By Linda MacElwee

Nine Americorps members, including two Vista interns, volunteered to help widen and clear the trail down to the Riparian Zone of the Robinson Creek Restoration Project on an extremely hot Tuesday afternoon in the midst of a late September heat wave. The members/civil servants came from all over the United States. They are beginning an 8 month long service stay in Northern California, working in the health care sector. They were here in the Anderson Valley for an orientation and team building stay at Wellspring Renewal Center. Americorps Regional Coordinator, Rachel Kradin, inquired through the AV Junior High looking for a special service project they could work on. Teacher Nat Corey-Moran put them in touch with the River Center, and we put them to work clearing and widening the nature trail on the Robinson Creek Restoration Project .

They only had a few hour timeslot in the middle of the afternoon, when temperatures would be at their highest. It did not take us long, 1 1/2 hours to clear the whole lower trail along the Creek. We first walked the site. MCRCD’s Outreach and Education Coordinator, Linda MacElwee, explained what the site had been like before and what needed to be done. We bushwhacked our way around the loop and then picked up the rest of our tools and went to work. We split up into groups. A few of the young women went upstream and picked up 6 trash bags full of trash. It is the perfect time of year to pick up trash as the streambed is dry and the rains have not come to wash all the garbage downstream. Just a note: something for the leadership classes and NWWG to consider as a project at the beginning of each school year perhaps.

The rest of us worked on clearing the existing trail to roughly 3 feet wide. Now a person can walk through with relative ease and safety. Given the prevalence of Lyme’s Disease in the area, being able to walk the trail relatively clear of brush is becoming of much greater importance and concern.

After we had completed in achieving our basic goals, there was still time for an interpretive walk of the restoration site with a walk in the dry creek bed up to the bridge.

I think everyone had a great time out there, even in the heat. It was very satisfying to see the progress that was made in a short time. It goes to show that many hands make light work!

Here are some pictures from the event:

Watershed Poetry Mendocino 2009 is presenting a series of watershed-oriented events mixing poetry readings and ecological presentations on October 3rd, 9th and 10th in Ukiah. Go to their website linked above or contact Larry Sheehy at 485-7072 or ecotopialarry@pacific.net for more information on these events.

Mendocino County RCD and Nelson Family Vineyards are pleased to host the North Coast California Resource Conservation Districts meeting Thursday, October 8th. Below is more information and the agenda. Please RSVP by September 29th to Nicole.Porter@mcrcd.org or by calling (707) 462-3664. Hope to see you!

north-coast-area-carcd-meeting-agenda (PDF)

By Linda MacElwee

7^th grade Life Sciences Class engaged in macro-invertebrate study.

Connecting to Creeks, a hands-on stream ecology program designed to connect kids to the creeks adjacent to the school and apply those connections to the larger Navarro River watershed. Launched by AVUSD and the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) through a Tobacco Settlement grant in 2008, the program had its second successful spring at the Middle School. I had the good fortune, through AVUSD and Ken Montgomery, to work again with Nat Corey-Moran’s 7^th grade Life Science classes.We met four consecutive Tuesdays in May/June to conduct mini-units at the confluence of Robinson Creek and Anderson Creek on school property.

Students began with an orientation to the creek trail (now very much improved with new steps) measuring stream temperature and looking at Robinson Creek and Anderson Creek in relationship to the larger Navarro River watershed. Students then gathered leaves from native trees and placed them in what looked like onion bags with labels identifying the student work group and tree leaf species. Leaf packs were anchored in the stream with rocks and set in place for three weeks. The first period class studied Robinson Creek; the fifth period class studied Anderson Creek. Collection sites were split evenly between pools and riffles. The second session consisted of an interpretive walk of the Robinson Creek Restoration Project to review the ten-year recovery to stream health and native and invasive plant surveys of the site.

Week three was spent by the water’s edge on a visual, stream habitat quality survey in the riparian zone.Imagine7^th graders sitting quietly just observing the natural environment! All had the opportunity to see steelhead fry in the confluence pools. The fourth week was the big finale, collecting the leaf packs with macro-invertebrate insects and decomposing leaf matter to be sorted.Using a LaMotte Company Stream Ecology kit, kids worked in groups around a poster with circles the size of a petri dish labeled with drawings of the various orders of insects. They sorted the leaves to place the insects into the various petri dishes with stream water.Students discovered amazing creatures in the leaf packs this year!

Robinson Creek leaf packs produced a Stonefly, lots of Mayfly, and true fly larvae.—as well as tadpoles, snails, water beetles, and water striders. Leaf packs planted in Anderson Creek appeared to be lacking at first glance. But once we began to sort them in the classroom we found an unbelievable diversity of aquatic life. Diversity is an indicator of stream health. The kids found Stoneflies, Caddis flies, Dobson flies, lots of Mayflies and true fly larvae.

Baby lamprey turn up in macro-invertebrate study from Anderson Creek.

The students were most intrigued by three baby lamprey, an actual fish species which the Eel River is named for. Like salmon, lamprey adults swim up into the rivers from the ocean to spawn. Kids were uniformly fascinated by observing the creatures up close under the hand lenses. All of the insects are handled carefully then returned to the stream after class. Students did a rough tally of each order of insect and came up with a biotic index number for the survey. They concluded that the water quality in the selected reaches of Robinson Creek and Anderson Creek is “good” to “very good”. Although these stream segments dry up in summer except for rare deep pools, during springtime they seem to have very good water quality. The River Center is presently working with the MCRCD to secure future funding to continue this program and hopefully make it self-sustaining for years to come!

]]> http://www.mcrcd.org/2009/09/15/connecting-to-creeks/feed/ http://www.mcrcd.org/2008/10/27/check-out-the-new-and-improved-natural-resource-projects-inventory-nrpi-website/ http://www.mcrcd.org/2008/10/27/check-out-the-new-and-improved-natural-resource-projects-inventory-nrpi-website/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:10:45 +0000 admin http://www.mcrcd.org/?p=79 People can search the NRPI Website and obtain information on the thousands of conservation, restoration, mitigation, assessment, acquisition and planning projects throughout California.

Click on “Mapping Tool” at the top of the page, then enter “Mendocino County Resource Conservation District” in the “Organization name” text box to view some of the hundreds of projects that we have been associated with through the years.

You may be noticing some new signs posted around the watershed. The Navarro Watershed Working Group (NWWG), the Navarro River Resource Center, and the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District have been collaborating on a sign project to develop watershed awareness in the Navarro, through a grant from the State Coastal Conservancy.

By strategically placing signs on the state and county roads at the watershed divides, as well as naming many of the creeks, the Navarro River watershed will have a new “identity”. These signs are brown with white lettering. And no, the fish symbol does not appear—we opted to spend the extra funding on more signs, especially to name some unsigned creeks!

There will be “Entering Navarro River Watershed” signs at the ridge crests on the following state and county highways: Highway 253; Highway 128 in Yorkville, as you drop into the Navarro; Highway 1, both north and southbound; Greenwood-Philo Road; Flynn Creek Road; Mountain View Road; and Fishrock Road.

The following creeks will also be named by a sign facing in each direction: Soda Creek and Anderson Creek on Highway 253; Beebe Creek, Robinson Creek, Mill Creek, Soda Creek, and Flynn Creek on Highway 128; Robinson Creek and Rancheria Creek where they cross Mountain View Road; Rancheria Creek where it crosses Fishrock Road; and the Navarro River where it crosses at Greenwood-Philo Road.

Tremendous thanks goes to the State Coastal Conservancy who sponsored the project and made it possible. The seed for the idea began in a NWWG meeting, at least five years ago. It’s very exciting to finally have those seeds come to fruition! The project was initially coordinated by NWWG members Thembi Borras and Dianne Chocholak and then, as their careers transitioned to Washington State and retirement respectively, I was asked to step in and complete the work program. Although it wasn’t easy to coordinate all of the steps, the Mendocino County Department of Transportation and Caltrans have been nothing but supportive—from permitting to accompanying us on site inspections. The California Conservation Corps will install signs on state highways, and the County will install the signs on county roads.

For more information you can stop in at the Navarro River Resource Center (we share an office with the Anderson Valley Land Trust) on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The River Center has many resource materials for landowners, including The Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads and video, pamphlets on invasive and native plants, and the Navarro River Guide to Watershed Care and Restoration. Stop in and say hello, or call us at 895-3230, we are available to help you find resources on land stewardship. Watershed literacy for all!

]]> http://www.mcrcd.org/2008/10/03/you-are-now-entering-the-navarro-river-watershed/feed/ http://www.mcrcd.org/2008/09/18/conservation-district-announces-leadership-opportunity/ http://www.mcrcd.org/2008/09/18/conservation-district-announces-leadership-opportunity/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:05:51 +0000 admin http://www.mcrcd.org/?p=71 Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) is seeking a committed director, experienced in natural resource conservation, for a vacant position on its board.

MCRCD provides a means for interested people in the community to work together for natural resource conservation on a voluntary, cooperative basis throughout Mendocino County. We offer support through technical assistance and grant development for projects which control erosion, improve water quality, and restore fisheries and wildlife habitat.

The District is governed by five volunteer directors, who are appointed by the Board of Supervisors in lieu of election. Directors have a critical role in the protection and improvement of local natural resources. As representatives of their community, directors have the responsibility to assess local conservation needs and to develop programs and projects to meet those needs. Directors participate in the development of plans, gathering information and making recommendations to the board and staff, and participate in all board meetings.

The MCRCD is involved in a variety of resource conservation projects that take place on both public and private lands. Examples of projects include: conservation education, erosion control, installing best management practices, road management or maintenance, and developing watershed plans.

Call 462-3664 for more information and to introduce yourself. Our application is available for download here (PDF). The Board of Directors has regular meetings the second Tuesday of every month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at MCRCD’s office located at 206 Mason Street, Suite F, in Ukiah.

UPDATE: This position has been filled, but there are opportunites for Associate Directors. Please go here for more information.

Russian River Watershed Geospatial Data Catalog

Russian River RRWAMP Document Catalog

Other useful information links:

CAL FIRE - Mendocino Lightening Complex

Mendocino County Firesafe Council

Center for Fire Research and Outreach

If you need immediate assistance please call our office at (707) 462-3664.

Thank you!