Photo: Dutch Bill Creek at the Winter Habitat Enhancement Project site in July, 2020.
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In this month's edition:
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Featured RCD Projects/News: Thanksgiving Monarch Count Updates & Adapting to Virtual Education
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Staff Highlight: John Green, Lead Scientist / Project Manager
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2020 Working Lands Calendar: Monan's Rill
- December Workshops & Activities
- Partner News
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2020 Western Monarch Update
Monarch Count Reaches New Record Low
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"Early count numbers from the Xerces Western Monarch
Thanksgiving Count suggest the western migratory population
With a projected count of less than 2,000 monarchs this year (A significant decline from the record low numbers of the last 2 years, ~30K, and far below the millions of monarchs that clustered in coastal CA in the 1980s), the RCD and its partners are navigating how to best support this iconic species in West Sonoma County. In our June E-News we shared the RCD's plans for the Sonoma Coast Monarch Overwintering Site Protection and Enhancement Project, but after several days of field visits to historic overwintering sites along the North Coast back in November, things are looking dismal. A handful of reported sightings near Stillwater Cove and throughout inland Sonoma County give us some hope, but we are preparing for what experts say is a new "record low" for western monarch populations in California.
On December 15th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that the monarch butterfly is warranted for listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act, but precluded because of other higher priority species. According to Sarina Jepsen, Director of Endangered Species at the Xerces Society, "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees that monarchs are threatened with extinction. However, this decision does not yet provide the protection that monarchs, and especially the western population, so desperately need to recover.” You can read more about the USFWS listing decision process here.
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While out in the field, RCD staff took this short video of a western monarch nectaring on flowers at Open Field Farm, Petaluma. This butterfly was likely recharging on its journey to find refuge at an overwintering site along the North Coast.
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In January and February, we can expect more robust information and analysis on the finalized count numbers and additional information on the USFWS decision, but for now, we need to stay positive and do what we can to support our local butterflies and pollinators. Meanwhile, check out the resources below to explore ways you can create monarch and pollinator refuges in your community:
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New TEAM Youth Program - Coming Soon!
TEAM Program goes virtual for 2021
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The Gold Ridge and Sonoma RCDs are elated to launch our NEW virtual TEAM (Teaching Agricultural and Environmental Memories) Educational Program that supports an array of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2021. We have spent the last several months adapting our traditional three-part farm field trip experience at Open Field Farm in Petaluma to an online platform. This virtual offering is an interactive, fun and engaging farm experience available right at home. Students will explore the land and its many interconnected systems, meet the many faces of the farm workers and animals, harvest fresh food from the CSA barn, hear about community supported agriculture, and study the importance of pollinators to ag production - the smallest farmers of all!
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This three-part asynchronous series is set up to support teachers in virtual 3rd - 5th grade classrooms. To receive the latest news about our virtual programs or to receive the "TEAM at Open Field Farm" virtual curriculum package upon program launch, please email Christine Kuehn, Education and Communications Manager for Sonoma RCD. This program is supported, in part, by Sonoma County Ag + Open Space District, and features integral messaging that speaks to the role of the district in protecting our county’s land resources forever and whose work is funded by the taxpayers of Sonoma County.
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Staff Highlight: Meet John!
John Green, Lead Scientist / Project Manager
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Hi I'm John!
I started working at the Gold Ridge RCD in 2009 after working for Pacific Watershed Associates as head of their bay area office for the previous seven years. I was born in New York City, but grew up all over the place, including the east coast and midwest. As a kid, I was always messing around in the nearest creek, and I ended up studying geography and fluvial geomorphology in college and grad school. I’ve been an environmentalist all my life, and have been involved in a lot of work to protect threatened and endangered species and landscapes. I think solutions to our pressing environmental and natural resource challenges will have to be collaborative, and that global issues generally have to be solved on the local level. RCDs are in an ideal position to develop the relationships and projects to address some of these problems.
One of the things I like about working for the RCD is the freedom I have to define my own job. I work to develop, design and implement resource conservation projects in a number of areas, with particular focus on projects relating to water conservation and storage, erosion and roads, and instream habitat. All of these projects are carried out in partnership with landowners and our project partners and funders. I’m currently working on a number of projects, but the most notable ones are the implementation of the Alliance Redwoods Water Conservation Project in the coming year, and the mitigation project for the Caltrans reroute of Highway 1 at Gleason Beach. I’m also working on trail design for both State Parks (Willow and Freezeout Creeks) and Sonoma County Regional Parks (at North Sonoma Mountain). These are some of my favorite projects because there’s a lot of fieldwork that involves hiking in beautiful places.
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In my free time, I enjoy reading, spending time with my wife Chris, and recreating outdoors. My favorite recreation activities are sea kayaking, biking, hiking, backpacking and snowboarding. Channel Islands National Park is one of my favorite places to go, because there’s so much to do there, including kayaking (sea caves!), snorkeling and hiking. Recently, I haven’t had as much time to spend in the outdoors because Chris and I have been putting a lot of effort into the property that we own in Sebastopol. We rebuilt part of our barn this past summer (it was on the way to falling down) and now we’re building a new garden shed/greenhouse. We also built our own rainwater catchment system a few years ago (15,000 gallons, soon to be 20,000!), so now all the water for our garden and fruit trees comes from the sky.
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In case you missed it... View our annual RCD newsletter online!
Read about RCD projects and accomplishments from 2020
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You can also request a print copy in the mail!
Email Adriana@goldridgercd.org with your name and mailing address, and make sure to put "Stewards of the Land Newsletter" in the subject line.
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The Valley Ford Schoolhouse gets its first Hipcamp review! (And, a feature in the Press Democrat!)
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"This was a great experience! We brought two 12-year-olds who had a great time thinking up all kinds of games to play in the giant main room and the back yard. We live only 20 minutes away and visit the nearby beaches and towns often, but staying here still created such a unique experience for us. The schoolhouse itself has such a coastal, wind swept, fog soaked type of wear and tear to it, it's perfect.
The furnace is huge and looks brand new, you can keep the place really cozy and comfortable all night no problem. All the great food in Valley Ford is about a 2-minute walk around the corner and the drive to the beach is beautiful from here. I could not recommend this place more highly for a really unique experience, especially with kids."
~ Jed (Dec, 2020)
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Need a fun weekend getaway spot?
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Reserve this charming rural schoolhouse for a unique and memorable camping adventure!
View our Hipcamp listing below to schedule your stay:
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(Above) Photos taken at the Valley Ford Schoolhouse by the Press Democrat in November, 2020.
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2020 Working Lands Calendar
December Highlight: Monan's Rill
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Post-Fire Recovery Workshop
Virtual Webinar (Recording) - Sonoma County Forest Working Group
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Recorded Webinar - View Anytime
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Join friends of the Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group in a virtual workshop designed to provide forest landowners and other rural landowners with the training and resources they need to heal their land post-fire. Learn tips for evaluating common post-fire concerns on your land and hear about local resources for funding and technical assistance.
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Fascinated by Fungi: Falling into Winter
Virtual Webinar (Recording) - Dr. Gordon Walker & Napa RCD
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Recorded Webinar - View Anytime
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Join Napa RCD and Dr. Gordon Walker, @FascinatedByFungi, for a talk about local mushrooms!
- Chanterelles
- Hedge Hogs
- Oyster Mushrooms
- Candy Caps
- Lobster Mushrooms
- Amanita muscaria
- & More!
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Monarch Conservation Webinar Series
Free Virtual Webinars from Monarch Joint Venture
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Recorded Webinars - View Anytime
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Explore Monarch Joint Venture's (MJV) archive of monarch conservation webinars - choose a recording from a category like Agriculture, Creating Habitat, or Citizen Science to get started. There are many informative webinars from the last few months that will quickly get you back up to speed on all things monarchs.
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4th Annual "Soil Health Symposium" goes virtual in 2021
Soil Hub - Save the Date!
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Small Grants in Sustainable Ag & Food Systems
APPLY NOW through February of 2021
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One-year grants of up to $7,000 are available to fund pilot projects and research projects that support California’s farmers and ranchers and/or rural and urban communities to plan, implement, or evaluate sustainable agriculture or food systems strategies.
Priority will be given to projects that benefit socially disadvantaged communities and/or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Eligible applicants include California-based farm or food system businesses and those affiliated with California non-profit, tax-exempt organizations, state and local government agencies, and California public and private institutions of higher education.
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GSA's Rural Well-Owner Survey
Are you a rural well-owner?
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Approximately 9,500 rural well owners in Sonoma County have received a survey designed to elicit their concerns and ideas about local groundwater conditions.
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This joint project of the county’s three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) is the first step in an engagement project designed to educate and receive feedback from well owners in the Petaluma Valley, Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma Valley groundwater basins.
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SSU Students Are Seeking Remote Work for Spring of 2021
Apply now for a remote intern or volunteer!
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Need help? Students can do many different projects remotely (web writing, blogging, translating, video making, brochure making, etc.) and are actively searching for opportunities for the spring semester.
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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 (like helping the monarchs!) in our district. You can also track our hashtag, #GRRCD.
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