The family that founded the Gap has offered to invest $200 million into reviving the bankrupt Pacific Lumber Company and to take control of its heavily logged Humboldt County redwood forests.The offer is contingent on a federal judge in Texas evicting the current owner, Houston financier Charles Hurwitz and his Maxxam Corp., from the plot near Eureka.

The proposal from the Fisher family came Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Pacific Lumber sought Chapter 11 protection in January after missing a bond payment. The offer was one of several plans to reorganize Pacific Lumber.

To make its heavy debt payments over the years, Maxxam greatly increased Pacific Lumber’s harvest of redwoods, sparking environmental protests during the past two decades.

“We’ve been watching the Pacific Lumber bankruptcy since it started in January,” looking for a chance to get involved, said Sandy Dean, an officer with Sansome Partners, which is controlled by the Fisher family.

Environmentalists who have long been Maxxam’s most vocal critics welcomed the Fisher plan to have one of the family’s current holdings, the 9-year-old Mendocino Redwood Company essentially clone itself to take over Pacific Lumber.

“It would be a vast improvement over the current situation if Mendocino Redwood Company were to become the owner of (Pacific Lumber Co.’s) land,” said Sam Johnston, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Information Center in Humboldt County.

Pacific Lumber general counsel Frank Bacik said his firm stands behind its own reorganization plan and considered itself on par with the Fisher-backed company when it comes to logging practices.

“I would say that we are both good stewards of the land,” Bacik said.

The Fisher-controlled Mendocino Redwood Company won accreditation from an international group called the Forest Stewardship Council, which establishes environmentally sensitive logging practices and audits logging firms on an annual basis, according to Robert Hrubes, a forester with Scientific Certification Systems in Emeryville.

Hrubes and his firm have audited the logging practices of Mendocino Redwood as recently as September and certified them as meeting the stewardship rules.

“They are clearly a cut above the other redwood companies,” said Paul Mason, a Sierra Club lobbyist in Sacramento.

An offshore wave farm will supply Californians with clean green electricity generated by the ocean under a first-of-its-kind power purchase agreement that utility PG&E will announce Tuesday morning.

The giant San Francisco-based utility has signed a long-term contract to buy 2-megawatts of electricity from Finavera Renewables’ wave-energy power plant to be built off the Northern California coast. The Vancouver company intends to eventually expand the Humboldt County project into a 100-megawatt “wave park.” It is likely to be the first of a score of floating power stations dotting California’s 1,100-mile coastline in the coming years, judging by the stack of applications for such wave farms on file at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“This power purchase agreement is extremely significant and reflects the massive potential for wave power as a renewable source of energy in the future,” says PG&E spokesman Keely Wachs. Like the Golden State’s other big investor-owned utilities — Southern California Edison (EIX) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE) — PG&E (PCG) must obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and 33 percent by 2020.

“The California market is huge for wave energy,” Finavera CEO Jason Bak told Fortune’s Green Wombat. “This is the first power purchase agreement with a large utility, and we see this as being one of the key components to commercializing wave energy technology.”

The ocean as potential source of greenhouse gas-free power is tremendous: the energy locked up in the surf rolling toward the California coast is equivalent to some 37 gigawatts — enough to light nearly 30 million homes — according to PG&E. And unlike the sun and wind, waves can generate electricity 24/7. But the technology to tap all that water-borne power and deliver it at competitive prices remains in the startup phase.

PG&E and Finavera would not disclose the terms of the power purchase agreement. But Bak acknowledged that the key challenge he and other wave-energy companies face is “advancing the technology to the stage where we have a near-commercial technology.”

Finavera plans to deploy strings of connected wave-energy converters that it calls AquaBuoys. As waves roll past an array of AquaBuoys connected to an onshore station by an undersea cable, two-stroke hose pumps convert their energy into pressurized seawater that drives electricity-generating turbines. According to filings Finavera has made with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a fully built-out 100 megawatt Humboldt wave farm would consist of 200 to 300 AquaBuoys floating on a two-square-mile site about two to three miles off the town of Trinidad. The initial phase of the project is expected to go online in 2012 and will use eight AquaBuoys.

While PG&E is merely dipping its corporate toe in the wave-energy waters with a relatively small 2-megawatt power purchase agreement, the deal with Finavera is likely to intensify efforts to stake claims on the best stretches of coast.

PG&E itself earlier this year unveiled its WaveConnect project to build two 40-megawatt wave farms, one off Humboldt and the other off the Mendocino County coast. Chevron (CVX) dived in last July with a plan for a Humboldt wave farm to be built by Scotland’s Ocean Power Delivery — now called Pelamis Wave Power — before abruptly pulling its application a month later.

Over the past two months there’s been a new flurry of applications. New Jersey’s Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT) in November filed for a FERC permit for a 20-megawatt “wave energy park” to be located off the Humboldt coast. And a newcomer to the wave energy business called GreenWave Energy Solutions has filed permit applications for wave farms off Mendocino and the Central Coast town of Moro Bay in San Luis Obispo County. (The Thousand Oaks, Calif., company lists a San Francisco attorney as its president and it was registered by a Southern California developer.)

Before Finavera can begin construction of the Humboldt wave farm it must first spend two to three years completing environmental impact studies and negotiating with local, state and federal regulators. While obtaining financing for wave-energy projects using untried technology is difficult, Finavera will have one advantage over its competitors: a long-term power purchase agreement with one of the United States ‘largest utilities.

“This PPA is a vote of confidence from PG&E that we can do get the project done,” says Bak.

This image of the pygmy forest includes people for scale.

Not only do we have the tallest trees in the world, but believe it or not, we also have a forest of the shortest trees in the world. The pygmy forest where mature, cone-bearing cypress and pine trees stand 6 inches to 8 feet tall. A pygmy foest is a forest which, for pedological and egeological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests are usually associated with the coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern California.

From Stevenswood Lodge you would take the Fern Canyon trail which divides in 2 1/2 miles; take the old logging road trail a mile to the pygmy forest trail. The contrast from the lush redwood forest to the stunted cypress and Bolander pine is almost alarming.

The Pygmy Forest in Van Damme State Park, for example, is an oligotrophic community caused by podzolized (nutrient-poor, highly acidic) soils. Underlying this relatively inhospitable soil is a clay hardpan. A combination of uplift and changes in ocean level formed a system of terraces, resulting in an “ecological staircase,” with each terrace approximately 100,000 years older than the one below it and supporting a distinct association of soils, microbes, plants, and animals. The pygmy forest in this case formed on the oldest stable surface where soils are approximately 500,000 years old. Each terrace is relatively level, which prevents draining and allows rainwater to leach many of the nutrients away. Over time, this results in extremely high acidity. Analyses of pygmy forest soils show low levels of macro and micro nutrients, and high levels of exchangeable aluminum, which limits the ability of plants to grow. Low pH conditions support formation of an iron hardpan, preventing the trees from setting deep roots and preventing internal drainage of soil water. As a result, the pine trees in the area are rarely more than three or four feet high, in a sort of natural bonsai effect. Many of the tree trunks, though only an inch thick, contain 80 or more growth rings. Only yards away, but with younger soils, the same species of tree grows many dozens of feet high.

Samples of what the sand at glass beach looks like.

Glass Beach on the Mendocino coast is one of the most unique beaches in the world, not because nature created it that way, but because time and the pounding surf have beautified the mistake humankind had made.

Beginning in 1949, the area around Glass Beach became a public dump known locally as “the dump”. It is hard to believe during these days, that people all dumped all kinds of refuse straight into the ocean, including old cars, and their hosehold garbage, which of course included lots of glass. By the early 60’s, some attempts were made to control what was dumped, and dumping toxic items was banned. Then finally in 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board realized what a mistake it was and plans were begun for a new dump site away from the ocean.

30 years later, and now Mother Nature has reclaimed this beach. Years of pounding wave action have deposited tons of polished glass onto the beach. You can still occasionally see reminders of its earlier life, such as rusted metal, but for the most part what you will see is millions of pieces of glass sparkling in the sun. For many years, a steady stream of visitors collected glass to take home. Finally, before this unique sight was lost forever, the State Parks took it over, and removing glass is now prohibited.

Also Glass Beach has a very interesting array of tide pools to explore. Crabs, mollusks, and many aquatic plants make their homes in these ever changing environments.

There are no fees such as entrance fee or parking fee to visit this unique beach.

What is that white building with the sign that says Little River Improvement Club, the one with the red geranium in the window? Is it a private club? Who belongs to it?

“I’ve been asked those questions again and again,” says Elma Bryant, the 95-year-old president of the board of directors that owns and stewards Little River’s community center. “Improvement Club is the name they gave community centers and service organizations in the 1880s when that building was built, it’s the name of a non-profit organization and the building,” she states firmly, and a story begins to unfold.

It starts in Maine in 1864. Lincoln was president, and the Civil War was ending. Isaiah Stevens, a widower, married Rebecca Coombs, and they left for California with three of Isaiah’s six children: Etta Emily, Rebecca and Rachel. Etta’s diary recounts the trip.

“June 4, 1864: Father and Rachel went to Windham, Maine to see his aged mother. June 20: Oh, how hard it is to leave our dear home, friends and loved ones for Cal and strangers. We boarded the Eastern Queen steamer, went out the Kennebec River into Atlantic Ocean and up to Boston last night. July 2: We had a pleasant time going across the Isthmus of Panama. Came on board the steamer Constitution. July 18: Entered the Golden Gate and got into San Francisco. July 20: Took the stage … stopped for (lunch) at Healdsburg and arrived at Cloverdale at 6 o’clock. July 22: Traveled in express wagon and part in a covered stage, us young folks had to walk up most hills. July 23: Got to Little River at 9 a.m.”

The diaries go on to tell how the family thrived in Little River; the daughters married, the community grew, and in 1885 Isaiah donated a part of his farm to build a town hall. He gave the land to the Independent Order of Good Templars to oversee and maintain. The Little River mill donated the lumber: old growth redwood exterior planks two inches thick and massive beams to frame the building. The men of the community gathered and built the hall, the women brought them lunch.

Etta and Rachel’s diaries tell of parties, funerals, fiddle music and dancing, women’s club and fraternal organization meetings, an annual Christmas bazaar to raise money for improvements and needy families, and the bell in its tower that rang in the new year.

“An earthquake shook the building completely off its foundation, but it was so solid, it suffered no other damage. The men just jacked it up and put new supports under it,” says president Elma, “but that was way before my time.”

The Independent Order of Good Templars was the town’s fraternal organization, and the women formed Little River’s only other service organization: the Little River Improvement Club. In 1914 Etta’s diary notes: “November, 1914: Voting at Hall for a dry county. The local Good Templars, having accomplished their goals, disbanded, and maintenance and management of the hall fell to the women of the town’s Improvement Club.”

The community continued to use the building. It housed the first telephone switchboard. The women opened a library in the hall, had community Christmas events, voting, meetings and parties. The Improvement Club got the community together to maintain the cemetery. When the Little River School burned, the students were moved into the Improvement Club Hall until a new school was built. The postmistress ran a hose from her house to the building so it would have water. Electricity came, cars happened, Highway 1 was widened, and the men of Little River met at the hall to set up sentries to guard the coast during World War I and II. The women met to knit bandages and socks for soldiers and had fund-raising events to support the Red Cross.

“May 23, 1918: I made more cookies for Red Cross party tonight although too lame and miserable (from shingles) to go to the Hall. Sunday, May 23, 1920: Telephone meeting at Hall. Mr. Mallory, Sr. elected president.”

Progress happened, the town aged. The Little River mills and businesses burned, were rebuilt, and finally closed as the timber resource was used up and the local industry evolved into a larger, centralized mill in Fort Bragg. The women of the Improvement Club continued to meet at the hall and organize community improvement projects, a new roof for the building, signage for Little River, and support for community families.

In the 50s the board of directors of the Improvement Club officially bought the building by paying back taxes and became a non-profit whose goal it is to maintain and preserve the building and to improve the community of Little River. In the 70s Warren Zimmer used it as an art gallery and offered classes in the hall. But as the building got older it became more and more expensive to maintain and donated labor and materials became scarce. It lacked water and sanitary facilities, and the kitchen’s wood cook stove was uniquely unattractive for parties and events. The county stopped using it as a polling place in the 1990s, and as the world moved into a new century, the proud old building stood cold, damp and closed.

New businesses and new people came to the coast. Isaiah Steven’s original home became a bed and breakfast, and owners Higgins and Sharon Williams generously painted the Improvement Club building, kept the windows washed, and donated an easement to provide water.

“It’s a beautiful old building,” notes Sharon, “it’s a part of our history and it deserves a little attention.”

Today the Little River Improvement Club building is the last structure in Little River with its full historic integrity intact, but it needs a new foundation in order to return to public use.

New members have joined the Improvement Club board and provided the support needed to launch the community on a program to put in a new foundation, spruce up the interior, and reopen the building. They envision a small museum area to house Etta and Rachel’s diaries, along with furniture, papers and materials that comprise Little River’s history, with a kitchen and space for gatherings.

Two rummage sales and a small grant have launched the restoration fund. We have 15 percent toward the goal of a new foundation. The Little River Improvement Club invites the community and interested persons to receive our newsletter and join us in our efforts to save Little River’s historic community center. Please contact us at 937-2545 or email us at LRIC@mcn.org.

By Ronnie James, vice president, Little River Improvement Club

Journal 8 - May 7 (Day 42)

Cameraman Emmerichs has another trying day on the set, as Frank has storyboarded Sc. 133 (Ext. Train Depot: Doc gives something to Pete from Adele) as a Steadicam shot. The entire 1 1/4 page scene will be done from varying angles with Emmerichs’ 70-lb. rig.

We have but two more days here in Ft. Bragg before heading back to Los Angeles and home for virtually every member of the crew (not including yours truly, who hails from Chicago).

Frank and the two Davids (David T., our cinematographer, along with colleague David E., the camera operator, as Frank distinguishes between the pair) all huddle on the train platform to discuss the scene. By 9:00 a.m., the five actors required for today’s first sequence (Messrs. Carrey, Stiers, Allen Garfield returning for the first time since a brief appearance in Ferndale; and the F.B.I. agents Doyle and Von Bargen) report for a “first team” (as the cast is always labeled by the assistant directors’ crew) rehearsal.

Frank puts the cast through their paces while cameraman Emmerichs views the action through his trusty viewfinder, allowing him to select the appropriate lens while getting a sense of how to maneuver his Steadicam.

Actor Garfield is also a legend of sorts, having appeared in some of the most memorable films of the 1970s like Robert Altman’s “Nashville” and Francis Ford Coppola’s classic, “The Conversation,” both Oscar contenders in their respective years (1975 and ‘74).

He chats briefly with Frank on how he sees playing the scene from the perspective of his character, screenwriter Peter Appleton’s Hollywood agent, Leo Kubelsky Sc. 133 calls for Appleton to board the train back to Los Angeles to answer the call to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Before boarding the train (he is hours late, giving his agent and the two F.B.I. agents hot on his trail, a moment of anxiety), Doc Stanton gives him something to read on the train (check in tomorrow for the train sequence).

Once filming commences at 11:00 a.m., Emmerichs adroitly dances around his actors while manning his cumbersome Steadicam, take after take (he definitely earns his salary on days like these). Frank wraps the scene at 3:00 p.m. before heading back to the Point Cabrillo lighthouse for a majestic sunset shot of stars Carrey and Holden atop the lighthouse platform overlooking the Pacific.

Once again, dolly grip Jamie Young (working with key grip Mall’s crew) assembles the Lenny Arm III crane, adding several joints to build it to a length of about fifty feet. The shot Frank has designed for just one shot today is a beauty — Luke and Adele walk onto the lighthouse platform just as the sun descends over the horizon. Young commandeers the movement of the crane upwards toward the lighthouse platform while cameraman Emmerichs drives the wheels at the Hothead controls that spin the camera into position.

The sweeping camera move, which captures the setting sun and lands just as Carrey and Holden stop to chat while looking out to sea, is breathtaking. Such crane choreography (and the proficiency of professionals Emmerichs and Young) always lends majesty to a movie.

While Frank calls for several takes due to the tricky camerawork involved, still photographer Nelson stands by (out of camera range on the narrow stairwell) awaiting approval to get atop the lighthouse to shoot sixteen plate shots of the setting sun and the green and purple shades of light that bathe the sky at dusk. Nelson’s special photography will allow Frank to complete close-ups of his two stars back on a Hollywood sound stage (if necessary) using a replica of the lighthouse (designed by Greg Melton) against a huge photo backdrop called a “translight.”

To wind down our day, Nelson and I dine at another acclaimed Mendocino eatery, Stevenswood Lodge, where we bump into Jim Carrey. We chat briefly with him at an adjoining table, and are surprised to find the actor has generously picked up our check as well. No wonder Carry sampled some of my delectable dessert (chocolate soufflé cake under a bed of rum ice cream on a plate drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces). Had I known he was buying tonight, I would have saved him more of my dessert.

However, after sampling my dish, he turns to see who else is still dining in the restaurant, and jokes that maybe he will taste everybody else’s dessert.

 Welcome to the opera!  From its inception in 1996, Opera Fresca has demonstrated a strong, unparalled commitment to fulfilling out mission to make opera accessible to a wide audience at a high level of artistry and performance. Much of the success of Opera Fresca’s distinctive and unique style is the remarkable result of wonderful voices, chamber orchestra, world-class musical and artistic direction, and the generosity and support of our creative, caring coastal community. We thank all of you! 

Now, as we present our tenth season, we can be proud of all we have accomplished in these ten years. Together, through our dedicated efforts, we have achieved tremendous growth and success. Opera Fresca is increasingly recognized as tracking the future of the arts on the Mendocino Coast. As Artistic/General Director, I am committed to an infinite vision for Opera Fresca, continually expanding the horizons of our knowledge, our talents and our skills. I am committed to ensuring that Opera Fresca develops the kind of stamina and character necessary to achieve our goals. Success in any worthwhile endeavor is a marathon, not a sprint!

To that end, we have expanded our Opera Access Educational Outreach Program to include live performance presentations in Mendocino County Schools, and the offering of Opera Access tickets to Sonoma County Schools. Our new Emerging Artists Program, with the assistance of Opera America’s Music! Words! Opera! Program, will be presenting opera workshops featuring national opera educators, Elizabeth Vrenios and Richard Crittenden, who has recently been recognized as the leading Goldovsky educator. These workshops will be made available to young singers from all over the country.

Since 1997, College of the Redwoods, Mendocino Coast, has generously sponsored our annual opera production classes. Opera Fresca now performs our mainstage productions in the Center Theater at Mendocino College, Ukiah.

In these uncertain times, Opera Fresca continues to lead with heart, to inspire and to nurture the spirit of joy and vitality that we are privileged to enjoy here on the Mendocino Coast. Opera Fresca has consistently challenged our prior accomplishments with new directions, and new definitions. Opera Fresca clearly speaks to a new definition of our shared strengths.

I wish to express my profound thanks to everyone who has collaborated on this production. They are truly a world-class team. It has been, and continues to be, not just my passion, but my privilege to work with all of them.             

Clare Barca Artistic/General Director

Look for these coming productions. http://operafresca.com/season_current.html

Theatrical excellance since 1977. Located in the village of Mendocino, the Mendocino Theatre Company has been producing high quality theatre for 30 years. The Company performs in the intimate 88 seat Mendocino Theatre, producing a variety of plays ranging from great literary classics to modern comedies and from much performed chestnuts to original dramas.

This year they have transformed there season schedule to offer an exciting array of shows to compliment there regular mainstage productions. They will be having extra productions in between there mainstage productions. They have organized and exciting array of smaller, more streamlined productions for our enjoyment. They will also be holding benefit productions and will be starting new in 2007 Jumpstart! Young People’s Theatre summer productions and also the theatre will be one of the Mendocino Film Festival’s movie venues.

Join them in there 2007 season and discover the joy of live theatre! Check out there current 2007 schedule. http://mendocinotheatre.org/2007season.html

ANDERSON VALLEY WINEGROWERS ASSOCIATION

Presents

2^nd INTERNATIONAL ALSACE VARIETALS FESTIVAL 

Philo, CA – The Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association (AVWA) is proud to announce its second International Alsace Varietals Festival, which will take place on February 3 & 4, 2007. 
Twenty-four wineries from around the world will participate in this second annual festival celebrating Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc crafted in the classic style of these noble Alsace varietals.   
Anderson Valley, because of its cool climate, provides ideal growing conditions for Alsace varietals.  Navarro Vineyards and Husch Vineyards, two of the earliest producers, began by planting Alsace varietals in the 1970’s.  Today there are more producers of Alsace Varietal wines in Anderson Valley, including Breggo Cellars, Claudia Springs Winery, Esterlina Vineyards, Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Handley Cellars, Lazy Creek Vineyards, Londer Vineyards and Raye’s Hill Vineyards & Winery. 
Participating wineries from outside the area include: Alexander Valley Vineyards (CA), Amity (OR), Banyan (CA), Chateau Ste Michelle (WA), Chehalem (OR), Clairborne & Churchill (CA), Domaine Charles Bauer (FR), Domaines Schlumberger (FR), Foris (OR), Joseph Fritsch (FR), McFadden Farms (CA), Thomas Fogarty (CA) and V. Sattui (CA). 
On Saturday, February 3, the main event of the festival will be a grand tasting and lunch from 12:00PM to 3:00PM at Scharffenberger Cellars in Philo.  This will be preceded in the morning by a technical conference, hosted by Sarah Bennett of Navarro Vineyards. 
On Saturday evening a Winemakers Dinner will be held at Handley Cellars featuring Alsatian varietal wines from local and not-so-local producers.  The dinner will feature foods from around the world that compliment Alsatian varietal wines. 
The weekend will conclude on Sunday, February 4, with a series of open houses at Anderson Valley wineries – featuring special tastings, educational talks, vineyard tours, music, food and Alsace-style wines available for purchase. 
Tickets and further information for the Second International Alsace Varietals Festival are now available at www.avwines.com

Free shuttle service from Stevenswood Lodge for the events to Anderson Valley 2nd International Alsace Varietals Festival for February 3 & 4

Big River now belongs to the people of California. Over $26 million in public and private funds was raised by the tireless work and dedication of the folks at Mendocino Land Trust and Michael Lebeau of the Trust for Wildland Communities. Big River’s 7,400 acres of watershed and estuary was rated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as one of the top four conservation projects under its jurisdication. Big River’s watershed comprises some of the best timber ground on the planet. The purchase of Big River presented an unusual opportunity to link coastal habitats to inland habitats on a landscape scale, greatly enhancing conservation efforts on adjacent state lands through cooperative management, support of scientific research, and by facilitating management of the entire acreage as an ecological system.

The Big River, which flows into the ocean just south of Mendocino, wasn’t named for the breadth of its channel but for the size of the redwoods that once grew along its bank. In 2002 the 7,334 acre Big River Unit was added to Mendocino Headlands State Park. The addition of the Big River Unit to the California State Park system creates a 7,400 acre wildlife corrider which links diverse coastal and inland habitats into the largest piece of connected public land entirely within Mendocino County.

Reaching from the river’s mouth to 800 foot elevation inland ridges, the Big River wetland property includes a wide range of habitats. State lands surround it on three sides. On the north it adjoins Jackson Demonstration State Forest and Mendocino Woodlands State Park.

Big River is protected and is the only major undeveloped navigable estuary remaining in Northern California. Unlike the undeveloped portions of other rivers Big River is accessible. Big River is a place of gentle tidal flows, mist-laden redwoods, and tucked-away marshes. It is home to an amazing array of wildlife, and it has a history as a resource and a respite for humans as well.

The property’s unique natural resources include:

• 1,500 acres of wetlands, including brackish, freshwater, saltwater, and fresh emergent marshes, the 8.3 mile long estuary, and associated riparian habitats.
• 27 endangered, threatened, or species of concern.
• 60,000 acres of connected wildlife habitat between this and adjacent public land, and over 100 miles of joined trails.
• 50 miles of Big River and its tributaries, home to Dungeness and shore crab, freshwater mussels, ghost shrimp, river otter, beaver, harbor seals, and over 22 fish species including coho and steelhead salmon, bocaccio, starry flounder, Pacific halibut, Pacific herring, eulachon, buffalo and prickly sculpin, and 7 species of surfperch.
• Over 130 bird species recorded to date, including Osprey, Northern “Spotted Owl, Golden Eagle, Yellow Warbler, Purple Martin, Vaux’s Swift, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Olive-sided and Pacific-slope Flycatchers.
• It is the longest undeveloped estuary in northern California.
• Significant, untapped archeological resources throughout the property.
• High diversity of plant communities including Northern Coastal Salt Marsh, Coastal Brackish Marsh, mudflats, coastal and valley freshwater marsh, costal scrub, riparian forests, Coastal Redwood Forest, Bishop Pine Forest, Grand Fir Forest, Mendocino Pygmy Cypress Forest, Coastal Coniferous Forest, and mixed hardwood/conifer forest, as well as five aquatic plant associations.
• 27 sensitive plant species, identified on Big River property quadrangles, and which are likely to be positively identified in future surveys.
• At least 32 mammals including river otter, black bear, beaver, mountain lion, bobcat, mink, ring-tailed cat, long and short tailed weasel, little brown bat, gray fox, harbor seal, and the red tree vole.
• 60 acre Laguna Marsh, and unusual inland and extensive fresh-emergent wetland representing one of the most productive habitats on earth.