- Happy Holidays from Sonoma RCD Board and Staff
- Make a Tax-Deductible Gift and Support Conservation in 2025
- Mill Creek Rainwater Catchment: A Step Toward Resilient Watersheds
- Restoration and Inspiration: FARMS Leadership with STRAW
- We are Recruiting Associate Directors
- Welcome to our new Regional Forest Health Program Manager: Alex Cunha
- Plus Hiring, Community Engagement, Events, & More!
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Happy Holidays from the Sonoma RCD Board and Staff
As we celebrate this holiday season, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our incredible network of supporters. Your trust and partnership have been vital in supporting our work of bridging the needs of the community and natural resources by empowering people through reliable expertise and action to strengthen the resilience of Sonoma County.
This season, we send our warmest wishes as you celebrate the close of 2024 and welcome the new year with hope and purpose. Thanks to the dedication of our funders, community members, board of directors, and staff, we have made great strides towards creating a thriving, resilient county – for critters, creeks, and all who call Sonoma County home!
Thank you for being part of our journey.! Happy Holidays, and we will see you in 2025!
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Make a Tax-Deductible Gift and Support Conservation in 2025
As the year comes to a close, consider making a tax-deductible gift to Sonoma RCD to support vital conservation work in our community. Your donation helps protect and enhance Sonoma County’s lands, waters, and wildlife, ensuring a thriving, resilient landscape for generations to come.
By giving today, you not only contribute to a healthier environment but may also benefit from potential year-end tax savings. It’s a win-win for you and your community!
Make your impact this season by donating directly on our website: sonomarcd.org/support-your-rcd. Together, we can achieve even more in 2025. Thank you for your support!
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Mill Creek Rainwater Catchment: A Step Toward Resilient Watersheds
As the winter season takes hold, our water resources team has been diligently working to finish up construction on rainwater collection projects. With the assistance of Trout Unlimited, we were able to design and construct five rainwater catchment systems in the Mill Creek watershed.
These systems will be used to offset well or spring water use, which can reduce the availability of surface flow in Mill Creek. These projects will collect between 10,000 and 30,000 gallons of rainwater during the winter season for landowners to use during the annual dry seasons on their landscapes.
In preparation for the rainy season, we checked in on the progress of construction at several of these sites. Cecile Isaacs is a landowner who lost her home in the 2020 Walbridge Fire. One of the major reasons Cecile decided to install a rainwater catchment system was to do her part in maintaining Mill and Palmer Creeks as wild fish friendly. She values fish habitat restoration, especially as Mill Creek is in the process of rebuilding.
In total, the rainwater tanks we constructed this year will save 85,000 gallons of rainwater through the winter storms. This water will be critical to restoring and maintaining habitat in Mill Creek next summer. Thank you to all who have made this construction season possible and let’s get those tanks filled!
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Restoration and Inspiration: FARMS Leadership with STRAW
For over 25 years, our FARMS Leadership program has built lasting connections with local businesses, organizations, farmers, teachers, and most -importantly - students. As the program has evolved, we have been fortunate to collaborate with other locally based conservation initiatives, such as Point Blue Conservation Science’s STRAW program.
STRAW (Students & Teachers Restoring A Watershed) was founded in 1992 to restore habitats and watersheds through hands-on learning. Each year, our FARMS cohort participates in a STRAW-led restoration project, giving students a unique opportunity to explore careers in conservation and restoration.
In November, we visited Open Field Farm in Petaluma, where our fall TEAM elementary field trips are also hosted. Students worked alongside STRAW staff to plant native trees along a creek bed to help slow runoff which promotes groundwater recharge while simultaneously preventing erosion.
Students also connected with FARMS alumni who now work for Point Blue. Alum shared the pathways that led them to their current roles, including the importance of the FARMS program! It is moments like these – when past and present students inspire each other – that highlight the importance of providing networking opportunities and mentorship within outdoor education.
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We are Recruiting Associate Directors!
We are recruiting to add Associate (non-voting) Directors to our Board to build a pipeline of Directors (voting) and diversify our Board to reflect the communities we serve. Volunteering as an Associate Director with the RCD is an opportunity to help make conservation happen on the ground by supporting an organization with a proven track record in the community.
You can view the Board of Directors Volunteer Position Description here. We encourage you to attend an RCD Board meeting to get to know us better. Meetings are generally held on the fourth Thursday of the month at 10:30 am, currently, Zoom attendance is an option, but in-person attendance is preferred for Associate Directors (voting Director’s must attend in person). Meeting information, including agenda and Zoom link, is posted on our website at least 72 hours prior to each meeting.
Download the Associate Director Application Form and submit it by email to ckuehn@sonomarcd.org or by mail to 1221 Farmers Lane, Suite F, Santa Rosa, CA 95405.
To be eligible to fill a future Director (voting) vacancy, applicants must (1) reside within the district and either own real property in the district or have served, under the district’s rules, for two years or more as an associate director providing advisory or other assistance to the board of directors, or (2) be a designated agent of a resident landowner within the district.
The Board anticipates reviewing Associate Director applicants at its January 23, 2025, board meeting, which will be held at 10:30 am. To ensure consideration at that meeting, interested applicants must apply by January 10th, 2025 at 11:59 pm. If you have questions, please contact Christine Kuehn, Executive Director at ckuehn@sonomarcd.org.
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Welcome to our new Regional Forest Health Program Manager: Alex Cunha!
Alex Cunha is the new Regional Forest Health Program Manager for the North Coast Durable Collaborative – a group of 11 North Coast RCDs that came together in 2019 to better coordinate shared conservation efforts across the region. Alex's position is housed at the Humboldt RCD and works in close contact with Sonoma RCD. He is excited to support Sonoma's all-star forest and wildfire resilience staff working to restore resilient forest ecosystems in Sonoma County.
Prior to joining the RCDs, he worked at the Oregon Department of Forestry as a Forester and also in Eastern Montana as a Community Organizer. Alex was raised in Humboldt and has previously lived in Santa Rosa, where he enjoyed kayaking down the Russian River and playing rugby for the Santa Rose Rugby Club. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University and in his free time enjoys going to the beach, eating burritos, and exploring the North Coast's towns and wild places with his wife Sara. We are elated to have Alex join our North Coast RCD team!
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Engineer
The engineer position offers an exciting opportunity to apply engineering and project management skills to a meaningful and impactful work setting. The individual will work with a dynamic team of professionals, with a variety of projects in pursuit of multiple resource goals such as water quality, drought and fire resilience, soil health, and climate-beneficial farming. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
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North Coast Soil Hub: Advancing Healthy Soils in Sonoma County
The North Coast Soil Hub recently published its newsletter, highlighting agricultural projects supported by Zero Foodprint’s CDFA Healthy Soils Program grant. The North Coast Soil Hub is an agriculturally focused network that addresses region-specific needs, successes, and challenges. We at the Sonoma RCD are part of their coordinating and advisory team, alongside other RCDs, NRCS offices, UCCE, SRJC, the Carbon Cycle Institute, industry organizations, and North Coast farmers and ranchers.
Under this grant, North Coast Hoil Hub distributed over $1.9 million to 52 farms and ranches in Sonoma County, with 16 of those grants awarded to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. These projects represent significant strides in promoting soil health and sustainable agriculture in our community.
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Insights from the 10th Annual Latino Farmer Conference
Last month, Karen Saler, Community Engagement Assistant, attended the 10th annual Latino Farmer Conference. This year’s conference took place in the Central Coast of California. It highlighted the sustainable agriculture and conservation efforts of Latino farmers through the assistance of local, state, and federal partners.
As part of the conference, Karen toured farms in the Salinas Valley and heard firsthand from farmers about the positive impact organizations like RCDs, CAFF, California FarmLink, and NRCS have had on their success as beginning farmers. The Resource Conservation District of Monterey County helped fund conservation work on the farms, including projects focused on soil health, irrigation systems, cover crops, and pollinator-geared hedgerows. Farmers were grateful and spoke highly of the assistance their local RCD office provided, encouraging participants to reach out to their local RCD.
The conference included sessions for beginner Latino farmers to learn more about soil health in relation to productive farming habits, farming cooperatives, financial assistance through loans geared towards farmland, water resource management, and livestock operations.
Karen was excited to represent the Sonoma RCD and share our ongoing work to support Sonoma County farmers and ranchers. As we continue to prioritize building trusting relationships with Latino farmers and ranchers, we are energized to see the benefits of more and more community members become aware of Sonoma RCD as a beneficial resource for their operations.
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Sonoma County is Seeking Input for its Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
The Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management is updating the 2021 Hazard Mitigation Plan. The projects identified will reduce vulnerability and increase community resilience to disasters. The plan will focus on the safety of existing and future buildings, infrastructure, and critical facilities that could be impacted by natural disasters.
As part of the plan development, the county is asking the public to contribute to the planning process by taking a survey. The questions are only for information gathering and responses will be shared with municipal, state, federal, and county governments for planning purposes only. To learn more about the planning process, visit the Sonoma Department of Emergency Hazard Mitigation page here.
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Survey for Private Landowners on Mitigating Wildfires in California
Researchers from Penn State University, in collaboration with the University of California Cooperative Extension, are conducting a survey of private landowners in California, funded by the Joint Fire Science Program. The survey aims to better understand your views and intentions to mitigate wildfire hazards in California, either through fuel treatments or prescribed burning. It takes about 20 – 25 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses are strictly confidential, and participation is voluntary. Thank you very much, your input matters!
To take the survey, please visit the study website: https://sites.psu.edu/firesurvey/.
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QWEL Rainwater Training Program
Sonoma County Water Agency
January 8-10th
8:00 - 4:00 pm
Free to Attend
404 Aviation Blvd. Santa Rosa, CA
This QWEL (Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper) training program will introduce landscape installers and other water system professionals to the basics of rainwater catchment system design and installation. Registration closes 12/29/24.
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California Forest Stewardship Workshop
Sonoma RCD & UCCE
Tuesdays from January 21 to March 18th
6:00-7:30 pm
$60
Online with one in-person day on February 22nd
We are excited to be co-hosting a California Forest Stewardship Workshop! In addition to the synchronous Zoom meetings on Tuesdays, there will be learning modules and short activities for participants to complete. The in-person field day will cover silviculture, forest inventory, and mapping activities. Participants who complete the workshop will be eligible for a free site visit with a California Registered Forester.
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Webinar: Grazing Strategies for Cities & Municipalities
Thursday, January 30th
2:00 - 3:30 pm
Free to Attend
Virtual
This webinar, hosted by Gold Ridge RCD and Sonoma Ag + Open Space, will focus on the role of grazing in wildfire resilience and vegetation management. It will recap Petaluma's grazing initiative, including completed work, lessons learned, and challenges faced. Speakers include Delana Bradford, City of Petaluma's Management Analyst, Drew Halter, Director of Parks and Recreation, and Sarah Keiser, Wild Oat Hollow's Founder.
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Conservation at Work with LandSmart®
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