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

by Sonia Waraich, The Mendocino Voice, November 16, 2021 Reprinted by permission Jackson Demonstration State Forest photographed on the morning of Sept. 29, 2021. Photo by Sonia Waraich MENDOCINO Co., 11/16/21 — A debate has been raging for the past few months on whether Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) is being managed in the best way possible in the face …

Are human logging actions affecting the adaptation and survival of this ancient species? by Robin Applegarth, Nov. 7, 2021 Reprinted by permission Redwoods Path, Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash OUR CAR BUMPED DOWN A DIRT ROAD, descending into a canyon of tall redwood trees. The sunlight lessened as deep forest and the canyon walls rose up around us. Thousands …

A letter to California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, from the Environmental Protection Information Center, October 14, 2021 Dear Secretary Crowfoot, It is imperative that the State of California move to immediately calm tensions in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. The past week has seen multiple threats directed at forest activists and the presence of private paramilitary security within …

Forests of the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska are critical to addressing the climate crisis, but they’re under threat of logging. April 19, 2021 Written and designed by Madeline Cowen & Chandra LeGue As our world faces the ongoing climate crisis, one of the most important things we can do is protect and restore forests in the Pacific Northwest and …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is pleased to publish a new issue of our monthly publication, “FoGR Monthly: September, 2021.”  This month’s feature is Geography and Climate. Click on the image below to download the .pdf file (400 KB)

by Chris McManus Independent Coast Observer August 20, 2021 Reprinted by permission © Copyright Independent Coast Observer, Inc. www.mendonoma.com Friends of Gualala River, along with Forest Unlimited in Forestville, on Monday sent a request to state and local officials asking that a regional state of emergency for the Gualala River watershed be proclaimed. This aerial view of the Gualala River …

August 16, 2021 To:  California Department of Fish and Wildlife Charlton Bonham Director P.O. Box 944209 Sacramento, CA 94244-2090 From: Friends of Gualala River PO Box 1543 Gualala, CA 95445 info@gualalariver.org and: Forest Unlimited P.O. Box 506 Forestville, CA 95426 info@forestunlimited.org Re:       FoGR requests the following actions be taken immediately: 1) proclaim a Regional State of Emergency for the Gualala River watershed; …

Drought Changes in the Gualala River Estuary’s Summer Lagoon: Native Aquatic Vegetation versus Algal Blooms A virtual field trip with questions and answers – (more than you wanted to know) Friends of Gualala River, August 2021 Peter Baye, Ph.D, Coastal Ecologist, Botanist Question: What is all the green stuff in the Gualala River lagoon? Is it one of the “Harmful …

After years of trying, and succeeding, to stop the Timber Harvest Plan (THP) called “Dogwood,” the fight was lost this past week. Those of us who have put so much effort into stopping this terrible logging plan are so very disheartened by this. We mourn the loss of the Redwood trees, the damage to the floodplain of the river, and …

by Matt Simmons, August 3, 2021 Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) reprinted with permission Two weeks ago, we [EPIC] reported a troubling trend in timber harvest plan approvals. CalFire has been approving THPs prior to conducting necessary biological surveys for endangered, rare, and sensitive species. This practice prevents the public and state agencies like the Department of Fish and Wildlife …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is pleased to publish a new issue of our monthly publication, “FoGR Monthly: August, 2021.”  This month’s feature is Sequoia Sempervirens – Coast Redwoods. Click on the image below to download the .pdf file (480 KB)

by Chris McManus Independent Coast Observer July 23, 2021 Reprinted by permission © Copyright Independent Coast Observer, Inc. www.mendonoma.com As part of its Salmonid and Watershed Restoration Project, Friends of Gualala River has launched a new lawsuit, this one focused on the Gualala River’s North Fork in the watershed’s northwest corner, the only hydrologic area of the watershed that is …

by Craig Bell Forest & River News July 16, 2021 Craig Bell is a Garcia River watershed planner, as well as past President of the Salmonid Restoration Federation, former logger, commercial fisherman, and river guide. [excerpt:] The strong recovery we are witnessing today in the Garcia River is thanks to a 30-year effort that began in 1991 when Mendocino County …

by Tempra BoardThe Sea Ranch Soundings • Summer 2021 © copyright 2021, The Sea Ranch Associationreprinted with permission Friends of Gualala River (FoGR), our area’s grassroots watershed protection non-profit, continues its hard work defending the Gualala River from the threat of floodplain logging. On May 20, FoGR filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt logging of Gualala Redwood Timber …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is pleased to publish a new issue of our monthly publication, “FoGR Monthly: July, 2021,” detailing different places along the Gualala River to visit.  This month’s feature is Mill Bend. Each month will have a participation feature like a contest or list an upcoming event. It will feature different types of outdoor activities and where …

The Gualala River watershed and the species that live within it are in danger from proposed logging of redwoods. Friends of Gualala River has produced an informative short video about the challenge our river now faces and how you can help. Please enjoy and share with your friends.

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is pleased to publish a new issue of our monthly publication, “FoGR Monthly,” detailing different places along the Gualala River to visit.  This month’s feature is the Haupt Creek Bridge area. Each month will have a participation feature like a contest or list an upcoming event. It will feature different types of outdoor activities and …

Friends of Gualala River and Center for Biological Diversity filed an Endangered Species Act lawsuit in September, 2020, against the Gualala Redwood Timber Company, to protect threatened and endangered fish, birds and frogs from the proposed “Dogwood” logging project which targets 100-year-old redwood trees in the floodplain of the Gualala River. The following are excerpts from our Motion for a …

Historically, the Gualala River was home to abundant coho salmon and steelhead trout populations that numbered in the tens of thousands. Today, the endangered coho salmon are all but gone and threatened steelhead are struggling to survive in the home river they evolved and adapted to over millennia. The dwindling salmonid population is a critical indicator of the declining health …

Excerpted from “The effects of timber harvest versus forest protection in JDSF [Jackson Demonstration State Forest]” by John O’Brien, PhD. Dr. O’Brien has a doctorate in climate and atmospheric science from U.C. Santa Cruz, and lives adjacent to JDSF, but his comments on logging and climate change are relevant to similar redwood forest lands on the northern California Coast. Executive …