Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration Water System Improvements Project

 

Armstrong Woods flora ~ Darris B. Nelson

We have until May 2, 2014, to send our comments about this project to Patricia DuMont, Environmental Coordinator for State Parks. If you care at all about this park I urge you to read the project proposal and respond. In my opinion, this project could have permanent negative consequences to the old growth redwoods within Armstrong Woods. Below is a link to an article in the Sonoma County Gazette by Linda Lucey that outlines the proposal:

Sonoma County Gazette article regarding the Armstrong Woods proposed water improvement project.

Below is my letter sent to Patricia DuMont addressing my concerns. I've included two email addresses where you can send your letters. Keep in mind your letter does not have to be lengthy it can be a short comment of concern. Thank you so much for taking the time to move on something you care about. YOU DO make a difference! 

 'The Touch' by John Cushman ~ Armstrong Redwoods SNR

April 21, 2014

Patricia DuMont, Environmental Coordinator                           

DPR - Northern Service Center

One Capitol Mall, Suite 410

Sacramento, CA 95814

CEQA.NSC@parks.ca.gov
Patti.DuMont@parks.ca.gov

RE: Armstrong Redwoods SNR: MND Water System Improvement Project

Dear Ms. DuMont,

Thank you for the extended time in which to comment on the proposed Armstrong Water System project.

As the wife of a Certified Arborist (35 years in Sonoma County), I have grave concerns about the impact this project will have on the redwoods within the park.  While I understand that the existing water system is in dire straits and must be addressed to meet health and safety standards, I believe the health of the trees must be the first consideration before moving ahead with this project.

For 21 years I owned a 5 1/2 acre property with hundreds of redwoods, oaks, bays and fir trees.  Although we carefully chose our homesite to lessen the impact our footprint would have on the surrounding area, the careful digging and narrow trenches for water, waste and power had dire consequences on the trees even 100 feet from the building site.

It’s evident by the top die off of the redwoods in Armstrong Woods that the trees are stressed by drought conditions.  In 21 years of living in a forest I witnessed what drought conditions could do to thriving trees. Old growth trees can withstand years of drought but add to that the stress of current high rates of acidic conditions then damage their root systems from trenching, fill their canopies with toxic fumes, fuel and oil from heavy equipment, chemical drilling compounds, and the soil compaction this equipment will create, and it’s a very real possibility these ancient trees will succumb. 

During construction our home building site was a wildlife ‘dead zone’. The birds and other typically abundant wildlife left the area. What consideration has been given to the nesting birds and other wildlife that will be dislocated during this proposed project?

Our family have been regular visitors of the park for over 50 years. As farmers and arborists we’ve always noticed and appreciated the vibrant health of the magnificent redwoods within Armstrong Woods. During a recent visit with 70 other members of a Sonoma County photography group, I watched and listened to hundreds of visitors from around the world marvel at the site of our majestic old growth redwoods. First and foremost we have a responsibility to care for these trees and the wildlife that exists within them. I urge State Parks to consider all possibilities before moving ahead with any plan that could ultimately destroy the very trees that draw people to the park in the first place.

I understand this is a difficult dilemma for State Parks and I appreciate you taking the time to consider all comments and questions about this project.

Darris B. Nelson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Armstrong woods ~ Darris B. Nelson

Hands Across the Sand . . .

JOIN "Hands Across the Sand" gathering at Doran Beach Park on June 25th from 11-1. For more information on the history and purpose of the event visit

http://www.handsacrossthesand.com

Locally: 

“Hands Across The Sand” Event Opposing Offshore Drilling & Supporting Clean Energy

Doran Beach, Bodega Bay        11:00 Speakers  12:00 Join Hands followed by Beach Clean-up

Meet at whale Sculpture across from Coast Guard Station

 $6  day use parking fee is waived if 4+ passengers per vehicle (or if you have a Regional Parks pass, bless your heart!)

The Sonoma Coast Chapter of Surfrider is hosting the event.  This event  is an opportunity to express opposition to offshore drilling and promote clean and sustainable energy.  There will be speakers from Defenders of Wildlife (Richard Charter, Executive Director), Ocean Conservation Research (Michael Stocker, Executive Director), Sonoma County Board of Supervisors (Efren Carrillo), Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (Zeke Grader),  Tom Roth (Chief of Staff for Sen. Noreen Evans) and Bill Kortum (Coastal Activist) .... prior to participants forming a line in the sand and joining hands. There will also be a beach clean-up and we will be joined by  "the bag monster"  to bring awareness to the issue of single use plastic bags and plastic pollution in the ocean.  

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is giving the Gold Resolution on June 21st and declaring June 25th as "Hands Across the Sand" day in Sonoma County.

Please visit the Sonoma Coast Surfrider website   www.surfrider.org/sonomacoast 

There is a link on the website to the chapter facebook page " Sonoma Coast Surfrider" that will post updated information on the event.

Here is a video of  event highlights 

At this time Doran Beach is the only location for Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino Counties.  "Hands Across the Sand" will be a great opportunity to meet with like-minded folks.

This is a great event to show your support for energy alternatives, no offshore drilling, and your commitment to our coast. Please bring a bag, or two, or three to pick up trash.

Thank you!!

xxoo

I'm a Climate Scientist . . .

I'm not a scientist but the folks in this rap video are and they have a strong message about global warming . . .

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

'Hungry Beast' has created a 'clean' version of this song but personally I think we need strong language about this issue. So here it is . . .

CLICK HERE to buy this version of the song on iTunes


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beach Hike . . . 

Tide pooling

Beach trash . . .

threw this crab pot high up on rocks a week ago . . .

We found this crab pot but had nothing to pull it with so we stashed it up high on rocks with the intention of coming back with a rope to pull it down the beach.

 

crab pot filled with trash lashed to a sheet of steel

We pulled this trash for two miles down the beach. My husband carried it over boulders we climbed to get from beach to beach.

 

We had to drag it through a tunnel that was about three feet tall . . . 

 

Somewhat ironic to find this beer bottle among the trash I retrieved from a cave . . .

What's the oddest beach trash you've picked up?

A Love Letter to You . . .

I love this little eleven minute film about 30-something professionals and climbers, Fitz and Becca Cahall's 300 mile journey through the Sierra's. In my mind, they've got their priorities straight. Stunning photography, beautiful message . . . I love what Fitz does at the end of the film . . .

I am a 50-something hiker. All I want to do is hike and photograph and blog about hiking. I dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail . . . all of it. Not at once, pieces at a time. This is a goal worthy of living. Anytime spent in nature, in the out-of-doors, makes life worth living. Spending that time with the people I love makes my time hiking beyond amazing . . .

May 2010 Infineon Race

My kid feels this way about dirt biking.  I understand his passion for being outdoors on his bike, on the trail, challenging himself, feeling victorious, feeling alive, being with people he enjoys and with whom he can share his passion. I'm happy he has something he feels so exuberant about.  

As a teenager I felt that way when I was on the back of a horse, bicycling out to Stafford Lake, on the back of a motorcycle, or with my friends at the beach. I felt alive. I have no recollection of feeling this way indoors, it was always out-of-doors that I had aliveness flowing through me.

So I send you this post as my love letter to you . . . go outside, take a walk, a hike, a ride . . . enjoy being alive . . .

xxoo
 

CLICK HERE for VERTICULTURE ~ "What's Your Love Letter?" contest

Bodega Bay International Film Festival . . .

Thank you to Kathlene at Bodega Bay Life for posting a press release about the upcoming Bodega Bay Film Festival. 

The Festival will be held at the Bodega Marine Lab over Memorial Day weekend, May 28th and 29th. Tickets start at $20 and there are only 100 seats per screening so don't hesitate to order as I'm sure they'll sell out fast. The films will be presented in High Definition, fully digital format. I'll be posting a review of our experience.

I've hiked Bodega Head more times than I can remember and have always wished I could walk Horseshoe Cove. Horseshoe Cove is a marine sanctuary and research area for the Bodega Marine Laboratory. UC Davis Bodega Marine Reserve's 362 acres surrounds the research and educational facility know as the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Click here for Bodega Marine Laboratory Web Cam

If you want a beautiful hike with panoramic ocean views and superior whale watching opportunities, head to Bodega Head. You can hike from the Head to the Bodega Marine Lab and take a tour on Friday's from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information call (707) 875-2211.

  

Searching for Effects of the Tsunami . . .

Bodega Head looking North

on the trail

 

All was pretty calm. There was a 'surge' of water headed into the harbor that a friend described as sounding like "a whitewater river". The waves were coming in faster than usual it seemed.

'surge' into harbor ~ photo taken by Thomas Reynolds

Coast Guard with Seal Rock in background

Doran Beach was closed all day . . . looking calm

seal watching

Hole in the Head

trash on the trail . . .

Although all the beaches were closed we enjoyed our trail hike. It was a beautiful sunny day here on the coast. 

My heart goes out to the people in Japan who are suffering devastating loss . . . .

Bodega Head

A Rainy Day Hike

 

Rainy days don't stop me from hiking, because thanks to my generous husband, I have top notch rain gear that keeps me dry and toasty on my winter beach walks. Today was sort of balmy with light rain for a good part of the day so we headed out for the beach at noon. My husband brought his 'trash picking gear' and picked up garbage as we walked along the beach. The bag he uses for trash is actually a very nice old LL Bean saddle bag I used in a prior life to haul around business papers and text books. The beach always looks better after my husband has finished our walk.

Pulling out my camera in even a light rain is risky but I couldn't resist snapping a few shots of shorebirds. Identifying birds isn't my strong suit so I either ask a photographer friend and avid birder, Tom, aka CarMan, or for a quick ID I head over to Cornell's site, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

When my son was an infant I began participating in Cornell's yearly bird count beginning in December. We had a dozen bird feeders set up right outside our floor to ceiling kitchen window. One feeder was even attached to our window with suction cups. As a toddler, my son was able to identify most of the woodland birds that visited our garden feeders. Now that we live at the coast I'm slowing learning to identify shorebirds. 

Marbled Godwit

The Marbled Godwit is a large shorebird with a long, upturned bill, the Marbled Godwit breeds in the center of the continent and winters along the coasts. It breeds in the northern prairies, amongst grasslands and scattered wetlands.    

Click here to listen to the calls of the Marbled Godwit

Sanderling

The Sanderling is most commonly seen in flocks chasing receding waves on ocean beaches, and running away from them when they return. It breeds in the high Arctic and winters along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts from Canada to Argentina.             

 Click here to listen to the call of the Sanderling

Heading back to the parking lot after our walk, I spotted this beautiful Cooper's Hawk resting on a sign ten feet from our car.    

Cooper's Hawk

Among the bird world’s most skillful flyers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds. You’re most likely to see one prowling above a forest edge or field using just a few stiff wing beats followed by a glide. With their smaller lookalike, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawks make for famously tricky identifications. Both species are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds). 

Click here to listen to the call of the Cooper's Hawk

our haul for the day

beach glass

Why would I ever want to miss a day on the beach like this . . . 

Gull Update ~ Be Ocean Mined

I spared you . . . no photo with this 'report'. So sorry to tell you that my gull friend is now soaring in the heavens above . . . Stepping onto the beach with my husband yesterday afternoon I found the remains of what I feel certain is the "gluttonous gull". I've witnessed owls scanning the beach at dusk and what they don't grab, coyotes and raccoons will finish off. My husband was surprised at my calmness over finding the torn body of the bird. The real possibility that the poor creature was going to slowly suffer was a much worse fate than what I believe he experienced. I am at peace with natures way of dealing with a difficult situation . . . most of the time. This is a link Utube video ~ seagull eats starfish I found on Utube after my friend Evie directed me there to another seagull/starfish encounter.

 

FINE FOR LITTERING THE BEACH ~ $1,000.00

I really despise the cluttering of our beautiful coastline with signs but I tolerate this one because I'm so passionate about the subject matter  . . . trash. Don't even get me started on my rant about trash on the beach! Somehow there is confusion about what constitutes 'trash'. If you brought it in and there is any remnant of it left, take it out. And yes, that includes orange peels. How would you feel if someone peeled an orange, dropped the peelings on your front lawn and then when you ask them to pick it up they tell you, "calm down, it's biodegradable". Enough said. Thank you.

3.5.11 beach trash

NPR online did a post and audio about how a study found that most plastics leach chemicals. Ah, ya. That was difficult to figure out. Study: Most Plastics Leach Hormone-Like Chemicals.  

I had a very interesting half hour conversation with a gentleman that was a 50-year veteran salesman for his plastics company. He told me that your average plastic bag can have 9 layers of plastic each with different chemical compounds. This was shocking news to me. I am committed to ridding my life of plastic and I am not ashamed to tell you that it's not the easiest thing to do. Long ago we switched to stainless steel and glass bottles for our water and smoothies. I got rid of my 30-year stash of Tupperware and now use glass (but with snap down heavy plastic lids). But the plastic pollution is never  ending! My camera is plastic! My dang house and cell phones are plastic! My computer mouse, the keys on my keyboard, both of my printers, my document shredder, my favorite Maui Jim sunglasses are plastic (bloody expensive plastic!). You get the point. Plastic is everywhere. So how do we stop our dependence on the stuff? Or can we? 

One of my favorite websites is, My Plastic-free Life.  Beth Terry takes her readers on her no-plastics journey. I highly recommend Beth's site for well researched information and her fun and humorous posts. 

I strive to get rid of as much plastic in my life as possible but not sure I can do a plastic-free life. What steps are you taking to get plastic out of your life?

Gull Gluttony . . .

 Thursday, March 3rd 

Sunshine and warm temps keep me hiking the beach grateful for Autumn-like days.   

 

 

 trash haul

Friday, March 4th

TGIF, but not for this guy . . . . I just don't see how this is going to turn out well . . . .

California Gull eating starfish

Yes, it is an entire starfish stuffed in his mouth. I watched this gull for 20 minutes and the poor creature he tried to consume never moved beyond this point in the bird's beak.

Ahhhhhhhhh . . . . .

The gull kept looking at me as if to say, "damn!, now what do I do?"  I called bird rescue to find out if this was going to turn out well for the gull or the starfish . . . haven't heard back yet.

It's amazing how many cell phones I find on the beach. Now bear with me, this looks like a pretty nice phone to me. It would have been a good trade for my old Motorola flip phone had it not been buried in sand and saturated with sea water.

beach trash

Friday's haul

Every day on the beach is a good day but these winter days have been spectacular! I'll be back tomorrow to see how my gull friend has fared through the night . . . gives me indigestion just thinking about him . . .