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

by Kenyon RupnikA version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on April 10, 2026 Chad Watts volunteered his labor and his 40-foot bucket truck to help replace a dead battery in the weather station atop the Gualala Point Regional Park Visitors Center. Visitors looking up at the Gualala Point Visitors Center will see a weather station …

Beavers, nature’s furry water engineers, are making a comeback on a major Central Coast waterbody with help from the California Water Boards and a group of dedicated educators and volunteers. published by California Water Boards, April 8, 2026 Beavers stand on a lodge they made in Mather Lake. Credit- California Department of Fish and Wildlife Funding from a 2021 settlement …

Published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), March 26, 2026 Back-to-back record spawning seasons suggest that reconnecting tributaries and restoring salmon habitat is supporting Central California Coast Coho population growth. NOAA has funded more than 100 restoration projects on the Mendocino Coast. Adult CCC coho spawning at Neefus Gulch. Trout Unlimited removed a fish passage barrier at this …

The River is at Equilibrium with the Ocean, March 27, 2026. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Jackson.

State and local support grows for the “restoration economy” by Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News, March 24, 2026 [excerpt:] In a late afternoon in March 2026, the Jackson Demonstration State Forest is reflected in a pool of light. (MendoLocal.News CC BY 4.0) At dawn, the forest sounds the same as it always has: the low churn of truck engines, the whine of …

Presentation to the Washington Department of Ecology: 6PPD-Q State of the Science Forum on December 9, 2025 Presented by Laura Baker, Friends of Gualala River, and Timmarie Hamill, CA Urban Streams Alliance-The Stream Team Abstract In 2022, CA Urban Streams Alliance-The Stream Team (The Stream Team) expanded its long-standing watershed monitoring program and began collaborating with Friends of Gualala River …

On February 18, 2026, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted Resolution R1-2026-0011 – Amendment to the Water Quality Control Plan for the North Coast Region to Incorporate the Action Plan for the Gualala River Sediment TMDL. The Basin Plan amendment is not final until approved by State Water Board and Office of Administrative Law. Project documents are …

Press release from Save the Redwoods League [excerpt:] San Francisco, Calif. (January 27, 2026) — Save the Redwoods League announced today that it has secured an agreement with the Richardson family to acquire 200 acres in Sonoma County, including a nearly 35-acre old-growth coast redwood grove, directly adjacent to the Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve property Save the Redwoods acquired from …

by Mandela Linder, The Mendocino Voice, January 24, 2026 [excerpt:] MENDOCINO CO., 1/24/26 — After decades of decline, endangered coho salmon have returned to the coast in numbers that more than double the targets set by habitat restoration projects. In 2008, just 5,000 coho were estimated across the entire state, one percent of their historic numbers; over the winter of …

This article is a brief overview.See all of the articles from the Floodplain Logging campaign. Mature floodplain redwood forest of the lower Gualala River during flood flows. 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 …

Artesa-Sonoma Vineyard Conversion Sonoma County, California Destruction of Coastal Redwood Forest and Pomo Heritage This article is a brief overview. See all of the articles from the Artesa Vineyard Conversion campaign. Court Rejects Plan to Clearcut Redwoods for Vineyard Sonoma County Superior Court rules that the environmental impact report for Artesa’s forest-to-vineyard conversion project violates the requirements of the California …

This article is a brief overview. See all of the articles from the Preservation Ranch campaign. Preservation Ranch saved in record deal A giant redwood forest in Sonoma County that was on the verge of being divvied up and plowed over into a patchwork of vineyards has been preserved by a public-private partnership that engineered what is being touted as …

Información en Español This article is a brief overview. See all of the articles from the Waterbag campaign. photo courtesy of P.T. Nunn, 2002 In 2002, Friends of the Gualala River played a leading role in opposing a scheme to export water from the Gualala River to southern California in giant floating plastic “waterbags.” Alaska Water Exports filed applications with …

by Eel River Recovery Project, Dec. 13, 2025 Chinook salmon were thought to have gone extinct in the Garcia River after the 1950s but they are showing up again as the river goes into its second decade of recovery. It has been protected by the Garcia River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) constraints under the Clean Water Act that has …

by Sarah Stierch, The Mendocino Voice, December 11, 2025 [excerpt:] MENDOCINO CO., 12/11/25 – Juvenile coho salmon have been documented in a tributary of the Russian River in Mendocino County for the first time since 1991, state officials announced Thursday. A juvenile coho salmon found in Ackerman Creek near Ukiah, Calif. on Friday, June 20, 2025. Pinoleville Pomo Nation Water …

by Amie Windsor, The Press Democrat, December 8, 2025 [excerpt:] The excitement started with a flash of silver followed by a hefty dose of disbelief. A team of conservationists and biologists from The Wildlands Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the 5,600-acre Jenner Headlands Preserve on the Sonoma Coast, couldn’t believe what they were seeing: the telltale color and shape of …

Drone video of Gualala River estuary and mouth on Nov. 17, 2025. River mouth is open after heavy rain. Drone video courtesy of Bonny Dunn.

November 18, 2025For immediate release from Friends of Gualala RiverContact: Laura Baker, 510-684-4572, Lbake66@aol.com With the return of fall storms, Friends of Gualala River in partnership with The Stream Team and other volunteers have launched their second season of testing Gualala stormwater for a potent toxic chemical found in tire grit. The chemical is extremely hazardous to salmonids, especially coho …

Tires treated with 6PPD (which becomes 6PPD-Q) will be with us for a very long time before manufacturers find new alternatives and old tires are removed from the environment. These toxic compounds will continue to affect human health and the health of the environment for decades to come. But in the meantime, here are a few simple steps that you …

May, 2025 by Timmarie Hamill, Director, The Stream Team Brief summary: “The results suggest runoff pollution primarily originates from gas stations, parking lots, and Highway 1. For instance, 6PPD-q levels ranged from 71 to 179 ng/L at the Gas Station, Parking Lot, and Footbridge sites, compared to 14 to 28 ng/L at the Above Trinks site. Zinc levels followed a …