Greetings,

It's been another wet and rainy week and the river is up, the creeks are flowing and the wildflowers are popping up everywhere. On our walks to see the inspirational waterfall near our office, we have seen Fetid Adders Tongue, Turkey Tail, a wonderful, yet unidentified, bright red mushroom and much more. To my excitement, my husband Fred also discovered a new area with Calypso Orchids near our house the other day!

State Parks Ballot Initiative and Award for Stewards
Stewards volunteers continue to amaze me with their dedicated signature gathering for the California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010. Overall, we have now surpassed 4,000 signatures! It's not too late to join the effort. Please email me at mluna@mcn.org if you are willing to help in the next month and a half. It's very important that we keep up our momentum in order to reach the 700,000 signature goal statewide by April 15th.

I am honored to report that Stewards will be one of many organizations presented with the Grassroots Champion Award on Monday, March 8th, at the Park Advocacy Day reception in Sacramento for our efforts in the past few years to Save our State Parks.

Tidepool Seminar and the Tsunami Advisory
I want to thank Hollis Bewley, Bill Bambrick and Keary Sorenson for presenting the logistics for our Tidepool Education programs this past Saturday. Also, a special thank you to Karl Menard for conducting an engaging Intertidal Seminar as well.

Hollis reports the following about a wonderful day on the coast:
"The tidepool season kicked off with an engaging talk about the special characteristics of the intertidal community given by Karl Menard of the Bodega Marine Lab. A tsunami advisory provided a timely example of the dynamic energy of the coastal environment so we prudently postponed the afternoon site visit to Shell Beach and explored the newly renovated tidepool exhibit at the Bodega Marine Lab. We were treated to a close-up view of numerous bat stars in an amazing variety of stunning colors, ochre and leather stars, purple and red urchins and even an abalone. Karl then took us inside to see display tanks holding a great variety of subtidal anemones, limpets, and rock fish. It was a great day for tidepool enthusiasts – and we get to double-dip as the site visit to Shell Beach is being rescheduled for early April."

Partnering to Restore the Willow Creek Watershed
This week I will highlight one of the most exciting partnerships that I have experienced in my career. It's all about restoring Willow Creek for coho salmon and it began in the year 2000, when Stewards convened a meeting of public and private stakeholders who had a history working in the watershed, including California State Parks, Prunuske Chatham, Inc., Trout Unlimted, the Department of Fish and Game and others. The result of this meeting was a decision to apply for a Proposition 13: State Water Resources Control Board grant administered by the Sonoma County Water Agency. In 2001, Stewards was awarded $198,000 to develop an Integrated Watershed Management Plan, a Channel Feasibility Analysis for Willow Creek and a public meeting process. Our contractor, Prunuske Chatham completed these two important documents in 2005 and part of the process was the forming of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC met every few months to review progress and debate the best ways to restore fish passage in this impaired watershed. Besides those already listed, the TAC included Mendocino Redwoods Company, Sonoma County Department of Public Works and Transportation, Regional Water Quality Control Board and NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Services.

What we learned is that there is very little slope in the Willow Creek valley between 2nd and 3rd bridges, which was not helping to transport the sediment coming out of the watershed from upland road and past logging disturbances after large storm events. We also learned that when the Russian River backs up, so does Willow Creek and this makes it even more difficult for sediment to move out of the system. In addition, we learned that the lowest part of the valley is along the southern end and when State Parks stopped dredging the channel in 1987 the creek stopped confining itself and began to spread out across the valley floor creating a loss of stream connectivity. For more detailed information you can download the Watershed Management Plan on our website. Additional funding of $35,000 was raised for this phase of the project from the Russian River Watershed Council, National Fish and Wildlife Federation and the Sonoma County Fish and Wildlife Commission.

It is also important to note that during the last decade there have been many road improvements done in the upper watershed that have successfully reduced sedimentation into the creek. Stewards initiated a grant proposal that was secured and managed by our nonprofit partner Landpaths and State Parks.

After exploring all the options, including moving the road, it was decided that the most cost-effective solution was to remove the existing non-functioning culverts near second bridge and install a new bridge in this area so that natural channel forming processes
could go to work.

In 2007 & 2008, Stewards was awarded grant funds in the amount of $141,000 from the State Coastal Conservancy to complete additional studies, a design and CEQA for an additional bridge to restore fish passage near second bridge. I am pleased to report that the work for this project is coming to an end and we have applied for almost $900,000 in funding from the California Department of Fish and Game and NOAA Fisheries: Open Rivers Initiative to construct a 43 foot pre-cast bridge, reconnect the channel and monitor progress. The CEQA document (16 megs) for this project can be downloaded on our website as well. The public comment period will end on March 20th.

After the next phase is funded and completed, we are hopeful that coho will be reintroduced into the watershed. I am very much looking forward to reporting future success as we achieve goals that were just a vision ten years ago.

In stewardship,

Michele Luna, Executive Director

Natural and Cultural History of Willow Creek & Watershed Education Program Docent Training
Saturday, March 6, 2010

Watershed Education Program Logistics and Training
9:00-11:30am
Learn to assist middle school students explore watershed values, the life cyle of salmonids and what it takes to restore a watershed to health through hands-on activities.
Facilitated by Staff and Docents

(Lunch Break)

Natural and Cultural History of Willow Creek
Saturday, March 6
12:00-4:00pm
Instructors: Brendan O'Neil (State Park Environmental Scientist) & Marianne Hurley (State Parks Historian)
Review the natural and cultural history of this important watershed and learn about the steps being taken to restore it as a viable salmonid habitat. Seminar will take place both in class and in the field. Be prepared for all weather conditions.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED ON OUR WEBSITE OR
EMAIL rherrick@mcn.org
$15 donation for Community Members
$5 donation for members/volunteers
No one will be turned away for inability to donate.

Pinniped Monitoring Program Training
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 10:00am - 3:00pm with lunch break

There will be another training for the Pinniped Monitoring Program, which takes place on the Sonoma Coast on Wednesday, March 10th. Volunteers need to be available during the week and for at least a half a day at a time and sometimes on very short notice. A stipend is offered for this program. This program is a partnership between Stewards and the Sonoma County Water Agency and funded by them as well. Please contact Michele Luna at mluna@mcn.org if you are interested.

Sudden Oak Death Seminar

Master Gardeners and Stewards Partner to Save Our Oaks
Saturday, March 13 at 10:30 am, FREE - no donations requested

A team of Sonoma County Master Gardener specialists are partnering with Stewards to present a free seminar on Sudden Oak Death (SOD) on Sat., March 13 at 10:30 a.m. at Armstrong Redwoods.

The Master Gardeners have received a grant from the USDA Forest Service to educate the public about the causes, distribution and treatment options of the disease.

The SOD specialists Ann Chambers, Janet Calhoun, John Chavez and Phyllis Turrill will describe the symptoms of the disease, the extent of the infection and what local oaks are susceptible.  They will also suggest ways to keep oaks as healthy as possible and demonstrate the latest preventative treatment options. The talk will also include a walk through an area in the Park that has been infected by SOD.

The specialists have recently received extensive training in SOD from experts at the University of California and other leading scientists in the field.  In particular, they have studied the pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum that causes the disease.  For more information, call the Santa Rosa Master Gardener office at 565-2608 or visit www.sonomamastergardeners.org or register online for the seminar.

Michele Luna, Executive Director
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods