This summer we have the pleasure of working with three excellent interns (from left to right): Clarke Stevenson and Lance Spece from the California Council of Land Trusts Training and Apprenticeship Program, and Emily Clark, this year’s Paul Siegel Salmon Restoration Intern from Reed College. They have been helping us with everything we do, from clearing trails and building stairs, to community outreach at events and learning to write grants and press releases. They have been so helpful during our busy summer months, and we are very happy to have them join the team. Learn more about each of our interns:

Clarke Stevenson is an intern through California Council of Land Trusts. Having graduated from Oregon State University in Human Geography in 2016, he developed an interest in social-ecological relationships and conservation as a way toward a sustainable world.  Using his experience as a crew leader for Northwest Youth Corps, he tackles projects with a positive spirit and a durable work ethic.

Lance Spece is also a California Council of Land Trusts Intern. He is entering his senior year at Humboldt State University, majoring in Environmental Science and Management. Born and raised in Sacramento, Lance gained a strong connection to the natural world early on while camping, fishing, and hiking in nearby Tahoe and Grass Valley. He has made it his career goal to protect, maintain, and enhance watersheds and landscapes for the benefit of all species. During his time with MLT he has enjoyed learning about land conservation through the eyes of the MLT staff while assisting in projects to improve endangered coho salmon habitat and construct and maintain trails to help expose the public to beautiful Mendocino County.

Emily Clark joins the Mendocino Land Trust this summer as the 2017 Paul Siegel Salmon Restoration Intern from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Originally from Goleta, California, she fell in love with the outdoors at an early age and has continued to pursue that passion as an Environmental Studies-History major at Reed. Emily brings a strong interest in community engagement and public stewardship, and is excited to learn from the ingenuity and flexibility of MLT staff. 

On a beautiful morning in May, a group of Mendocino Land Trust staff, board members, donors and partners gathered together to celebrate the re-dedication of the Newport Trail. This 1.2-mile long segment of the California Coastal Trail was completed in 2014 and runs parallel to Highway 1 along its entire length. A welcome respite to hikers and bikers traveling down the California coast, the trail’s name was changed in 2015 from the Kibesillah Coastal Trail to the Newport Coastal Trail, to match the land’s more accurate place name and that of the recently constructed Inn at Newport Ranch. In the summer of 2016, the trail was further developed with a parking lot near Highway 1 and a trail to a viewing platform near the bluff edge.

To celebrate the completion of the new viewing platform expansion, we gathered to re-dedicate the trail. We were honored to celebrate that day with John Ainsworth, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission, and Linda Locklin, the Coastal Access Program Manager. We were also joined by the California Coastal Conservancy’s Regional Manager, Karyn Gear, and Project Manager Peter Jarausch. Together, we celebrated our shared achievement of providing coastal access to a beautiful property for the public to enjoy.

The trail to the viewing platform is lush and green, and is fenced off from the black Angus cows that roam the Newport Ranch property. Down at the viewing platform, the group was delighted to be joined by two gray whales swimming just off the bluff, while a squadron of brown pelicans flew by. It was the perfect illustration of why this trail, and the new viewing platform, are wonderful assets to the California Coastal Trail, and a great place to go for a stroll, have a seat and watch the world go by.

This winter the Mendocino Coast has been hit by a combination of powerful storms and big winter waves. The ocean “rearranged the furniture” by littering the beaches with huge logs, boulders and other debris. Landslides have blocked roads and trails alike, while coastal stairs eroded on hillsides. While we are grateful for these drought-busting storms, it will take a lot of time, energy and manpower to dig out from the wreckage left in their wake.

Seaside Beach

An unprecedented amount of driftwood has washed up on Seaside Beach. The powerful high tide brought huge logs all the way up to Highway 1!

Belinda Point

While the storm waves are beautiful to see at Belinda Point, the surging tide swept away the bottommost stairs that lead down to the cove.

The storms abated, and it was time to get to work repairing the damage.

Peter Douglas Trail – Lost Coast

Our newest trail was not exempt from storm damage. The cliffs and bluff edges along the Lost Coast have earned the namesake partly for their endless erosion into the sea, making road and trail maintenance a perpetual challenge. Trees that can be seen growing in a “J” or “pistol grip” shape are a clear indication of regular landslides.

At a time of political change, one thing is clear and consistent: Americans strongly support saving the open spaces they love. Since 1976, Mendocino Land Trust has been doing just that for the people who love Mendocino County. Today, Mendocino Land Trust has announced it has achieved national recognition – joining a network of only 372 accredited land trusts across the nation that have demonstrated their commitment to professional excellence and to maintaining the public’s trust in their work.

“Achieving national recognition is an honor for our Mendocino County community, and we are an even stronger organization for having gone through the exacting accreditation process,” said Ann Cole, MLT’s executive director. “Land Trust accreditation assures our donors, our partners and the public that we are trusted to permanently protect our beautiful part of the world and to make it an even better place for our residents, our visitors and their families. This comes just as we are taking on some of our most ambitious conservation projects ever.”

Mendocino Land Trust (MLT) had to provide extensive documentation and undergo a comprehensive, independent review as part of its accreditation application. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded accreditation, signifying MLT’s demonstrated commitment to excellence and confidence that Mendocino Land Trust’s lands will be protected forever. MLT is the first land trust based in Mendocino County to earn the accreditation seal.

MLT is a countywide nonprofit land conservation group that has protected more than 14,000 acres of land all across Mendocino County. MLT played a vital role in the protection of signature lands that are now part of the state park system including the Big River Estuary, Glass Beach and Caspar Beach. With growing community support, MLT has permanently protected 16 family farms, preserves and forests and has designed and built numerous trails that provide public access along the coast. The Land Trust has five beautiful coastal preserves under permanent stewardship: Pelican Bluffs Preserve in Point Arena, Navarro Point in Albion, and Hare Creek Beach, Seaside Beach and the Ten Mile River Estuary in the Fort Bragg area. The Land Trust also owns and stewards the Noyo River Redwoods Preserve in the Willits area.

“It is exciting to recognize Mendocino Land Trust with this distinction,” said Tammara Van Ryn, executive director of the Commission. “Accredited land trusts are united behind strong ethical standards ensuring the places people love will be conserved forever. Accreditation recognizes Mendocino Land Trust has demonstrated sound finances, ethical conduct, responsible governance, and lasting stewardship.” The process is rigorous and strengthens land trusts so they can help landowners and communities achieve their goals. Almost 20 million acres of farms, forests and natural areas vital to healthy communities are now permanently conserved by an accredited land trust.

MLT is one of 1,363 land trusts across the United States, according to the most recent National Land Trust Census, released on December 1, 2016 by the Land Trust Alliance. This comprehensive report also shows that accredited land trusts have made significant achievements.

A complete list of accredited land trusts and more information about the process and benefits are detailed at www.landtrustaccreditation.org

About the Land Trust Accreditation Commission

The Commission is an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization. The Commission recognizes conservation excellence by awarding the accreditation seal. More information about land trust accreditation can be found here.

About the Land Trust Alliance
Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national organization that works to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America. Based in Washington, D.C., and with several regional offices, the Alliance represents about 1,000 member land trusts nationwide.

The Alliance’s leadership serves the entire land trust community — its work in the nation’s capital represents the policy priorities of land conservationists from every state; its education programs improve and empower land trusts from Maine to Alaska; and its comprehensive vision for the future of land conservation includes new partners, new programs and new priorities. Connect online at www.landtrustalliance.org

Coastal Cleanup Day is one of the most widely participated days of volunteerism in Mendocino County, and it’s not hard to see why. With so many beautiful waterways and beaches, it’s natural for the community to want to come together once a year and do its part to help keep our home pristine. It wouldn’t be possible to remove the thousands of pounds of garbage without the hundreds of volunteers who show up that day, or the dozens of dedicated beach captains who rally the troops.  The event has been organized in Mendocino County by the Land Trust for more than 10 years, and it is the culmination of weeks of planning. This year, however, posed a particularly interesting challenge, which required volunteers to go above and beyond the call of duty, working well past the one-day cleanup.  

Jeff and Cate of Liquid Fusion Kayaking have volunteered to captain the cleanup effort in Noyo Harbor, with help from members of the Traditional Small Craft Association (TSCA), for the past eight years. Together with their crew, they have taken to the water and removed hundreds of pounds of garbage and debris from the harbor each year. From boat parts, rigging and fishing equipment, to old bikes and even shopping carts, it’s amazing what they have recovered.

At this year’s Sept. 17 cleanup, they were finding pieces of yellow polyurethane foam, in huge chunks and tiny bits, and they wanted to remove the source of all that debris to prevent more of it from littering the waterway. What they discovered was a huge section of an old pile-driver barge belonging to the late Bruce Abernathy, a Noyo Harbor fisherman and salvage operator, used to drive wood piles for the harbor. They knew disposing of this long-forgotten debris it would be no easy feat, but they were determined to try. Together, they paddled and towed it to the Dolphin Island Marina loading zone, and with the help of two trucks, the 1,000-pound section of old barge was hauled out. But that was only half the battle. Now that it was safely out of the water, how would they get rid of it?

Working closely with Waste Management, which donates the dumpsters every year for Coastal Cleanup Day, it was clear that the best and least costly course of action would be to break it into pieces so that it could fit into a dumpster. Easier said than done, but once again Jeff rallied the troops. With saws and crowbars, they tore apart the huge block by hand and began to fill dumpster after dumpster.

Finally, three months after it was first brought ashore, the giant section of old pile-driver barge was removed from Noyo Harbor, away from the waterway and the fish and birds that might have ingested its deteriorating foam. 

A undertaking like this takes a lot of work, but it’s easier when the whole community is there to lend a hand. From the kind folks of the TSCA who hauled the barge out, to the people at Dolphin Island Marina who supported their efforts, and to Waste Management for helping carry the debris away, we see real progress when we all come together. Because of the effort and hard work of these volunteers, we can continue to enjoy our beautiful beaches and diverse wildlife, and for that we are very grateful. 

The mid-September morning fog was just starting to lift as Joe Seta of North Coast Brewing called out to his crew of volunteers. There were about twenty people at Virgin Creek parking area, already starting to pick up trash and getting ready to participate in this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day. 

“North Coast Brewing is a part of the community,” Joe says, when asked about joining the event last year “we support the environment and stewardship and we wanted to get involved.”  

This was the second year that North Coast Brewing has captained Virgin creek, a beach in MacKerricher State Park that is biking distance from the brewery. Gloves on and buckets in hand, the volunteers were decked out in blue ‘Stellar IPA’ shirts, which is a benefit beer that supports the Noyo Science Center. Clearly, here was a group of people ready and willing to lend a hand and help take care for our oceans.

There are many beach cleanups held throughout the year, but International Coastal Cleanup Day is different than the rest. For over 30 years, the Ocean Conservancy has organized volunteers from all over the planet in a day of action to not only remove trash from our beaches, but also to document and inventory the garbage that is collected. When you see volunteers out on Coastal Cleanup Day, they are usually working in groups or in pairs as one picks up the trash while the other records what has been collected. This extra effort may deter some, but our volunteers know it makes a big difference. 

“Sure, it’s an extra step,” says Scott Vorhees with the Coastal Mendocino Association of Realtors (CMAR)  at Caspar beach “but how else will we know what bad habits we need to change unless we record the type of garbage we find?”

Documenting the debris collected on Coastal Cleanup Day also helps us to see improving trends and understand if actions like the plastic bag and plastic water bottle bans are making a difference. Beach captains from Westport to Gualala report finding less and less garbage each year, which is good news for our beaches. Cigarette butts continue to be one of the worst offenders. Smokers often don’t think twice before flicking them away, but those little plastic butts are full of toxins that quickly leach into the water, making them dangerous to wildlife and the environment.

At the end of the day, over 300 volunteers from across Mendocino County collected 5,300 pounds of garbage, 350 pounds of recycling, and well over 3,000 cigarette butts!

For over 10 years it has been the pleasure of the Mendocino Land Trust to organize Coastal Cleanup Day for our community. All of this good work would not be possible without the help and support of Waste Management, Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority, California State Parks, and of course our amazing volunteers and beach captains. Together, we’re keeping Mendocino County beautiful.

On Friday July 22, Mendocino Land Trust accepted a gift from The Conservation Fund – a beautiful 49-acre property at Ten Mile River. The property lies east of the Ten Mile Dunes, on the southern bank of Ten Mile River estuary near the Ten Mile River Bridge, ten miles north of Fort Bragg, on the Mendocino Coast. The Land Trust will eventually provide public access along the south side of Ten Mile River and under the highway bridge, into MacKerricher State Park’s Ten Mile Dunes Reserve. This acquisition marks the successful completion of a six year effort to permanently protect the 1,340 acre Smith Ranch.

    “We’ve been working for several years with The Conservation Fund, landowners Maggie Perry and Susan Smith Lampman, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy to complete the acquisition of this beautiful property,” said Mendocino Land Trust’s Executive Director Ann Cole, “and we are grateful for the generous land donation and the landowners’ patience through all the project’s twists and turns. We are pleased to add this gorgeous property to the portfolio of lands we are protecting forever. It’s been great to work with such incredible partners and to be part of a larger conservation effort in the Ten Mile watershed.”

    The property includes sand dunes, grasslands, fir forest, riverside habitats and of course, a portion of the gorgeous Ten Mile River estuary.  The Land Trust has already started work to obtain necessary permits for a new trail, a parking area and a small picnic/viewing area.  Funding for the Conservation Fund’s purchase of the property was provided in part by the State Coastal Conservancy.  The State Coastal Conservancy has provided the land trust with funding for the planning and permitting for the public access areas as well.  For more information about this exciting project, please contact Louisa Morris at the Mendocino Land Trust, (707) 962-0470 or lmorris@mendocinolandtrust.org. 

At its September 3rd meeting, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, through the Department of Fish and Wildlife, approved a $1.676 million grant award to Mendocino Land Trust. The funding will protect 2,018 acres of working forestland in Mendocino County with the purchase of a conservation easement to be held by Mendocino Land Trust.

The property, owned by the Edward Miller Trust, is located along Brush Creek, a beautiful watershed between Boonville and Manchester which contains 4.8 miles of streams that provide habitat for steelhead and coho salmon.

The site is home to an active Northern Spotted Owl nest and is also home to the endangered Point Arena Mountain Beaver. The Point Arena Mountain Beaver is of particular importance as there are only 27 know remaining colonies in the state, and this one lies considerably east of previous detections of this endangered animal. The conservation easement contains specific protections for these species.

The landowners agreed to sell the conservation easement for 25 percent less than fair market value. “We are thrilled with this grant award and pleased to be working with landowners who have such a positive land protection ethic,” said Ann Cole, Executive Director of Mendocino Land Trust. Landowner Steve Miller added, “We plan to manage the forest on the Brush Creek property to help with climate change and are excited to work with the Mendocino Land Trust to accomplish this.”

Under the conservation easement, potential subdivision of the property into 12 parcels will be prohibited, and old-growth redwood and Douglas fir trees will be protected forever in a natural old-growth area.

The conservation easement includes provisions to enhance water resources on the property and allows the continuation of non-industrial working forest practices on selected areas within the easement. Any plans associated with timber harvesting will require the completion of a Timber Management plan that must be approved by Mendocino Land Trust and CalFire, and must also comply with all applicable state and federal forestry laws.

If you enjoy a morning cup of coffee as much as we do, then we hope you will join us in celebrating our brand new partnership with our local Thanksgiving Coffee Company. With this exciting program, 25% of every package from web sales of our special Fog Dodger Mendo Coast Coffee blend will directly benefit Mendocino Land Trust.

As one of the country’s pioneering socially and environmentally progressive roasters, Thanksgiving has combined coffee quality with social and environmental responsibility for over 40 years. They have built decades-long partnerships with the cooperatives and family farms who grow their award winning coffees, promoting shade grown and organic farming practices which are bio-diverse and bee friendly.

We are proud to partner with a company like Thanksgiving Coffee, and we hope you will be too. Now you can help us build new trails, preserve beautiful family landscapes and restore salmon habitat right here in Mendocino County, all by simply enjoying your morning cup of coffee.

What could be better than that?

As coffee lovers ourselves, we are pleased to offer you a choice of four delicious, exotic coffees and three decaf options. To get your hands on some of this amazing coffee, and support Mendocino Land Trust with every cup, just click the link.

Once you find your favorite roast, we encourage you to sign up for a subscription to receive packages of Fog Dodger every month. A monthly subscription will keep you stocked with fresh coffee that you can feel good about. The regular support will help us continue to work with you to conserve Mendocino county, while there’s still time.

We hope you will join us in raising a cup of Fog Dodger soon. ‘Not just a cup, but a just cup.’