Introduction to Friends of Gualala River’s Annual Newsletter 2024 November 22nd, 2024. The mouth of the Gualala River opens while thousands of gulls ride out the atmospheric river on the bar. Photographer Laura Baker Winter arrived November 20th with an atmospheric river that swept over the coast, bringing record rainfalls to the Mendonoma area. Overnight, the airborne river fell across …
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FoGR Newsletter, December, 2024 As I sit down to write this year’s newsletter, I find myself reflecting on the essence of our organization and our collective impact on the Gualala River watershed. It’s a complex and ever-evolving landscape, requiring our constant attention and dedication. Gualala River lagoon after the rain, Nov. 15, 2024, photo by Jeanne Jackson How can we …
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Dylan Freebairn-Smith receives his B.A in Environmental Sciences from UC Santa Barbara, 2024. Photo by UCSB. My name is Dylan Freebairn-Smith, and I am FoGR’s new Conservation Analyst. I grew up in Gualala, spending my first 18 years exploring our magnificent Southern Mendocino Coast. In June of 2024, I graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a degree …
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by Dylan Freebairn-Smith, Conservation Analyst One of the first projects that Dylan has tackled is analyzing the TMDL program for the Gualala. Summary The Gualala River has been listed as impaired under the federal Clean Water Act due to elevated sediment levels since 1993 and has exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of sediment since 2001. …
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by Laura Baker, Board Member Three years ago the non-profit, The Stream Team, landed a Whale Tail grant from the State Coastal Conservancy, to monitor water quality in the Gualala estuary. Friends of Gualala River and the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy have partnered with The Stream Team to teach local citizens how to collect and test water from 4 different …
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by Laura Baker, Board Member In 2021 FoGR learned of a chemical found in tire grit that pollutes stormwater and kills a number of different aquatic species. It is especially toxic to coho salmon— 40 parts per billion in a quart of stormwater kills juvenile coho. Information has been pouring out of the State of Washington where the effects of …
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By Jeanne Jackson, Treasurer We Would Love to Have Your Support For nearly 30 years FoGR has relied solely on the hard work of volunteers who donated their time for the day-to-day operation of our organization. As mentioned above, we’ve now hired a part-time staff person to carry out the work of the TMDL program, among other projects. That program …
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Gualala River mouth after atmospheric river pours down rain for 36 hours, Nov. 21, 2024, photo by Thomas Wolbarst, used with permission. Note: When the river mouth is closed by the sandbar, the lower part of the river is called a lagoon. When the mouth is open to the ocean, it is called an estuary.
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Video by David Lichtman, October, 2024, used with permission
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A presentation by Ethan Arutunian in February, 2024, hosted by the Forest Protection Forum of Sierra Club California’s Stop Clearcutting CA Campaign. In this talk, Ethan Arutunian describes how a grassroots campaign by Friends of the South Fork Gualala (FSFG) completely stopped the 283-acre Bootleg timber harvest plan (THP) in the Gualala River watershed. They defeated CALFIRE, and a wealthy …
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By Emma Hall, The Sacramento BeeDecember 14, 2023 [Excerpt:] One of the three yearling beaver kits casually floats in front of attendees while awaiting the rest of the family group to join him in exploring their new home in Plumas County, California on October 18, 2023. (CDFW Photo/Travis VanZant) For the first time in almost 75 years, beavers were released …
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Press release by Earthjustice, August 15, 2023 [excerpt] The Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) today notified U.S. tire manufacturers of their intent to sue over the use of a chemical called 6PPD in rubber tires because of its devastating impacts on Endangered Species Act (ESA)-protected salmon and steelhead. When 6PPD reacts …
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For Immediate Release, August 5, 2023 Contact: Ethan Arutunian, Friends of the South Fork Gualala, info@fosfg.org, 206-353-3487Daniel Garrett-Steinman, Garrett-Steinman Law Offices, dan@dpgslaw.com, 415-996-7823 SANTA ROSA, CA – In a legal victory for the Gualala River watershed, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Bradford DeMeo has ordered the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to annul and set …
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Friends of Gualala River invite coastal residents and visitors to visit our website and explore microclimates and wildfire camera views on our new Map of Real-time Weather Stations & Wildfire Cameras in the Gualala River Watershed: gualalariver.org/weather-wildfire. Click on the diamond icons to see individual weather station data including temperature, wind, rainfall and humidity. The stations are maintained by a …
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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 …
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Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it