"Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it."

Thursday, May 15, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Gualala Community Center
47950 Center St., Gualala

Friends of the Gualala River presents a public program featuring Matthew Deitch, Ph.D. from the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration.

"If the steelhead and coho that were once abundant in coastal California are to have any chance of recovering in the 21st Century, agencies and stakeholders alike need to re-think how we evaluate water use . . ."   Read more →

Gravel Mining in the Gualala River
Sonoma County Supervisors have postponed a hearing on a new permit; the lead federal agency has already denied the permit application. Gravel mining proceeded in 2005 and 2006 without county or federal permits.

What's New on our website?

Retaining wall above the estuary?
Destroying coastal bluff, native vegetation and the Gualala Bluff Trail for a project that hasn't even been reviewed makes no sense, and violates California law. Coastal Commission will schedule a de novo hearing on the proposed retaining wall project.

Cormorant nests abandoned after fireworks
The Bureau of Land Management released a report on seabird and marine mammal monitoring at Gualala Point Island. The species most affected by the fireworks was Brandt's cormorants. The Coastal Commission intends to issue a cease and desist order.

Gualala River photo tour
An updated photo tour of the Gualala River watershed, showing its natural beauty as well as damage caused by unsustainable human activity.

Aerial Photo Tour of the Gualala River
Over 1,100 aerial photos taken by Ken Adelman and Jamie Hall in October, 2007 from a helicopter flying at an altitude of ~500 feet, with an interactive Google Earth interface.

Downed old-growth redwood logs
Also known as buckskins, downed old-growth redwood logs provide highly important habitat structures for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.

Expand Gualala Point Park
The choices we make now and the actions we take will determine what type of river our grandchildren and their grandchildren will inherit.

Gualala River Steelhead Studies
A robust spawning return for 2007 shows that the steelhead population is still quite resilient... [but] solutions to the river's habitat problems must begin soon or population viability will eventually be compromised, possibly sending steelhead down the same path as the river's coho salmon.

Vineyard Conversions

Fluctuating water levels near Annapolis?
This summer (2007), water levels in the Gualala River adjacent to "vineyard alley" in Annapolis have been fluctuating up and down dramatically, killing young steelhead.

"Worse than a Clearcut"
The Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club has just released a short video designed to educate the public and decision-makers about the proposed Preservation Ranch vineyard development project.

We all live downstream
When it comes to water, we all live downstream. That's why the vineyard development that is eliminating the redwood forests of Annapolis is so important to the lower reaches of the Gualala River and its estuary.

Legal cases

Court rules EIR required for vineyard conversion
In Sierra Club and Friends of the Gualala River v. CA. Dept. of Forestry, the appellate court rules that "...there is substantial evidence to support a fair argument that the timberland conversion project may have a significant effect on the environment, thus requiring the preparation of an EIR [Environmental Impact Report]."

Court upholds jurisdiction over Gualala Water Co. wells
Appeals Court rules that the State Water Resources Control Board has jurisdiction over the subterranean water flows under Elk Prairie, where the North Gualala Water Comapny's wells are located.

Court upholds denial of floodplain logging plan
The Superior Court of Mendocino County upholds the California Board of Forestry's denial of a timber harvest plan in the floodplain of the Gualala River because it was likely to cause harm to endangered coho salmon.

Court tells CDF to prepare EIR for vineyard conversions
Friends of the Gualala River joined the Sierra Club in a successful legal action to strike down the Department of Forestry's approvals of three forestland to vineyard conversion projects, because CDF had approved the projects without the thorough analysis of environmental impacts required by law.

The Gualala River needs YOUR help
Please donate generously to protect the quality of our water and ensure the continued existence of healthy redwood forests, wildlife and salmon.

Friends of the Gualala River
PO Box 1543, Gualala, CA 95445