly diverse riparian habitats supporting many special-status plant, fish, and wildlife species. “Flood prone” redwood forests are supposed to be protected by avoidance of logging disturbances under special salmonid protection rules under the Forest Practices …

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