Friends of Enchanted Meadow
About Us

2019 Autumn - Winter 2020 onward into 2021...

We have current litigation challenging Mendocino Redwood Company's (MRC) approved timber harvest plan (THP) 1-19-00070 Men. This THP does not fully disclose the existence of Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary (EMWS). It is only referred to as a seasonal wet meadow- when in fact it is a year round wetlands and was approved without a botanical survey.


Trees on Left are part of THP
- T. Wodetzki Photo, Nov. 2019

This THP denies it's close proximity to a California listed Wild and Scenic River, the Albion, and claims timber operations probably won't negatively impact the river, which is and has been red flagged as a 303.d impaired waterway due to excessive sedimentation caused by previous logging. Logging above EMWS begins on the east side of Pleasant Valley Gulch outward along the the Albion River's south side and easterly into Duck Pond Gulch, over a mile in length of this THP shares a contiguous boundary with the EMWS!

In 2020 MRC plans to log 296 acres of forest in Deadman's Gulch, one river bend west of Railroad and Pleasant Valley Gulch, on the Albion River's north side. This cut will negatively impact all three of our sanctuaries. Ravens' Call is adjacent to Deadman's Gulch, the Albert Cattalini Conservancy is the lower elevation portion of Deadman's Gulch and river bottom riparian corridor for Deadman's Creek which flows into the Albion River at Half Moon Trestle, an enclave of the larger EMWS. Half Moon Trestle was degraded by MRC's massive mudslide due to their mismanaged haul road in 2018. The clean up ordered by the Regional Water Quality board is still pending.


EMWS Trees across river scheduled to be logged





2021, MRC plans to re enter Slaughterhouse Gulch (SHG) and further decimate it with a 235 acre cut. Today if one was to hike up inside SHG from the river bottom you'd find a tangled array of dead, fallen trees, as if a giant had plucked them up and played pick-up-sticks. You'd discover a “hack and squirt” ossuary. Poisoned, dead, fallen and standing eucalyptus trees, bone white, the perfect wildfire tender in waiting to threaten the safety of nearby residents and property on RD 16, RD 18 and Sundew Lane. Often found in this vicinity are small, dead mammals, tree shrews and moles.

MRC is planning to return to Duck Pond Gulch on the south side of the Albion River in 2021 and cut an additional 331 acres. EMWS ecosystem is under threat of further degradation by MRC's logging practices. All our sanctuaries are under threat; wildlife and plant life habitat, water quality and visual resources will be compromised, irreparably harmed.

Such a forecast is formidable. 860 acres of forest adjacent to our sanctuary lands are slated to be logged. The collateral damage will be ecologically devastating if we don't defend the vulnerable wild life, forest and wetland habitat. This is menacing problem that cannot be ignored and a battle that must be fought.


Ridgetop trees removed to put in logging road




We are a charitable non profit organization which is funded by the public's generosity. Please help us by donating to our legal fund now through PayPal on this website or mail checks to FOEM, P.O. Box 271, Little River, CA 95456.

If you're interested in volunteering your help to our numerous projects: benefits, fundraising, on site projects, paralegal and THP analysis, offer professional services or join in our Enchanted Meadow hikes please contact us at info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org. Thank You.


2018



Enchanted Hikes

Sunday June 24
Up river to Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary
Easy hiking, level land on historic logging roads.

Sunday August 26
Hiking through Ravens Call forest to EMWS
Easy downslope to river, difficult upslope return.

2018 VOLUNTEER STEWARDSHIP
CAMP OUT EARTHDAY WEEKEND

Saturday April 21
Sunday April 22

Email us for more specific information to join us. info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org

 


 

March 20, 2016
Poetry Fundraiser Event

COME JOIN US

PLEASE DONATE $15 per Ticket
we will email you back a Thank You
with your ticket numbers

PayPal  

 

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
or at ICONS in Mendocino on Albion St.

QPoetryPoster

A quarter of a century ago,
Locked in litigative combat
with Louisiana Pacific Timber Corporation.
What's Afoot Gallery in Caspar hosted,
A Poetry Fundraiser and Bake Sale to help us save the forest.

Today this forest stands, saved from clear cutting; natural habitat areas are permanently protected and stewarded by the activists who rallied against LP's liquidation logging.

The Poets who helped fund our war chest twenty five years ago- 

Bill Bradd, James Patrick Donahue, Cynthia Frank
Lydia Rand, Joe Smith, ruth weiss 
Devreaux Baker, Gordon Black, Leonard Cirino, 
Karin Faulkner, Gerry Grace, Dobby Sommer 
Theresa Whitehill.


2016 - February – U P D A T E !

THANKS to everyone who chipped in and bought raffle tickets, every exchange was valued and appreciated.

The combined generosity of community folks, businesses and volunteers made our Winter 2016 Firewood Fundraiser a success. The raffle provided revenues to cover the property insurance
and District Fire Taxes into mid and late 2017.

With this expense no longer an issue we will focus on completing Elizabeth's Trail. This trail will allow for hiking from the Albion River bottom land to upslope conifer forest linking to the pygmy habitat in Ravens' Call, which is the highest of elevation
in the sanctuaries.

Winning Ticket #'s

626- Ed O'Brien, Mendocino Fire Chief won the firewood, he's donated it to the Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino and chosen a Kayaking Day for 4 up Big River, from Catch a Canoe.

142- Liz Helenchild, Dinner for 2 at the Ledford House
149- Liz Helenchild, $100 gift card from Wildfish
465- Gary Johnson, 3 hrs of handyman work from Karl Schoen
205- Don Speer, Ceramic art from Christopher Cisper
610- Penny Alves, 1 hr. Garden consultation by Ellen Athens
529- Derek, 1 hr. Garden consultation by Ellen Athens
490- Larry Johnson, River cruise for 4 from Union Pacific College
470- Cheryl Blume, Victorian Era Bracelet from Button Jewels
104- R. Karch, "Electric Tattooing for Men" by Madame Chinchilla
415- Betty Partridge, $25 gift card by "Edibles by Jacquelyn"
372- Joy Korstjens, Gift cert. for 2 meals at Queenie's in Elk
418- Timber, "Electric Tattooing for Women" by Madame Chinchilla
570- Shirley Frericks, $25 gift cert. from Albion Grocery
132- Danny Barca, $25 gift cert. from Albion Grocery
503- Karen Rakofsky, $25 gift card from Moody's Organic Coffee Bar
518- A. Thompson, Tshirt from World Famous Triangle Tattoo &   .......Museum
349- Ginny Stearns, $15 gift cert. from Tote Fete
606- Keri Bourne, "Enchanted Biscotti" locally baked by Zia.
360- Moonlight, "Enchanted Biscotti" locally baked by Zia

Thanks to the businesses and individuals who made this raffle possible by donating outstanding prizes.

Thanks to Edgar and Joshua who donated one summer morning and worked furiously hard and fast to retrieve the last of remaining the windfall fir.

Thanks to ticket sellers, The Cancer resource Center of Mendocino County and the Redwood Coast Seniors of Fort Bragg & FOEM volunteers: Allen, Cloud, Coyote, Daphne, Ellen, Judy, Kathy, Karl, Maria & Zia.

 



To see our Timeline of activities
from the present
to 1989 - CLICK HERE


To see our 2014 Recent Action page
CLICK HERE



Winter 2017

    Currently Greenpath is 3380' in length, zig zags with twenty five switchbacks and forty plus turns. A small work camp was created on the remote site by Nita Ishcomer, a task Hannibalistic in nature. All tools for trail making, necessities for camping and non essentials were packed in by foot. The camp, called Bri Valley was used throughout summer 2017 by our volunteer crew and when unoccupied, was twice ransacked and
destroyed by bears. 
    A vintage attache' case once filled with imported chocolate and teas had one side bashed out and the other grazed with claw marks. The bears deftly removed the tiny tops of small hot sauce bottles and left them empty, unscathed. In contrast the tin cans were ravaged, and ripped open in gnarly, jagged tears and stripped of all paper labels. 
    They ate everything, left a mess, hid tools and didn't bother to sort the garbage, what nerve! Who do they think they are? Possibly the landlords...  they collected their rent and we their temporary tenants humbly took out the trash. 
    Work on Greenpath will be ongoing through winter and spring 2018.
Many thanks to our local trail volunteers Rex Whipple, Trevor Roycroft, Chris Goodwin and visiting volunteers Rob Cattalini and Mark Babcock who arrived armed with gifts of a metal tine rake and tamper. 

Many Thanks to the following people in our community who generously
donated to our annual property insurance renewal through our online
fundraising campaign, mid July, 2017.
Names are in order of receipt of donations:
Rixanne Wehren, Morgan Matthews, Anna Marie Stenberg, Tom Wodetski,
Donna Fiener, Pattie De Matteo, Linda Jupiter, James Heid,
Devora Rossman, Steven Wolfe, Joshua Lowell, Christine Berchen,
Ginny Stearns, Carrie Durkee, Norman de Vall, Liz Helenchild,
Anne Marie Wiebel, Ruth and Joe Sparks, J.J. Anonymous, Lynda Aubrey,
Fort Bragg Garden Club, James Stavely, D.W. Anonymous, and
Helen Jacobs.

Hemitomes congestumHemitomes congestum – Photo Nita T. Ishcomer

    There's less barking in Ravens' Call and trail work on Greenpath is no longer interrupted by bouncing dogs who want to fetch sticks or nestle in the aromatic earth freshly shoveled.
    Maggie and Violet, Enchanted Meadow sanctuary dogs passed in 2016. Maggie was buried in Ravens' Call in January. Several months later, near her grave an unusual plant poked it's pink petals through a mantle of decaying tan oak leaves. It was identified as Hemitomes congestum. Violet was buried alongside her beloved companion in November.
    In 2017 this plant reappeared, multiplied tenfold, seemingly in floral tribute to both dogs who loved and understood this wilderness community on a frequency we humans are slow to comprehend.
    Hemitomes congestum, a dicot, is a perennial herb (mycoparasitic) native to California and found outside California but confined to western North America. Commonly called a Gnome plant, it seems apropos that Gnome plants would appear near Maggie's and Violet's graves for gnomes are dwarfish beings that guard buried treasure.

~ Zia Cattalini


 

Winter 2015/16 Firewood Fundraiser

    Last February's behemoth storm uprooted firs in Ravens' Call, a sanctuary forest of multi-aged mixed conifer and tan oak. One cord of this community defended resource, GMO free and sans chemical poisons is up for raffle.

    You need not be a burner of firewood to support this fundraiser.  Maybe you're toasty warm with propane heat, pellets, or have 2 cords of dry madrone in your woodshed... The Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino County and the Redwood Coast Senior Center are poised to accept your winnings and give to a deserving client.

    Tickets are $5 each or six for $25 and may be purchased at the Cancer Resource Center in Mendocino at 45040 Calpella St., 937-3833 and at the Senior Center in Fort Bragg at 490 N Harold St., 964-0443. Many thanks to the Cancer Resource Center and the Redwood Coast Senior Center for their enthusiastic support.
 
    We are a CA 501 (c3), and your appreciated contributions are tax deductible and will be applied to 2016 operating costs of three nature areas; Ravens' Call, the Albert Cattalini Conservancy and the Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary. Raffle drawing is February 20, prize list is available on request at info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org, Thank you.



Recent Actions 2015
by Zia Cattalini

     This February we had a tremendous storm that slammed Ravens' Call forest sanctuary. Windfall damage could be seen through out the Call. Broken branches obscured the GREENPATH, impaled in the earth were branches standing upright.
     We are dealing with the storm damage as we work various portions of the trail. Happy to report that the trail itself weathered the storm well, with no wash outs. Our goal this year is to complete GREENPATH. Thus far we are true to our intent of using only hand tools on this project. 
     A massive conjoined fir in Ravens' Call fell south about 30' in from an elevated embankment onto our road in the ACC. This cleanup will involve chainsaws and we hope to use the salvaged wood for fundraising. 

Traditional Biscotti
Nita inspects the windfall blocking
the Albert Cattalini Conservancy's road.

Railroad Gulch
Remnant train trestle at Railroad Gulch looking north.

 


2014

     Last October we acquired by gift the Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary from the Coastal Land Trust and we are so appreciative of their work as stewards of the wetlands. We are becoming familiar with the area at Railroad Gulch on the south side of the river. It is about 2x larger than Half Moon Trestle and more remote. The entire biology of this fascinating ecosytem is at risk due to Mendocino Redwood Company's plans to log immediately to the south; THP 1-14-080 a whopping spread of 758 acres! This logging will increase sedimentation into streams feeding the river through the wetlands, affecting the salmon habitat. 

     Thanks to the community input & opposition to this Timber Harvest Plan, a decision to approve or not has been delayed by Calfire and the public comment period has been reopened until 4-23-15.

     The Albion community is at risk. Many Homes are near by and there is no secondary egress route for evacuation if a wildfire engulfs Albion Ridge. The wildfire risk is accelerated due to drought conditions. The wildlife habitat is also at risk. There's only one road to enter or exit.

     More info is found at www.calfire.ca.gov and please send your public comments to:

santarosapubliccomment@fire.ca.gov  
You can make a difference. WRITE! 

Albino Redwood
MEADOW


Your generosity protects
the Purple Martin, a California Species of Special Concern. Thank you.



PLEASE DONATE

 



Mail your contribution, which is tax deductible to:
Friends of Enchanted Meadow / P.O. Box 271 - Little River, CA 95456

To contact us by email: info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org


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