General

P.O. Box 160 • Petrolia, CA 95558
(707) 629-3514 Fax: (707) 629-3577
mrc@mattole.org

P.O Box 223 • Whitethorn, CA 95589
Phone and Fax: (707) 986-1078
upriver@mattole.org

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Topic: General

From the Executive Director
For most people in the Mattole, the summer is the busiest work season, a time to complete as much as possible before the winter rains and short days are upon us. This is definitely true of those working on road projects and in-stream habitat restoration. During summer of 2002 there was a lot of activity in the Mattole intended to help along natural processes of watershed recovery. From the very headwaters down to Mill Creek near the river’s mouth, work crews along with their heavy equipment took care of injured landscapes to reduce future siltation of the Mattole and its tributaries. Whether they worked in the protected Sanctuary Forest or a rural residential neighborhood, these work crews deserve our thanks and recognition. (read more)

Song of the Mattole
Whole afternoons you sat (read more)

A Thank You
The Mattole Restoration Council would like to thank outgoing board members Michael Golden, Ray Lingel and Seth Zuckerman for their time, efforts, and contribution to the Mattole River and its fisheries in the last two years. These board members have been instrumental to the functioning of the MRC. They have assisted the MRC in adhering to its strategic plan and has guided the Council through its biggest period of growth yet. Thank you! (read more)

Annual Celebration draws acrowd
On September 7, 2002, the MRC hosted its Annual Celebration and Meeting at the Mattole Grange in Petrolia. The MRC would like to extend a huge thanks to everyone who contributed time, donations of food and drink, and silent auction items: Board members Jim Danisch for the donation of a bowl to the silent auction and facilitating the annual meeting; Michael Golden for volunteering to cook the delicious fish; Judy Nash for knitting and donating a scarf to the silent auction; Stephen Umbertis for connecting us with the delicious albacore, and soliciting the donation of a painting for the silent auction; to Seth Zuckerman for creating the grasslands display (see pages 6 and 7) and inviting poet Jerry Martien to read his beautiful words; MRC staff Drew Barber, Keith Leatherwood, and Steve Lovett and Amanda Malachesky as well as community members Josh Free and Leif Bridges for being on clean up crew; Jessica DeKelver for taking photographs; Ali Freedlund for announcing the door prizes; to Jen Glorioso and Jesse Cabral for help setting up; Chris Larson for coordinating and hosting the food preparation at his home, as well as set up and clean up; Amanda Malachesky for donating a 1 ½ hour massage; Claire Trower for collecting money and manning the merchandise table for the umpteenth year in a row, and donating a night for two at Hawk Creek Retreat; Nancy Smith for an incredible amount of work and stamina in preparation, town trips, soliciting donations, securing the band and countless other tasks; Vikki Avara-Snider for the donation of her most prized secret marinade recipe for the albacore, even in her absence; Duane Smith for contributing hours of time preparing food, serving beer and wine, transporting donated materials from town, and hauling away the trash. Hats off to all of you! (read more)

Hillie's Book Review
You may not know that the MRC Resource Center contains a small but varied library. There are reference books and good reads, videos and audio-tapes on topics from restoration and ecology to ranching and forestry. I chose a book, Green Collar Jobs-Working in the New Northwest, by Alan Thein Durning. He is the founder and executive director of Northwest Environment Watch. His book is well-researched and references abound. But it is also a good read, holding my interest and challenging my beliefs. (read more)

From the Executive Director
For me, spring is the best time of year – fewer days in front of the woodstove, and more days out in the vegetable garden. Now if only the gophers would go the way of frozen nights and power outages! Spring is also a bit of grace time – time to get things in order before the hot and dry summer. When you are thinking of things to do around the place, it is easy to focus on the immediate needs – getting the water line working in time for the tomatoes, or taming all that fast growing grass in the back yard. While these are important, it is equally important to spend time on those things that take a bit longer to manifest themselves, but can lead to a whole bunch of trouble – like the wisteria vines slowly strangling that large maple tree. (read more)

Welcome Keith and Amanda

Photo: Drew Barber

Since our last newsletter, we welcome two new staff members to the MRC. Keith Leatherwood joins us as our new Reforestation Program Coordinator. He and his wife, Chantele, live in Honeydew with their two children, Havana, 5, and Laird, 3. They have a home-based tour company, KC Travel, which runs surfing excursions to Indonesia. (read more)

MRC GIS Completion of Tributary Project
The MRC’s Geographic Information System (GIS) received a great addition this year with the completion of the Tributary Project. In this project MRC GIS staff developed a computer based map database encompassing every named tributary of the Mattole River. This collection of GIS information includes an updated layer of watercourse locations, linked to attributes such as river mile, stream length, and whether the stream is perennial or annual. From this streams layer, in combination with a digital elevation model, we developed individual watershed boundary layers for each tributary. These GIS databases give us a versatile and easily accessed geographical “picture,” referencing each tributary to its context within the Mattole watershed. All of these tributary “pictures” have been compiled into a hardcopy Tributary Atlas, located in the MRC’s Resource Center in Petrolia. The Atlas includes a page for each tributary including a topographic map of its watershed, and statistics from the tributary database, providing an “at a glance” reference. (read more)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be updating the existing King Range National Conservation Area (KRNCA) management plan. The current management plan was finalized in 1974 and will be 30 years old by the time the new plan is in place. A completed plan is expected by June 2004. (read more)

MRC Vision
We look forward to a time in the Mattole watershed when “restoration” will no longer be needed to address the effects of our land-use practices, and the watershed and its human communities are healthy and self-sustaining. We seek to educate ourselves regarding the natural processes at work involving the flora, fauna, geology, and streams of the Mattole; to learn about best land management practices; and to share with our neighbors what we learn. We hope that over time, a common understanding of these factors will help to shape broadly held community standards that will sustain the natural endowment of this place for future generations. Processes of recovery are already at work in the Mattole. We will apply what we learn by undertaking cooperative projects in watershed restoration to enhance those processes, healing the landscape as we heal our relations with one another. (read more)

Connecting Economy, Environment, and Culture
The Buckeye Conservancy was formed in 2000 to bring together people towards the common goal of preserving open space through family ownership and management of ranch and timberland. Several founding members live in the Mattole, and “the Buckeye,” as its supporters call it, has garnered much interest locally. On October 30, 2001, MRC Executive Director Chris Larson interviewed Andy Westfall, Buckeye’s Chairman, and Johanna Rodoni, their new Executive Director. What follows is an edited transcript of their conversation: (read more)

MRC Membership Guide
Your membership in the Mattole Restoration Council is our most valuable asset. Without support from local residents and landowners, the Council would not be able to help landowners and residents envision and create sustainable lives in the Mattole watershed. (read more)

New staff, board members join MRC
Since the last issue of the Mattole Restoration Newsletter, we have have bid farewell to Dazzel Ekblad, Practice Program Assistant. Dazzle has moved to upstate New York, where she is pursuing leadership training. Steve Lovett has replaced her in this capacity. Steve is also the Director of the Mattole Camp and Retreat Center, and brings a strong understanding Since the last issue of the Mattole Restoration Newsletter, we have bid farewell to Dazzle Ekblad, Forest of our natural world, and curiosity about forestry issues. (read more)

Seeking a Sustainable Prosperity
Visitors to the Mattole eventually scratch their heads and ask, "what do you all do here for a living?" (read more)

From the Executive Director
Land-based livelihoods and the land itself benefit where we build common ground so that people living on the land can continue to do so, while ensuring that the needs of the fish, soil, forests, and communities are met. (read more)

Last modified:
14 January, 2004