spring-summer 2003 newsletter redwood coast land conservancy

8/8/2019 Spring-Summer 2003 Newsletter Redwood Coast Land Conservancy

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RCLC Spring/Summer 2003 Newsletterpage 2

PRESIDENT: Laurie MuellerVICE PRESIDENT: Shirley EberlySECRETARY: Cecilia MoelterTREASURER: Bob RutemoellerDIRECTORS: Rosemarie Hocker, Ray Van de Water,Bill WiemeyerHISTORIAN: Ramona Crooks

BLUFF TRAIL COMMITTEE: Cecilia Moelter, FionaONeill and Bill Wiemeyer

ADVISORS: Sharon Burningham, Ivan de la Garza, RogerDingman, Kristen Drake, Vivian Green, DougHammerstrom, Jerry Immel, Mary Sue Ittner, Ray Jackman,

Jim Lotter, Fiona ONeill, Brian Regan, Mary Rhyne,Barbara Russell, Dorothy Scherer, Doug Simmonds,Kristine Thomure, Florence Van de Water, Jan Venolia and

Julie Verran

WEB DESIGN: Ivan de la Garza

NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Rosemarie Hocker

WEBSITE EDITORS: David and Charlotte Scholz

MAILING VOLUNTEERS: Dwight and Shirley Eberly,Rosemarie Hocker, Cecilia and John Moelter, LaurieMueller, Bob Rutemoeller, and Ray and Flo Van de Water

TRAIL MONITORS: Shirley and Dwight Eberly, KristenDrake, Mary Sue Ittner, Sue and Bob Lease, CeciliaMoelter, Bob Rutemoeller and Flo and Ray Van de Water

CONTRIBUTORS to this issue include David Scholz,Cecilia Moelter, Laurie Mueller, Rosemarie Hocker, BobRutemoeller

RCLC is a member of the National Land Trust Alliance,California Land Trust Council, Redwood Coast Chamberof Commerce.

The specific purposes of this corporation include, but arenot limited to:(a) The conservation of lands for recreational, educational,ecological, agricultural, scenic and open space opportuni-ties. Conservation of lands shall be accomplished by ac-quiring real property or partial interests therein, includingconservation easements as defined in California Civil CodeSection 815.2, and recording appropriate instruments nec-essary to protect in perpetuity the physical environmentof the area for wildlife, ecological and aesthetic purposesbeneficial to the public interest;(b) To promote, activate and develop public coastal ac-cesses to the ocean, rivers and other natural or scenic fea-tures, including developing trails, paths and walkways;(c) To study, project and develop plans for future needs inrespect to public recreational lands, accesses and facilities;(d) To determine open space and conservation needs inthe coastal areas of Mendocino and Sonoma counties andto arrange for necessary stewardship and conservation by

easements, agreements or other mechanisms;(e) To publicize local needs of the type mentioned aboveand to raise funds by public subscriptions, grants or othermeans as necessary to meet such objectives.

PLEASE CHECK YOURNEWSLETTER LABEL

REDWOOD COASTLAND CONSERVANCY

RCLC OBJECTIVES

If there is a 02 or 03 in front of your name, thatmeans you have sent RCLC a contribution or mem-bership donation for that year. If there is no numberto the left of your name, or if it shows a contributionfor 2002, please consider helping us this year. A con-tribution form is printed on the return envelope inthis issue. Thanks for your help.

After picking up a copy of a map fromRCLC Board Member Cecilia Moeltershowing the new southern extensionof the Gualala Bluff Trail (GBT II), I

walked behind the Surf Super to see just how this addition was going towork. At one point along my explora-tion I stopped and peered over thebluff edge, looking almost straightdown into the Gualala River estuarytwenty feet below. It was a clear andwindless day. The water in the estuarywas calm, transparent and fairly shal-low. Suddenly to my immediate rightthere was a disturbance in the water.It was three leopard-spotted seals. Theyappeared to be playing: diving, thenbreaking the surface, doing inter-twined barrel rolls and nipping at eachother. I seemed close enough to counttheir whiskers.

Because of my elevated location, theywere totally oblivious of me. It was justlike being in a silent, floating hot airballoon, positioned directly overhead;

a unique view, to say the least.

Just then, in a fraction of a second, twoof the seals took off in a straight linefor about thirty feet, culminating with

one of them doing a flip turn so fastalong the bottom that it stirred up acloud of sediment. They returned tomy right. One of them surfaced. Therewas a bright silver fish in its mouthThe fish seemed to be 12 to 18 incheslong, perhaps a juvenile Steelhead. Theseals companions made a few attemptsto dislodge the catch but soon gave upand all participants quietly disappeared

from view.It all took no more than three min-utes.

Now, where else along the entire coastof California could one see so clearlyand completely such a wildlife experi-ence? Where else but along the GualalaBluff II Trail, coming to you courtesyof the hard work of the RedwoodCoast Land Conservancy!

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ON GBT II by Dave Scholz

Directly below the trail lies the GualalaRiver estuary and summertime lagoon,where the river meets the sea. Here isone of the best places along the coastto observe nature in action.Somethingis always going on among the wild life,all doing their thing in this naturaland bountiful haven.Largeflocks of sea gulls and peli-cans gather to feed, rest andplay. Harbor seals, otter andosprey frequent these waters,which contain a great vari-ety of fish and other under-

water eatables.Its a perfect place forbirdwatchers: birds wheel-ing and diving for prey is

an exciting scene.During the winterseason of the fast-flowing river, thegulls amuse themselves for hoursriding the current downstream, thenflying back at the last minute in theocean surf to rejoin the ride, an excit-ing scene.

A WALK ALONG THE GUALALA BLUFF TRAIL:CLOSE-UP AND PERSONAL by Ray Van de Water

Photo from the RCLC archives


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RCLC Spring/Summer 2003 Newsletter page 3

RCLC PROFILE - Laurie Mueller

Laurie, who has a professional back- ground in non-profit management forenvironmental organizations, currentlyserves as RCLCs president.

Laurie and her family have been visit-ing the redwood coast for more than20 years. She and her husband Leighmoved here fulltime two years ago.The breathtaking beauty of the coast-line, the brisk ocean air, the abundantwildlife and the dramatic changes ofthe seasons were a wonderful refugefrom our busy lives in the Bay Area,she says.

Now that we have moved here

fulltime, living surrounded by red-woods and ocean vistas has given usthe sense of place and calm center thateluded us down in the Bay Area. Anunexpected bonus has been the plea-sure of living somewhere where youknow your neighbors and can build areal sense of community.

When Laurie was a child, her familyspent many summers camping in Big

Basin Redwoods State Park, Big Surand Richardson Grove. I rememberwalking among the giant redwoodsand feeling a sense of awe at their tow-ering beauty. When I later learnedabout the ecology of the redwood for-est and how little of the old growthremained, I was thankful that peoplehad the foresight to set aside some ofthe forest for future generations.

Laurie graduated from UC Berkeley

and received a masters degree in broad-

cast journalism with a specialty in en-vironmental studies. As a reporter forthe public radio station in Washington,DC., she covered the first Earth Dayand other environmental stories.

When I returned to the Bay Area, Ifelt I had come full circle by working aspublic relations director for theSempervirens Fund, a land trust work-ing to preserve redwoods in the SantaCruz Mountains. My proudest achieve-ments there were leading the land cam-paigns for Sempervirens Point and theRancho Ano Nuevo addition to BigBasin Redwoods State Park.

She then pursued her interest in pub-lic broadcasting by working for sev-eral years as development and market-ing director for KTEH, San Joses PBSstation. I believe that PBS and NPRare among the strongest voices we havefor preserving our natural heritage,she says.

Most recently she served as the Execu-tive Director of the Peninsula Conser-

vation Center Foundation, which runsa large environmental center with alibrary, offices and meeting roomswhere environmental groups and otherresidents meet and work to preserveand protect the local environment.The PCCF emphasized collaborationrather than confrontation to bringpeople with varying points of view to-gether to develop sound environmen-tal solutions notes Laurie.

When asked why she supports the

by Rosemarie Hocker

RCLC, she says RCLC offers an ex-cellent way for our community to pre-serve the natural scenic and wild placesthat are special to us. As a small, vol-unteer-run land trust that focuses ex-clusively on our local coastal lands, the

RCLC provides the essential link be-tween funding agencies and landowners interested in protecting all or partof their land from the pressures of de-velopment.

Landowners who care about makingsure that the natural features they lovewill be protected can set up a conser-vation easement which the RCLC wiloversee for them. The property ownerbenefits by setting aside what he or she

values - often with the added benefitof a tax deduction. The communitybenefits because that property is notlost to development or logging. Its aclassic win/win situation.

I would encourage everyone who val-ues our coastal land and ocean vistasto become a member of the RCLC andtake part in preserving our coast forfuture generations.

Laurie Mueller. Photo by Wendy Platt

2002 FINANCIAL REPORTby Bob Rutemoeller, TreasurerIncome:

Donations $12,474Grants 670Other 297

Total Income $13,441Total Expenses $4,854Stewardship reserve $8,587

RCLC RAFFLE WRAP UP By Bob RutemoellerOn January 12, 2003, we held our Annual Raffle drawing at the Sundstrom Mallin Gualala. Local businesses, artists and many other supporters donated an im-pressive array of gifts to help RCLC accomplish its mission. A full list of donorsand prizes can be found on our website www.rc-lc.org, a beautiful gift in its ownright. (Please see related article.) Thanks to our many donors who gave prizes andto all who donated funds for raffle tickets. Please send us an email ([email protected])or a note if you would like to donate a prize for our next event.


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REDWOODCOAST

LANDCONSERVANCY

P.O.Box1511,Gualala,CA95445-1511707)785-3327email:[email protected] website:www.rc-lc.org

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WEBSITE NOTES by Dave ScholzDaves heading up efforts to update and improve the RCLC website.

Thanks to the technical and artistic skill ofIvan de la Garza, RCLC has adramatically enhanced Internet presence. Take a look! In addition to Ivansdonated contribution of time and talent, recognition and special thanks arealso extended to: Bill Perryfor his beautiful photos and Ken and Wendy Baileyat Sea Dreams for their services in digitalizing Bills work; Wendy Platt for

converting our newsletters into an electronic format suitable for the websitesarchive section; Charlotte Scholz for editorial and scanning assistance.

Thanks, too, to Darrell Paige andJoan Hallberg who gave us our initial intro-duction to the value of having an Internet website.

RCLCs enhanced website (www.rc-lc.org) serves a number of purposes, amongwhich are quick, efficient communication and education.

One example of timely communication was the posting earlier this year of thewinning participants in our annual fund raising raffle. We hope to furtherutilize our website as a dynamic, as well as static, resource.

Education (and communication) regarding all aspects of natural resource con-

servation will be further served by new web pages, now in final development,depicting a number of RCLCs conservation projects. Location, descriptionand photos will introduce web visitors to these ongoing RCLC preservationefforts.

As with anything new, we are still learning how best to use this wonderfulmedium. Comments and suggestions from our members are welcomed andsolicited. Check it out and let us hear from you.

In Memory & HonorFor showing your love and appre-ciation with a gift in memory or inhonor, RCLC thanks you. RCLCreceived donations in memory of:

Iola Cabassi from Jay Faulkner

Frank Ittner from Jan Sprague.Judith Stronach from Margot andPerry Biestman

Warren Tann from Philip and AnnGraf

RCLC received a donation In ap-preciation of sharing your botani-cal expertise. honoring MaryRhyne from Rex and CharlotteBurnett.

ART IN THE REDWOODSRCLC is pleased to encourage artiststo submit works for the RCLC Envi-ronmental Award competition. Pleasecontact the Gualala Arts Center, 884-1138, for information about the an-nual AIR August show, award catego-ries and requirements.

GualalaRiveropenstothePacific.PhotobyRosemarieHocker

spring-summer 2003 newsletter redwood coast land conservancy

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