Forest & River News
SPAWN Nursery: The Power of Community Over 20 Years of Propagating Native Plants
By Audrey Fusco, Nursery Manager and Restoration Ecologist, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network The SPAWN restoration nursery, seaturtles.org/nursery, grew out of the desire to restore creek habitat for coho salmon by utilizing local genetic stock of native plants that were not available in any nursery. Beginning as a volunteer effort, we sought experts to mentor…
Read MoreKeeping Timber Harvests Out of Jackson State Forest
Over the last three years, coordinated community action has successfully stopped a number of timber harvest plans (THPs) in Jackson—California’s largest state forest. Two of the blocked THPs had been submitted, one was approved and sold to a mill, and others were under development. The total area saved by the work of the Coalition to…
Read MoreThe Virtues and Limits of Collaboration
Piercy Volunteer Fire Department By Jeffrey Hedin, Commissioner, Piercy Fire Protection District “Cooperation, Collaboration, and Communication;” add Coordination and it’s a perfect title for a report from Piercy. I first heard enviro activists promoting collaboration during a North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP) conference at the Bear River Tribe’s Community Center in Loleta, CA. The presenters…
Read MoreFlowers for Susy
Susy Barsotti, a long-time member of the Hog Farm at Black Oak Ranch in Mendocino, and tireless environmental advocate, recently stepped down from the Trees Foundation Board of Directors after a quarter-century of dedicated service. She served Trees with aplomb, commitment, and boundless energy. Longtime Trees staffer Barbara Ristow recalls Susy “always promoting Trees” showing…
Read MoreIntroducing Baduwa’t Watershed Council
Formerly the Mad River Alliance In Humboldt County, the Mad River is a lifeline, heavily utilized by its surrounding communities, both human and animal. The watershed connects wild spaces to neighborhoods. The river is the source of drinking water for approximately 90,000 community members. It is recognized as a climate refuge, provides habitat for a…
Read MoreCollaborating to Teach Children about Salmon
Friends of the Van Duzen River By Sal Steinberg, Director, Friends of the Van Duzen River I live in one of the most beautiful places on Planet Earth: the Van Duzen Watershed. Within a 15-mile radius there are three K-8 elementary schools: Bridgeville, Cuddeback, and Hydesville. Following 8th grade, students move on to Fortuna High…
Read MoreIntroducing Humboldt Waterkeeper!
New Name, Same Fantastic Bay Tours Humboldt Waterkeeper We have a new name! Humboldt Waterkeeper, formerly known as Humboldt Baykeeper, was founded in 2004 after the resounding defeat of a proposal for a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) import facility on the Samoa Peninsula. 2023 Humboldt Bay Tours Program From April to October, Humboldt Waterkeeper offers…
Read MoreCollaboration in McKee Creek
Sanctuary Forest By Ash Brookens, Sanctuary Forest Tucked between the winding county road and a densely forested hillslope as you approach the community of Whitethorn is McKee Creek, a headwaters tributary to the Mattole River. From the road, you might not even notice that it’s there. But this stream holds promise for coho recovery in…
Read MoreJackson State Forest Update: CAL FIRE Poised to Restart Logging While Promises for Tribal Co-Management and Protection of Sacred Sites Go Unfulfilled
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters By Karen Pickett, Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH), Coalition to Save Jackson State Forest The good news is that quiet and calm settled into the Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) during the last year and a half, absent roaring chainsaws and falling redwoods. The bad news is that the…
Read MoreThe Roots of Cooperative Management
By Michael Evenson With the formation of the Trees Foundation in 1991, founding directors Rick Klein and I sought a path for forest communities to continue to work in the woods while “restoring ecological functions,” terminology that changes with the times, but means healing from the outrageous disturbances of the past. The path to achieve…
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