by Peter Baye published in the July & September, 2017 issues of The Calypso, newsletter of the Dorothy King Young Chapter of the California Native Plant Society reprinted with permission Part 1 – Wigeongrass and Sago pondweed Last April (2017), our local public radio station (KZYX) ran an excellent “Ecology Hour” program interviewing world-renowned oceanographer John Largier from University of …
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Gualala River estuary / lagoon at sunset, April 27, 2026. Photo courtesy of Efi Benjamin, River Bend Kayaks.
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GUALALA ROADS ASSESSMENT ORDER Recent Public Meetings North Coast Water Board staff and the Sonoma Resource Conservation District (Sonoma RCD) recently hosted two community meetings to provide information on the developing Gualala Roads Assessment Order. Presentations addressed components of a typical road assessment, paths to completing assessments required by the order, and updates on the technical work conducted by the …
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Are you ready to learn more about how beaver coexistence can build capacity for land managers and owners in California? Join the California Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program on June 10, 2026 from 9-11:30am for an informative webinar featuring coexistence experts and practitioners. By the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center – visit their website to register for the webinar …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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In 1994, the entire Gualala River watershed was listed on section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act as impaired for excessive sedimentation / siltation. Excessive sediment in the Gualala River watershed impairs Beneficial Uses associated with the Gualala River’s salmonid fishery and habitat. In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for …
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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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We counted 180 – 200 participants, with dozens of spontaneously prepared hand-made signs and artwork. Speakers included Jeanne Jackson, Eric Wilder, Charlie Ivor, Larry Hanson, Peter Baye and Noreen Evans. See also, video: Jeanne Jackson speaks at the Rally for the River
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by Larry Hanson, Sonoma County Gazette, May, 2013 Now that the coastal forest area called Preservation Ranch has been officially saved, there will be some backslapping and congratulating going on over this success. And there should. The effort of changing some twenty thousand acres from a land development project into conservation status takes the work and love of many individuals …
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Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it