Sonoma County in Bloom! Wildflowers: Blue-eyed grass, California goldfields, & Purple owl's clover.
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In this month's edition:
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RCD Updates: Forest Management Planning in the Dutch Bill Creek Watershed, Drought Preparedness & Resources
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Staff Highlight: Joe Pozzi (District Manager)
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Publications: Gold Ridge RCD Receives Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant to Benefit Monarchs and Other Pollinators (Press Release), Exploring for Change (Kid-friendly Naturalist Resources)
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Workshops & Activities: Eco-Friendly Garden Tour, Parasites, Climate Change, and Soil Sampling!
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Partner News: Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup, Engaging Latinx Youth, New Podcast for Cattle Research, and Open Positions to Work with Small-Scale California Farmers
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Forest Management Planning in the Dutch Bill Creek Watershed
By Adriana Stagnaro, Outreach and Project Manager
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Inspired to improve his 74-acre forest property’s resilience to wildfire and a desire to restore the property’s native coast redwood forest and coastal prairie habitats, a Dutch Bill Creek watershed landowner has partnered with the Gold Ridge RCD to write a Landsmart Forest Management Plan.
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The plan details recommendations, such as removing young native Douglas-fir from the prairie edges and planting coast live oak sparsely across the grassland, to encourage the native flora and fauna of the coastal prairie. Mature Douglas-fir trees on the property are treasured habitat for raptors, owls and vultures. Thinning the dense stands and reducing ladder fuels and brush will create a more fire safe environment, control invasive plant species, and promote open spaces, sunlight and new growth that benefit wildlife. The landowner is interested in using another conservation practice as well: controlled burning. No stranger to low-intensity ground fire, coastal redwoods and prairies are adapted to receive fairly frequent burns which fertilize the ground, encourage new growth, hinder the forest’s pests and diseases, reduce competition among trees, and open the forest floor, among many other benefits. The plan will also include recommendations to enhance and protect the seasonal streams, pond and roads network, improve wildlife habitat, increase carbon stocks, and create a recreational hiking trail across the property. |
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What is a Landsmart Forest Management Plan? It’s a comprehensive forest conservation plan based on the landowner’s goals and a registered professional forester’s recommendations. It acts as a CEQA-level document for forestry management and guides forestry management implementation.
How does it work? The plan puts on paper your specific goals of your property. It identifies the current property conditions and provides specific recommendations on how to manage your vegetation, forests, streams, and roads. It also connects you with incentive programs, like CFIP and EQIP, as well as grant funds the RCD may have or is able to apply for. Currently, the RCD offers funding for 90% of the total cost of the LandSmart Forest Management Plan. The landowner is required to provide 10% cost share, which is typically $500-1,000.
What’s in a Forest Management Plan? It contains a description of the property history, property infrastructure (roads, dwellings, fencing, etc.), current forest composition and structure (i.e. forest types), access and security, recreational opportunities, invasive species, forest insects and disease, soils, water resources, wildlife and aquatic species (including endangered species) and any plans for property family legacy.
It also looks forward, using the landowner’s goals and foresters recommendations, to prescribe conservation management practices and corresponding NRCS practice codes for each natural resource. It also provides the natural resource professionals that can provide technical assistance in the future. Management constraints (such as steepness, no merchantable timber, etc.) and alternatives are considered. Fire management and carbon beneficial forestry practices are described as well.
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Drought Preparedness & Resources |
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California and several other western states are currently experiencing extreme drought conditions that will continue to worsen throughout the 2021 season. Many ranchers are comparing the current conditions to the 1976-1977 California drought, which was the worst drought in the California history.
Resources
2) UC Davis' Rangeland Drought Hub - report drought conditions and impacts now via the conditions monitoring observations report (CMOR) and access rangeland drought resources.
4) The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership has launched a public outreach campaign to encourage water conservation in the North Bay. Water is a resource that our community shares, and it is critical that we all protect and conserve this valuable resource. For water saving tips and resources, please visit the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership website.
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Staff Highlight: Meet Joe! |
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Hi, my name is Joe Pozzi, and I am the District Manager for the Gold Ridge resource conservation district. I have been with the RCD for 27 years! When I first started working at the RCD, I was the only employee. We had one grant for $25,000, and the office was my house. Eventually, we hired a few part-time employees, and I would give them keys to my house so they could come work. It’s fun to look back on those times.
Over the years it has been very rewarding to watch the RCD grow as it has. We now manage over 70 grants and I have an annual operating budget around $2.5 - 3 million. My current responsibilities at the RCD include assisting other staff members with their projects, and working closely with the board of directors, stepping in when and where I’m needed. I have always been passionate about the natural resources of our area and the importance of agriculture here. I especially enjoy working with landowners to assist them in enhancing natural resources on their properties.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking and exploring new areas around the country. I also enjoy hunting and camping. As soon as this Covid pandemic eases, I look forward to traveling and visiting new places. In my youth, I went to Tomales High School, then Graduated from Chico State with a bachelor’s of science degree in Animal Science. I am also a graduate of class 28 of the California Agricultural leadership program. Now, I operate sheep and cattle ranches in this area and I have always had a passion for conservation and the viability of local agricultural production. I am proud to be the fourth generation of our family involved in agriculture, my daughter Alexandra is the fifth. I have served on several boards, including the California Woolgrowers Association and the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which promote and protect our agricultural heritage. Additionally, I enjoy working with my animals, interacting with other local ranchers, and spending time on the ranch... there’s always a project to do! Overall, I feel very fortunate to live where I do and appreciate the opportunities I have been given.
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Gold Ridge RCD Receives Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant to Benefit Monarchs and Other Pollinators
Press Release, April 2021
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The Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (RCD) is excited to announce that we have been awarded an urban agriculture conservation grant through a partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to boost technical capacity nationwide. Our RCD was one of 20 conservation districts across 14 states to receive funding. |
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This grant will support the Gold Ridge RCD, and its neighboring partner Sonoma RCD, in providing outreach and technical assistance to underserved urban and community agricultural entities in Sonoma County interested in hosting or enhancing habitat for western monarch butterflies and other pollinators. This may include school and community gardens, tribal lands’ cultural production systems, and localized food sovereignty efforts. “We are thrilled to have received this funding at such a critical time in western monarch conservation history,” said Isis Howard, Project Coordinator at Gold Ridge RCD. “The Gold Ridge and Sonoma RCDs look forward to adapting our rural monarch pollinator conservation efforts by building urban and community projects and partnerships.” |
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Exploring For Change
Great educational resources for families and educators!
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Observing nature is fun, and it can benefit science! Through observing nature we learn to better understand our ecosystems and recognize when something changes.
Check out the PDF, video, or social media posts below to learn how you can use community science to "explore for change". Community science is a way for all of us to record our nature observations and help scientists keep an eye on biodiversity and climate change.
This is family friendly content, so invite your kids to learn, too!
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Eco-Friendly Garden Tour
Sponsor: Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership
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Online via Zoom, May 15th, 10am-11am PST |
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The 2021 Eco-Friendly Garden Tour will take place on Saturday, May 15. This tour will be entirely online and feature over 15 eco-friendly gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties. The tour will showcase professionally filmed videos of gardens including an elementary school that has been transformed into a children's native landscape and a garden sponsored by Sonoma County Gardener's Garden Sense program that is a must see for Petaluma! |
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Due to COVID-19, the 2021 tour will be entirely online. In order to present the wonderful gardens on this year's tour, a professional videographer has filmed the participating gardens, giving viewers a high definition experience as if they were in the gardens, exploring in-person.
The Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is a public outreach and education program that promotes sustainable landscaping practices by showcasing inspiring gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties. The online Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is self-guided and is provided free of charge. For more information, click here.
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The Weird and Wonderful World of Parasites with Gwen Heistand
Audubon Canyon Ranch, Science Seminar Series
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Online via Zoom, May 18th, 12pm-1pm PST |
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What if you had to make your living inside another organism? Better yet – if you had to move between two or three organisms, in different taxonomic groups with different immune systems, to complete your life cycle?
What if you were able to alter the behavior or genetics of other organisms to make them more likely to be eaten or to take care of your offspring or to change their personality?
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Parasites demonstrate the complexity of ecological interactions and just how much we don’t know and how much our view is determined by how we choose to label things. Gwen will be introducing the fascinating world of parasites in the context of intimate inter-specific relationships. |
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Climate Change Panel Discussion
Audubon Canyon Ranch, Science Seminar Series
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Online via Zoom, June 15, 12pm-1pm PST |
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Panelists include: Fire Forward director Sasha Berleman, resident Audubon Canyon Ranch biologists and preserve managers Michelle Cooper and Gwen Heistand, resource ecologists Henry Inman and Jennifer Potts, and director of conservation science Nils Warnock. |
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Soil Sampling for Meaningful Results & Properly Testing for Soil Microbial Dynamics
Parts 3 and 4 of CFDN's Nitty Gritty on California Soils series
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Online via Zoom, May 19 & June 16, 11am - 12:30pm PST |
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The California Farm Demonstration Network is hosting a four-part series on California soils. This series will feature four speakers, each with extensive knowledge of California soils through the lens of farming and agriculture. Speakers will be covering various topics, including composting, orchard recycling, soil sampling, testing for microbial dynamics, and more.
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Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program
CalRecycle
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Do you have an illegal or unauthorized dump site on your ranch or farm? If so, this resource is for you! |
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What is the Farm and Ranch Grant Program?
The Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program provides funding from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) for the cleanup of illegal solid waste sites on farm or ranch property. Grants are limited to $50,000 per cleanup or abatement project, with a limit of $200,000 per year for each eligible applicant.
Who Is Eligible to Apply for the Grant?
Only cities, counties, resource conservation districts, and federally recognized Native American tribes may apply. Property owners who desire grant funding to clean up their property must work with one of the entities listed above. See the “Need More Information?” section for contact information.
What Cleanup Activities May This Grant Money be Used For? Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:
- Waste removal and disposal
- Recycling
- Personnel to administer the grant
- Drainage control and gradingimprovement
- Slope and foundation stabilization
- Equipment rental
- Excavation
- Revegetation
- Site security
- Public education
- Removal of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
If interested in applying, you can call the Gold Ridge RCD at (707) 823-5244, or email William Hart at William@goldridgercd.org.
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New Guides for Engaging Latinx Youth
UCANR
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“We know that, in general, youth-serving practitioners do not read journal articles so we used the information to write easy-to-read briefs,” said Moncloa, UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor in Santa Clara County.
The brief ANR publications are authored by Moncloa and Claudia Diaz Carrasco, UCCE 4-H youth development advisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The brief ANR publications are authored by Moncloa and Claudia Diaz Carrasco, UCCE 4-H youth development advisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The five-part series are:
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CattleCal Podcast Launched for Cattle Ranchers
UC Cooperative Extension
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The new podcast CattleCal discusses cattle research. It is co-hosted by Pedro Carvalho, UC Cooperative Extension feedlot management specialist. |
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Cattle ranchers have a new source for cattle research news from UC Cooperative Extension. CattleCal podcast is produced by Pedro Carvalho, UC Cooperative Extension feedlot management specialist; Brooke Latack, UC Cooperative Extension livestock advisor; and Richard Zinn, UC Davis professor in the Department of Animal Science.
The podcast episodes range in length from 8 to 30 minutes. Ranchers can listen to the research updates on Spotify on demand on their computers or mobile devices.
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Nine Open Positions to Work with Small-Scale Farmers in California
UC Cooperative Extension
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It is a rare moment in time that UC Cooperative Extension has 9 (nine!) positions open to work with small-scale farmers in California. Two of the positions are tenure-track advisor positions which require a masters or PhD, and the other 7 require an Associate’s degree and have funding for one year, with possible extensions beyond that.
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Follow the Gold Ridge RCD on Social Media!
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date on our latest efforts and projects in our district. You can also track our hashtag, #GRRCD.
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