The Latest from FoGR

Mill Bend Preserve Conservation Plan

In September, the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) unveiled the Conservation Plan for the Mill Bend Preserve at a public meeting and celebration. This was a major achievement and the result of two years of collaboration between the environmental consultant, Prunuske Chatham, Inc., and a dedicated Working Group of RCLC individuals that included FoGR representation. The Abstract to the Conservation …

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Stream Team Monitoring

Friends of Gualala River is collaborating with The Stream Team and Redwood Coast Land Conservancy in a citizen science water quality monitoring project at the Gualala estuary. The Stream Team is a collective of volunteers from Chico led by Timmarie Hammill. The Team comes to the area for quarterly monitoring and training of volunteers in basic water quality monitoring techniques. …

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Logging trees during a rising need for forests

A local redwood logging project disturbs the quiet — and why these forests deserve better. by Robin Applegarth, Dec. 4, 2022 Reprinted by permission Coastal redwoods treetops, photo by Robin Applegarth SOMETIMES ONE HAS TO BEAR WITNESS when a situation seems impossible to stop.   So, I found myself sitting on a stump in the forest this month, listening to the …

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Local Artist Dustin Gaer-Smith wins Environmental Art Award

Sculptor Dustin Gaer-Smith receives the Environmental Art Award sponsored by Friends of Gualala River at the 2022 Art in the Redwoods Fine Arts Exhibit Coho Crowd Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) sponsored an award at the Art in the Redwoods Festival in 2022, for the twenty-first year in a row. A cash prize contributed by FoGR was given to the …

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Public Records Act Request Reveals Abuse of Environmental Review Process by CAL FIRE

by Tom Wheeler, Executive Director Environmental Protection Information Center July 18, 2022 EPIC has unearthed documents through a Public Records Act request that show that CAL FIRE has been secretly editing questions submitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on timber harvest plans submitted for the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, which is managed by CAL FIRE, as well …

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Gualala River Stream Team Stewardship Project – Introduction

The Mill Bend property has been purchased by an undisclosed conservationist. Environmentalists hope to protect the river bed from off-road vehicles, which can damage wildlife. Photo by Bill Oxford.

The Coastal Commission recently awarded a Whale Tail Grant to the CA Urban Streams Alliance – The Stream Team. The grant is to initiate a stewardship engagement and watershed monitoring effort for the impaired, lower reach of the Gualala River and estuary, a habitat for endangered species such as young Coho salmon and steelhead. Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) and …

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River Sightings: Mouth opens on April 15
– bald eagle stands watching

The mouth of the Gualala River opened today, April 15, 2022, after several inches of rain. Note the bald eagle standing on the beach watching the river flow into the ocean, taking steelhead out to sea. Gualala River mouth opens, bald eagle stands watching; photo by Rozanne Rapozo Gualala River mouth opens, bald eagle stands watching; photo by Rozanne Rapozo

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River Sightings: Steelhead in the Gualala River lagoon

Steelhead in the Gualala River by Rozanne Rapozo

Adult Steelhead in the Gualala River lagoon, April, 2022. Photo by Rozanne Rapozo “There was a school of about 5-6 but my lens was too long to get them all in one photograph! No wind that day made for calm (and very clear) water.” – Rozanne Rapozo School of Steelhead in the Gualala River lagoon, April, 2022. Photo by Chris …

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River sightings: freshwater mussel and magnesite-veined serpentinite

Floater freshwater mussel A live freshwater mussel was spotted in the Gualala River this month (March, 2022). Their shells have been seen in the river in some years, but only occasionally. This time a live one was found with its foot out, stranded in a pool off-channel. It’s a floater mussel, genus Anodonta. Species in flux right now – named …

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March 19-20: “Broken Top”
An Art Exhibit by Local Artist & Naturalist Liam Ericson

“Broken Top” An Art Exhibit by Local Artist and Naturalist, Liam Ericson Saturday-Sunday, March 19-20, 12-4 pm Birdsong Clinic and Tea Room The Sea Ranch Center, Verdant View off Annapolis Road For years, Annapolis resident, Liam Ericson, has explored the wilds of the Gualala River watershed, seeking out old growth redwood trees to photograph and document. The trees and the …

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Friends of Gualala River
Annual Newsletter for 2021

Wild & scenic Gualala River runs thorough Dogwood - 5416

Any way you slice it, 2021 was a tough year.  While Covid-19 raged across the world, a horrific drought brought the dangers of climate warming home to our watershed as we watched our beloved Gualala River dry up, leaving parched, bleached river beds.  Meanwhile, Gualala Redwood Timber (GRT) logged and logged and then logged some more from dawn til dusk …

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2021 President’s Report: Imagine

For the modern day fly fisher, occasions for the hope of catching a wild steelhead or salmon are still alive. If you hook more than one or two in a day, you are having a great day. There was a time when, if you were wading in the river, you might have fish bumping into you as they navigated up …

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Report from FoGR’s Treasurer,
Jeanne A. Jackson

Gualala River floodplain near the County Park

As an all-volunteer organization with very little overhead, Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is able to utilize the donations we receive to further our mission, which is to protect the Gualala River, its watershed and the animals and native plants that live there. As FoGR has had to use legal means to help accomplish these goals, we actively fundraised in …

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Will the Gualala River Watershed receive the protection it deserves?

Adult coho salmon

By: FoGR Vice President, Lynn Walton Adult Steelhead, photo by Peter Baye For nearly a year Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) has been engaged in an effort to prompt the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the State Water Resources Control Board to perform their duty to incorporate the Gualala River’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for sediment …

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Education and Outreach Committee:
Looking Back over the Year

Mill Bend, photo by Bill Oxford

By Laura Baker, Chair Committee Members: Lynn Walton, Chris Poehlmann, Kenyon Rupnik, Ethan Arutunian, Peter Schmidt, Nathan Ramser, Pat Maxwell As with so many other organizations, Covid has challenged our committee to stay connected to one another as well as to the larger community. For the past year and a half our committee has been meeting virtually via Zoom. The …

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The 3-D Topographic Watershed Exhibit Now Funded!

Topographic Model - design

Topographic Model – design A green light was recently given to the proposed exhibit after generous private donations were received and the FoGR board and Sonoma County Regional Parks supplied the final lump sums to put the project’s funding drive over the top. The Topographical Model Exhibit will reside in the Gualala Point Regional Park visitors center and will be …

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A Weather Station for Gualala Point Visitors

by Kenyon Rupnik Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) and Sonoma County Regional Parks are sponsoring a weather station at the Gualala Point Visitors Center for your enjoyment of Gualala Point and Mill Bend. In our beautiful area, Gualala Point Regional Park is a top destination for outside activities. You can spy whales at Whale Point, enjoy the Visitors Center exhibits …

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