Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Garcia River Restoration

with Craig Bell
Monday, May 18, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

Garcia River Watershed Coordinator Craig Bell will give a talk on Garcia River restoration efforts on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Bell has been involved with Garcia River restoration efforts since the 1980s.

The Garcia River is showing strong signs of recovery from past impacts, primarily from logging. Current success on the Garcia comes from a number of firsts for local rivers, including: formation of a stakeholder Watershed Advisory Group, development of a watershed restoration plan, and training and employment of local citizens in restoration.

It is the first coastal river to have the Clean Water Act TMDL applied for sediment pollution and for a pilot project of the Trout Unlimited North Coast Coho Project. In recent years steelhead have been making a steady recovery, coho salmon have been found in tributaries after long absence, chinook salmon are returning in small numbers, and even pink (humpback) salmon last seen in large numbers in the 1940s, are being counted.

Before

After

The presentation will include a number of dramatic before and after photos of restoration projects. See how 2,000 year old, Chinese "bio-engineering" techniques are being used on the lower Garcia River to restore eroding banks and protect valuable Ag land.

Loggers, ranchers, environmentalists, fishermen and corporate interests all have had a role to play in these exciting developments that foreshadow what the future may be for our once healthy watersheds. It is one more important story that makes the Mendocino coast much more than a tourist destination.

Mr. Bell is the past President of the statewide Salmonid Restoration Federation, Chair of the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission, appointed by the Director of Fish and Game to the DFG Coho Recovery Team, member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead to the California Legislature, Mentor - AmeriCorps Program, consultant to the Conservation Fund and Pacific Watershed Associates, former logger, commercial salmon fisherman and a local steelhead fishing guide for over twenty years.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.