News

Among the projects are an estuary restoration plan being funded by a $404,000 California Department of Fish and Wildlife grant.

A group of 12 young adults and their supervisor recently made a trip from the Corps’ Ukiah center to Gualala for a week of spike-living at the Mill Bend Preserve, where the hard work and low pay were in abundance.

Cool, damp weather did not keep over 40 attendees from enjoying Redwood Coast Land Conservancy's Wreath Making event held at Mill Bend Preserve on Saturday, Dec. 2.

RCLC is experiencing a growth spurt, despite its 30-year-old age. With Mill Bend Preserve secured in 2021, and the State Coastal Conservancy-funded Conservation Plan delivered in the fall of 2022, RCLC is now actively restoring native habitats and designing an expanded trails network, including natural and cultural history interpretation.

Once buried under heavy brush and fallen tree limbs, Gualala cemetery Mill Bend is being restored by volunteers from Redwood Coast Land Conservancy who are, in the process, unveiling the history of early settlers in Gualala.

The January storms that left many without power for days scoured all the sand from Cooks Beach, leaving only rocks. That was the startling news from Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC)...

At its Raising the Curtain event on September 17, the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) unveiled its comprehensive Mill Bend Preserve Conservation Plan designed to protect and restore the Mill Bend Preserve located just south of Gualala along the Gualala River.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy is excited to announce the unveiling of the Conservation Plan for Mill Bend Preserve, prepared by the environmental science and design consultant Prunuske Chatham, Inc, with funding provided by the Calif. State Coastal Conservancy.

Following an extensive executive director search, Redwood Coast Land Conservancy announced that Jim Elias would step into the role on September 6. Mr. Elias has devoted his professional life to leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to natural resource conservation and community development objectives.

The Coastal Commission recently awarded a Whale Tail Grant to the CA Urban Streams Alliance – The Stream Team. The grant is to initiate a stewardship engagement and watershed monitoring effort for the impaired, lower reach of the Gualala River and estuary, a habitat for endangered species such as young Coho salmon and steelhead.

Redwood Coast Land Conservancy had an open house on Sunday April 24 as part of Earth Day Weekend...We led guided walking tours...

The recent storm is not the only thing causing damage to local beaches. According to Joel Chaban, secretary of Redwood Coast Land Conservancy, it appears a pickup truck drove up and down the bluff top steps used as an entrance to Cooks Beach in the last few days, causing damage to the steps.

To improve security at the Mill Bend boat launch site, the gate to the access site will now be closed to vehicle traffic sunset to sunrise, according to Redwood Coast Land Conservancy which owns the property.

Drought Changes in the Gualala River Estuary’s Summer Lagoon: Native Aquatic Vegetation versus Algal Blooms. Read this virtual field trip with questions and answers by Peter Baye, Ph.D, Coastal Ecologist and Botanist of Friends of Gualala River.

A mountain lion was sighted on Mill Bend the week of July 25, 2021. Hikers and visitors are advised to be alert when visiting areas where a big cat has been spotted. Do not run if you see one. Keep young children and pets close. These large predators are a normal...

There is good news for the future of conservation along the Mendocino Coast. Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, the Mendocino Land Trust and the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy will be teaming up to maximize use of their staffing to achieve conservation goals.

President Tina Batt said many of the volunteers show up day after day and week after week to clear trails, remove invasive pampas grass, and maintain all the group’s coastal access projects, including the Gualala Bluff Trail, Cook’s Beach access trail, and Hearn Gulch.

Standing above the Gualala River, his gaze toward the opposite bank and a sharp hairpin turn in the river known as Mill Bend, Dave Shpak recounted more than a century of environmental abuses there as somberly if they were still taking place. In a way, they are.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) announced the close of escrow on the Mill Bend properties on Friday, January 29, completing the purchase of the 113-acre site at the mouth of the Gualala River.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy announced this week it has hired Dave Shpak of Gualala to be its first paid staffer to manage the next phases of its Mill Bend project.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy will soon install a gate to protect the Gualala River from damage by motor vehicles...

Redwood Coast Land Conservancy announced this week that it has raised the $2.7 million needed to preserve the magnificent Mill Bend site at the mouth of the Gualala River as a permanent, community-owned park.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) has announced that it is less than $15,000 away from reaching its challenging goal of raising $2.7 million to secure the magnificent Mill Bend site at the mouth of the Gualala River as a permanent, community-owned park.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) has launched the final phase of its $2.7 million campaign to preserve Mill Bend and is seeking the last $205,000 needed to preserve and protect Mill Bend in perpetuity as a community-owned park.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy announced Tuesday it has won two new grants totaling $1.3 million for the Gualala River Mill Bend Conservation Project to create a park reserve for the community at the Gualala River estuary.

The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) announced this week an award of $845,000 toward the purchase of the 113- acre Mill Bend property at the mouth of the Gualala River.

With this revised order, RCLC has decided to reopen Hearn Gulch and Cooks Beach to make them available for recreation and the enjoyment of nature during this challenging time.

"The Gualala Community Center was overflowing with interested local residents when the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy held a public meeting ...

"A 112-acre swath of land just inside the mouth of the Gualala River, including 13 acres of river frontage adjacent to Gualala Point Regional Park, is on its way to permanent preservation for public recreation and habitat conservation."

This is the first time the Mill Bend property has been on the market in more than 60 years.

About 70 people crowded into the Gualala Community Center Wednesday evening to consider the future of the last holdings of Gualala Redwoods Inc., including the Mill Bend parcel, the dramatic river view at the south gateway to Mendocino County.

The Gualala Municipal Advisory Council will sponsor a community forum on the Mill Bend property on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 6 to 8 p.m., at the Gualala Community Center. The forum is the brainchild of John Walton...

On your next trip to Cooks Beach, you'll likely notice a much improved entry. The access to the overlook and trail, with limited parking on the County Right-of-Way on CR526, received some much needed treatment in July.

We had a successful volunteer work party day at Hearn Gulch in June with volunteers who helped to remove three truck-loads of invasive weeds, mostly thistle.

As of June, both California State Parks and Mendocino County have prohibited wood fires and open flames on beaches. The public access management agreement for Cooks Beach does not provide for fire rings or permanent grills to accommodate beach fires.

We want to avoid conflicts and mishaps along the trail, since it is impossible to see the beach from the upper trail. The first concern is dogs racing excitedly down or up the trail and the possibility that a trail user will get sideswiped.

Each year, RCLC presents an Environmental Award for a work entered in the Art In the Redwoods Festival that captures the beauty and spirit of our local natural environment.

This year RCLC has assisted the California Marine Protected Area Collaborative Implementation Project by participating in the Mendocino MPA Collaborative. RCLC stewards Hearn Gulch, which is adjacent to Saunders Reef MPA.

With support from the California Coastal Commission, Mendocino Land Trust, and several other organizations, RCLC organized volunteers to clean up three beaches in Southern Mendocino County as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day; Manchester State Beach, Schooner Gulch and Cooks Beach/Bonham Trail on September 19, 2015.

Each year, RCLC presents an Environmental Award for a work entered in the Art In the Redwoods Festival that captures the beauty and spirit of our local natural environment. This summer the award was presented to Bruce Jones for his watercolor entitled "Dawn At The Beach."

RCLC's first art show, celebratingon Friday, January 9th. The reception was very well attended with over 100 guests enjoying great art in many media, great food and great company.

When I moved to the Coast, John and Cecilia Moelter were involved in so many volunteer activities that I wondered if they ever slept. Cecelia had been a Board Director for years with RCLC and John could be found at every work party...

Botanical and archaeology survey work has been completed for "Will's Rest" a coastal parcel donated by Rita Milhollin, in memory of her son, William Craig Whiteley. This parcel lies north of Anchor Bay and sits on the bluff top with no beach access.

National Monument status doesn't happen overnight. Land has to be identified and placed in conservation with the help of willing landowners; then someone has to request review for national monument status; then the Bureau of Land Management has to agree...

Charles D. Murphy III, 70, died peacefully in his home at The Sea Ranch, CA. on February 28, 2014, after a long courageous battle with leukemia. While we mourn Charlie's passing, we also celebrate his life -- the life of a bright, energetic and visionary RCLC Director.

Each year, RCLC presents an Environmental Award for a work entered in the Art In the Redwoods (AIR) Festival that captures the beauty and spirit of our local natural environment.

The spectacular bluffs around Point Arena, where one can gaze upon sea lions frolicking and whales spouting in the frothing sea, will be preserved forever as open space, a national land conservation group said this week.

In the second year of our project, Redwood Coast Land Conservancy [RCLC], the local land trust conserving the coast between the Navarro and Russian Rivers, is continuing outreach to landowners to identify and help preserve habitat for a local federally-listed endangered species, the Behren's Silverspot Butterfly.

At its May 12 meeting, the California Coastal Commission approved the application by Bower Limited Partnership (BLP) to construct a 105-footlong Geoweb retaining wall along the bluff behind the Surf Supermarket.

After weeks of intermittent rain and gusting winds, April 16, the designated Bonham Trail to Cooks Beach Dedication Day, dawned clear and promising.

In a major project started earlier this year, RCLC is working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to help identify and preserve habitat for the Behren's Silverspot Butterfly, an endangered species unique to our local area.

This spring, RCLC celebrated the completion of two public access projects with grand opening ceremonies attended by funders, government officials, RCLC members and volunteers.

A scenic expanse of coastal terrace north of Anchor Bay has been donated to Redwood Coast Land Conservancy as a memorial to William Craig Whiteley, whose family and friends shared many vacations together in this strikingly beautiful spot.

On May 31, RCLC members, friends and volunteers of the Gualala Bluff Trail gathered to recognize the accomplishmentsof the trail's longtime project manager, Mary Sue Ittner. Mary Sue has been involved from the very beginning in the planning, building, maintenance and stewardship of this Gualala landmark.

The Bonham Trail to Cooks Beach Project is a perfect example of the many partnerships necessary to identify, plan, develop and maintain a valuable piece of property in our local community.

The RCLC Board is pleased to report that the lawsuit between Bower Limited Partnership, RCLC, and the California Coastal Commission was finally settled earlier this spring, allowing the building of the Gualala Bluff Trail to proceed after a two-year delay.

For the past fifteen years, the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy has been working to preserve our natural environment and to provide public access to local bluffs and beaches.

No one epitomized the goals, aspirations, and dedication to preserving the natural world more than Ray Van de Water. A native Californian, born in Monrovia, California, he traded Berkeley academia after one year for the training that called to him - the Merchant Marine Academy.

Last year RCLC sponsored two Gualala Arts Center awards to artists whose works best captured the beauty of our natural coastal environment.

Mark Chapell, shown in the photo with board members Lois Lutz and Shirley Eberly, is the new owner of one of the two lots on RCLC's Hathaway Creek Conservation Easement in Point Arena.

The long process of designing a formal public access to the Hearn Gulch Headlands and Beach while, at the same time, protecting the property's abundant environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHAs), is nearing a successful conclusion.

"Last winter, fierce storms ripped away parts of the stairs to Walk On Beach at The Sea Ranch. But the second of those storms also left hundreds of small stones, unlike any I have seen before or since, colored in shades of mauve, peach, purple and ivory, often swirled together in the same rock."

Hearn Gulch belongs to you, the public, for your ocean access pleasure.

Gualala artist Ron Bolander won RCLC's Environmental Award at the 2002 Art in the Redwoods Show.

You may wander or watch whales, whitecaps and whimbrels...when you walk alone or with friends along the Bluff Trail today. Tomorrow think about an Autumn 2003 extension from the Surf Motel south to Oceansong Restaurant.

Directly below the trail lies the Gualala River estuary and summertime lagoon, where the river meets the sea. Here is one of the best places along the coast to observe nature in action.

As of Friday, December 14, 2001, RCLC, on behalf of the public, is the new owner of the Hearn Gulch Beach and Headlands. Congratulations!