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Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) sponsored an award at the Art in the Redwoods festival for the first time this year.The 41st annual Art in the Redwoods festival took place on Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18. The event featured more than 400 fine art entries and experienced record crowds. The artwork will remain on display at the …

As reported by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter: Peter Ashcroft Redwood Chapter Conservation Chair Private and corporate interests are targeting coastal redwood forestlands in Northern California for clear cutting to make way for extensive new vineyard projects. Once these redwood forests are destroyed, they will be lost forever. Conservation groups including the Redwood Chapter’s Vineyard Conversion Committee and Friends of …

Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) sponsored an award at the Art in the Redwoods festival in 2004, for the third year in a row.A cash prize of $100 contributed by the Friends of the Gualala River was given to the artist who best captured the ecology of the Sonoma-Mendocino coast, as determined by the festival judges. Congratulations to local …

This article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 9, 2004. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   The Board of Forestry, meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday, upheld the Department of Forestry’s denial of a timber harvest plan on Haupt Creek, inland from Stewarts Point. The board heard three hours of testimony from Registered Professional Forester …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) sponsored an award at the Art in the Redwoods festival for the second time in 2003.The 42nd annual Art in the Redwoods festival took place on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17, 2003. The event featured more than 400 fine art entries and drew record crowds. The artwork will remain on display at …

A version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on July 25, 2003. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   SANTA ROSA – A strong local timber industry delegation opposed to county setbacks of logging from structures dominated the July 17 meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Sonoma County general plan update. The …

A version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on August 8, 2003. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   SANTA ROSA – An old growth redwood grove south of Annapolis on Haupt Creek, a tributary of the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River, won a temporary reprieve on July 31. Anthony Lukacic, an official …

© 2003- The Press Democrat byline: Carol Benfell“Vineyards would be banned on hundreds of thousands of acres of Sonoma County timberland in a proposed change to the county’s planning blueprint that would be a victory for trees over grapes, and preservationists over growers…” Note: The full article is available in the archives of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. To access …

A version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on July 4, 2003. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   SANTA ROSA – Many local people of all persuasions were present June 19, when the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on the Sonoma County General Plan revision tackled timberland conversions, which remove commercial tree species to make …

A version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on May 2, 2003. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   Public agencies decided after intense debate at a Forest Practice Review Team Meeting in Santa Rosa on April 24 that they want to revisit an old growth redwood grove on Haupt Creek, inland from Stewarts …

This article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on April 11, 2003. By Julie VerranCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   An 800-acre upland grove of old growth redwood said to overshadow Headwaters Forest stands only a few air miles from Gualala. Its heart could soon be cut out. The second – and likely final – review of Timber …

“It’s Elementary” is an exhibition of art works by local elementary school students, sponsored by Celebrate Art in the Schools, and by the Art in the Schools program at Gualala Arts. The artwork is on display at the Gualala Arts Center through April 6, 2003. There is no charge to see the exhibit, which is open to the public from …

As reported by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter: Linda Perkins Would it surprise and delight you to learn that there still exists in Sonoma County – just four miles northeast of Salt Point – an ancient redwood forest of over 800 acres that has never been harvested? A stand that rivals in magnificence and beauty any redwood forest found in …

North Coast Watershed Assessment Program (NCWAP) for Salmon Recovery and Watershed Protection The North Coast Watershed Assessment Program (NCWAP) was an interagency effort between the California Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), established to provide scientifically credible, interdisciplinary assessments that will facilitate watershed management and restoration, recovery of threatened and endangered salmonid species, and protection of water …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Our sincere thanks to Surf Supermarket and Thanksgiving Coffee for donating a dollar to Friends of the Gualala River for each pound of Thanksgiving’s Guatemalan Vienna Roast sold between February 22 and April 30, 2003. They and their customers raised $90 for FoGR. The organic, shade-grown Vienna Roast coffee from Guatemala is certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Friends of the …

As reported by the Town Hall Coalition: By Tom Chorneau / The Press Democrat / January 3, 2003 Plans for the largest single vineyard planting ever undertaken on the North Coast have resurfaced, targeting 5,000 acres in the coastal foothills of Sonoma and Mendocino counties. The proposal is the latest version of a vineyard cultivation plan conceived four years ago …

By Chris Poehlmann,October, 2002It’s official. It is open season on the north coast forests. The California Department of Forestry (CDF) has just approved two of the many pending forestland to vineyard conversions in the Annapolis area. Clear cutting is presently taking place on many acres of conversions spearheaded by vineyard entrepreneurs. They hope to profit by permanently scraping an ancient …

Location The Gualala River enters the Pacific Ocean approximately 110 miles north of San Francisco, California. Just past the mouth of the river lies the town of Gualala, a three-hour drive from San Francisco over narrow, twisting roads and stunning ocean and mountain views. Tourism and logging are the primary local industries. Land area The Gualala River watershed covers 298 …