Page 47 - Sonoma County Gazette Janaury 2019

Happy New Year from the dramatic and blustery Coast!
The mouth of the Russian River has closed and breached several times
over the past month. The monster waves hitting our coast are pushing over
the River-meets-the-ocean sand bar and flooding the low-lying areas of the Estuary. Ann DuBay, spokesperson for the Sonoma County Water Agency, who monitors the River mouth continuously (via a camera mounted on the hill via @scwa.ca.gov and email) keeps the public informed of any flooding-related emergencies and also if the SCWA plans any ‘mechanical breaching’ of the river mouth, affecting the resident pinnipeds, beach-goers and kayakers safety.
Ok. Let’s get past the New Year’s greetings although I do wish you all the best, move on from our past year (it’s been good), and let’s do the traditional thing and set new goals. Not the normal lose weight goal or “get out with friends more” goal, but a goal for our communities. Volunteering. I
The creeks are flowing and the seas are pounding, Big Time!
Very Exciting News for fans of the Coho Salmon who once called our River Estuary-perched streams home. We have the first confirmed sighting of an Adult Coho Salmon in Sheephouse Creek! Sheephouse, one of the first streams inland from the river mouth, benefits from the higher water levels of the estuary, as it floods the small confluence of creek and river, allowing (and encouraging) the fish, struggling to call it home, to at least access their home-stream.
t’s one of the most important things we can do to keep a balance of place and keep connected. So many opportunities are out there. The schools, the emergency teams (there are many), animal care, senior care, and help to those in need in their daily lives. Get involved. And to add to that let’s all give a big thank you hug to those who do serve our community. These are giving caring and selfless people who have committed time (and often their own money) to us. These are people like you! Volunteer! It feels good.
Nicolas Bauer (Fisheries Scientist—Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program; Sea Grant Extension Program, University of California 600 American Way Ste 1, Windsor • Phone: (707) 687-0996 email: nhbauer@ ucsd.edu website: ca-sgep.ucsd.edu/russianrivercoho
youtube: youtube.com/user/nhbauerucsd) and his crew while performing their Adult Fish Survey in Sheephouse Creek on December 12, 2018 were very pleased to see an adult Female Coho Salmon (see mail.google.com/mail/ u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxvzMBqKMfrrBGBWBCQNHGpLgnvX?projector=1 )
First day hikes to started the year off on the right foot (or left) are wonderful. Salt Point is a gift to behold. Gualala Point Park is also a gem with plenty trails and amazing views to enjoy with friends and family. if you need to clear your mind of stress, take a hike! Later in the month they have Junior Ranger programs that look good. parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/Play/Calendar/Natural- Exploration-Whale-Watching-2019-01-12/
As per Bauer “We have seen a couple of Redds and a couple of carcasses before, but never a definite live Coho. Hopefully, she can hang around long enough, ‘til Sunday when we expect rains; maybe a male will join her.”
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac in Native American and early Colonial times the Full Moon for January was called the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages.Traditionally, the January Moon is also known as the Old Moon. To some Native American tribes, this was the Snow Moon. pointarenalighthouse.com/visit/calendar-2/ night-tour/.
These winter estuary-flooding events are a blessing from the Sheephouse Coho’s point of view, as the slab of concrete in the streambed from the failed CalTrans culvert’s wing-wall was underwater and no longer an obstruction to migration.
Plenty of coastal happenings to get you out and about with those you love. As I start the New Year I want to ask you for comments, events, if you know someone or a place that should be highlighted, or want me to share something specific in your life please contact me.
CalTrans had planned on repairing and replacing this culvert located at the critical confluence of Sheephouse and the River, late in the Summer, but right about when they were staged and prepared, the river mouth closed for the first time, putting the slab underwater and the project on hold. Reports are that CalTrans has stabilized the creek and riverbanks to hold the area together over the Winter until they can reschedule the culvert wing-wall replacement next year.
Many blessings to you all!
The Point Arena Stornetta Coastal Monument lands is a vast area of mostly untouched lands to explore. blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/ california/california-coastal. The Point Arena Lighthouse will host their monthly full moon (almost) Full Wolf Moon Night Tour Saturday, January 19, 2019 Gates open 5:30 p.m., Tour starts around 6 p.m.
The appearance of this adult Coho Salmon shows us that we have so much reason for rejoicing at this special time of the year. At a time when we really need a ray of hope, during these seemingly dark days for the environment, the female Coho’s appearance could not be more timely.
Our Lady Coho and her offspring still have a hard time finding suitable habitat farther upstream as the logging has increased in recent months on the private lands between the Federally-protected Estuary and the now-protected Headwaters of Sheephouse Creek in the Jenner Headlands Preserve.
I have a huge respect for the property owners who own these parcels being logged. Some are generations-deep Sonoma County families who have called these near-coastal ranches home for many decades. I also have a huge respect for the scientists who have proven that leaving the older trees and thinning the brush and sucker-trees (as they have pledged to do in the Jenner Headlands Preserve) will recharge the streambed aquafers, while sequestering the carbon at a far greater rate than young trees, a far greater rate. And reducing fire dangers significantly compared to current logging practices.
We have to get real here, folks. Just as in the movement to reduce plastic use, refusing to take a single-use plastic straw seems insignificant
in ‘the big picture’, and harvesting one more mature Redwood from a small logging plot seems unlikely to make a huge difference in oxygen production and carbon sequestration, we have to start somewhere.
Perhaps we need to start a Go-Fund-Me account to buy these private lands and put them into the protection of the Jenner Headlands Preserve. Remember that the Jenner Headlands Preserve started in just such a manner. Concerned Citizens. Go COHO! Remember to respect our beautiful and powerful ocean; never turn your back on it.
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