Veronica had numerous tips for property owners who want to make their space more hospitable to songbirds. First of all, plant natives.  If you are able to keep a dead tree standing safely, do so. "Leave the leaves,” she said.  “Don’t feel compelled to rake them up.”  And, very importantly, try to preserve the dark night sky by eliminating unnecessary lighting.  A wealth of information is available on the NSCC website .

Bob Burke,
Board Member

Resources:
Songbirds, Native Plant Habitats & much more
https://nativesongbirdcare.org/
Learn about preserving the dark night sky Dark Sky
VIDEO of Veronica's talk will be available at a later time

On October 25, 2025 about 25 members and supporters of the Watershed Council met in the Sebastopol Library on a rainy Saturday to hear Nichole Warwick explain the hazards of biocides in our environment, and how to respond.

Nichole has a long list of credentials, having founded or co-founded several organizations concerned about the effects of biocides on our health and the health of our ecosystems, including Sonoma Safe Ag Safe Schools (SASS). She said she began to take action not as a scientist or activist, but when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37 as a mother of small children.  She first concentrated on the presence of biocides near schools. After managing to attract public attention to that hazard, she then addressed other public spaces like parks.

From 2021 to 2023, Nichole was a SASS Co-Principal Investigator on a study of the exposure potential from groundwater and air in the central part of our watershed that tested for 187 toxics from biocides (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides). With funding from the California Breast Cancer Research Program, data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and then analyzed by the University of California at San Francisco. To monitor biocide exposure in the air, six privately owned parcels were selected where small silicone bands were set up to detect pesticide drift. To measure exposure in ground water, two wells were monitored. The results of the study were published in 2023 report that can be found at https://www.sonomasass.org/_files/ugd/6612ef_4dba7873561547dcb02647b6b4beea7c.pdf

The general findings of the study showed that pesticide drift was detected at all sites sampled throughout the community of Graton.

SASS hopes to use the study report for education on the health risk of biocides and community conversation about biocides in our current agricultural system.  See the AGVWC Resources tab for more info on biocides and safer products and techniques for growing fruits, vegetables and ornamentals.

Nichole pointed out that acceptable levels of exposure to pesticides and other chemicals are set by the EPA; however, those levels are for an adult male weighing 180 pounds with a one-time exposure. She pointed out that those “acceptable” levels are very likely not acceptable for a small child who would be exposed for more than half the days of the year.

Activists alone cannot solve this problem, shared Nichole, “We need more voices at the table so we can find ways to work together, so we can change together; we need storytellers who will shine the light on the good things that are going on”.


Please check the Resources Page of the AGVWC Website for more information on Biocides in our watershed and safer, non-toxic alternatives.

Consider joining the Biocides Working Group of AGVWC and help plan for a local future with less toxics.  Contact Woody with questions or to join the working group.

On the clear sunny morning of May 10th, twenty or so native plant and bee lovers met up at the private garden of Michael and Carol Ellis to learn more about habitat for pollinators.  Michael and Carol have a wealth of knowledge from their involvement with the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association and personal experience from starting their garden from scratch.  

We learned Carol and Michael prepared an area for their new pollinator garden in early 2024.  They first killed the grass by layering cardboard, compost, mulch and more compost over four months to prepare the soil for planting.  Carol and Michael selected about 70% native flowering plants and 30% non native flowers so that both visiting honey bees and local pollinators, including native bees, would have food needed to thrive.  Without the non native plants, honey bees would be feeding on the native plants, the plants critical for native pollinators survival. 

Carol and Michael delighted us with fun facts about native bees who are extremely varied in size, pollinating style, home making and coloring.  
A few tidbits to wet your appetite for discovering more about native bees

• Leaf cutter bees cut rounded leaf pieces to line the inner walls of their nest burrow, look for perfect circles cut out of leaves on your plants
• Other species of natives bees collect leaf fuzz to line their nest burrow, lambs ear leaves have been used for this purpose
• Carpenter bees are gentle giants who tend to find holes in unpainted, untreated wood to burrow into to lay their eggs, we were assured that they will not destroy structures (but can be deterred by paint or stain)
• Some bees, like Bumble bees, are generalists and will use pollen from a wide variety of flowering plants
•  Other bees like squash bee (pollinators of cucurbit plants; squash, pumpkin, and zucchini) have some degree of specialization in foraging; they get pollen from only one or two families of flowering plants
• There are 4,000 species of native bees in the United States, with over 200 species in the Sonoma County area
• Native bees nest in a variety of places; in the ground, in tunnels in rock piles, in logs, in stems of some plants (so leave some stem when you are pruning/cutting down plants in your yard)  You can build/buy a house for mason bees, then order them online and follow the directions for having them live and reproduce in your garden
• Native bees are pollinators for vegetables, fruits and nuts

Carol highly recommended the documentary PBS Film:  My Garden of 1000 bees
“Taking refuge from the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn set out to record all the bees he could find in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England, filming them with one-of-a-kind lenses he forged on his kitchen table. See his surprising discoveries in My Garden of a Thousand Bees”
A huge thank you to Carol and Michael for hosting AGVWC at their garden and sharing their excitement and personal mission to provide pollinator habitat and to educate others about the importance of biodiversity of native pollinators and native plants as an important part of ecosystem health!  Carol has invited garden visitors from May 10th to visit the garden on their own in July/August to view summer blooms, come during business hours when the gates are open please.

Dena Allen
AGVWC Board Member

Additional Resources
    Xerces Society
    Flashcards of Native Bees of the Western US 
    Theadore Payne 
    CalFlora Nursery
    Willowside School Nursery

The Atascadero / Green Valley Watershed Council held its Quarterly Gathering with Lynda Hopkins last Saturday, with great success. We met up in the Lions Grove at Ragle Park, beneath the large, majestic oaks there.   We had a PA system, which meant we could all hear a lot more of the conversation. It's was good to see so many familiar faces at the gathering, and brand new people as well.

Lynda Hopkins
Lynda spoke briefly about the increased use in the county of artificial turf which sheds plastic micro-fibers and reduces groundwater recharge. She asked us to look for County efforts to regulate artificial turf use in the future. She also mentioned two voluntary groundwater monitoring programs  - Level Up! and Flow Smart - and spoke about the County's efforts to manage the flooding on Green Valley Road in a manner which is beneficial both to wildlife and to humans trying to drive through there.

Lynda quickly moved to Q&A, so we had a chance to ask plenty of questions and share our concerns about wildlife-friendly fencing, groundwater recharge, negative impacts to Green Valley Creek, and the planned asphalt plant in Forestville, to name a few.

Watershed Display at Ragle
Another highlight of the day, was a brand new display about our watershed which will soon be displayed permanently in Ragle Park on the main path near the gazebo that leads down toward the creek. Brian Michelsen of Sonoma County Regional Parks has been working with the County and the watershed council to create this display over many months and we are very pleased with the result.  Brian, who lives in our watershed, surprised us by bringing the full-sized (39" x 31") display to our meeting.

Working Groups
At the end of our gathering, we broke into working groups for focused discussion.  We formed these working groups at our last gathering, and we're just beginning to develop ideas:

• Salmon Restoration Working Group: This group is looking for ways to improve habitat for salmon in our watershed.  We discussed focusing restoration efforts on smaller, upland parcels, and on how to start reaching out to land owners.
  
• Fire/Water Land Management Working Group: We discussed the Firewise Neighborhood program where neighbors work together to do landscaping and home hardening to reduce the chance of fire and to help retain home insurance. We discussed a work party idea for helping a member put in a rain garden to sink more water in her yard.  Sinking & slowing water on our properties will also help retain moisture for fire safety and for the water cycle. We have an email group for communications.
  
• Asphalt Plant Working Group: Since the Environmental Impact Report for this project won't be published till sometime in 2026, we have time to raise awareness and educate the public. We talked about tabling at farmer markets, speaking at org events, writing letters to the editors, etc. We plan to stay in touch via email.
  
• Walking Our Watershed Working Group: We hope to create a days-long community walk through the watershed, similar Walking Water, from the high headlands of Atascadero Creek in south Sebastopol, through west Sebastopol, Graton, and Forestville, all the way to the mouth of Green Valley Creek (or perhaps to the mouth of the Russian River). We talked about how to start reaching out to landowners about this walk, and who might offer us inspiration, insight and support.
  

Thanks to all of our community members for showing up. Something's happening here!

- Jean Redus, AGVWC Board of Directors

Last Saturday, more than thirty Watershed Council members and friends met to hear a presentation from Joe Sybrian about the beaver-analog dams and other woody debris structures that he builds with Swift Water Design in remote mountain locations to restore creek systems. All the participants brought great energy and questions to the presentation and Mary Olswang, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, contributed a lot of valuable information about salmon recovery and how it relates to creek restoration.

Joe explained how creeks become degraded, with incised banks and loss of vegetation. He showed how woody-debris structures help to slow down and spread out the water, which increases water retention, gravel beds, and new plant growth, bringing the water and land back into balance.

After a short coffee-and-snack break, we circled up to share ideas, concerns and questions. The strong interest in some topics motivated all of us to break out into working groups, exchange email addresses, and discuss future plans. These groups focused on:
     *Salmon Restoration
     *Fire/Water Land Management
     *Proposed Asphalt Plant
     *Public Trust Protection
     *Pesticide Use

Please let us know if you would like your email address to be added to any of these working groups, or if you would like to view a recording of Joe’s talk.

- Jean Redus, Co-chair, AGVWC Board of Directors

Related Resources (thanks to Dena Allen and Mary Olswang):
     *Beavers and Wildfire Video
     *The Beaver Episode
     *CDFW Fish Bulletin 185: The Use of Low-Tech Process-Based Stream Habitat Restoration
     *CDFW Fish Bulletin 184: The Use of Large Wood in Stream Habitat Restoration
     *The Beaver Restoration Guidebook: (Chapter 6 is about BDAs)
     *Fisheries Grants Restoration Program (FRGP)
     *The SHaRP report

After the hour-long documentary, a panel of Jean Redus and David Beck of AGVWC, Justine Epstein of Weaving Earth / Walking Water and Ethan Hirsch-Tauber of The Water Folk spoke to the attendees about the work each of their groups have been doing and answered questions around water issues in our area. We pondered the importance of watershed health for all life and a functioning water cycle, the cycle itself important for climate stability.  The attendees shared their water related knowledge and posed the big question, what do we as a community do next to protect and insure water resiliency.  

As part of the answer to that question, AGVWC is working to continue the community conversation and education as seen at their January 25 Quarterly Meeting (see blog post for the meeting) where attendees learned about the important work beavers can do for stream restoration and working groups formed to address a variety of water issues. (see blog post for groups you may be interested in joining).

If you missed the screening of Water Is Love, there are other opportunities to view it.  March 22, 2025 is World Water Day and the global release of Water is Love: Ripples of Regeneration.  For those of you who missed the Sebastopol screening or wish to invite your friends to view the documentary, we will be sending you more information for this virtual  screening by donation as World Water Day Approaches.

- Dena Allen, Co-chair, AGVWC Board of Directors

Watershed Council members and friends met in Ragle Park today to share information about the watershed and to learn more about how to support native bees. Our speakers, Carol Ellis and Kelli Cox, of the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, were generous with their time and knowledge, answering our overflowing questions about honey bees, native bees, native plant landscaping, and on and on. I learned a lot about the different types of native bees, and left feeling energized and inspired.

I also learned how the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association has expanded its original mission to include not only helping people keep honey bees, but also helping to educate people about, and provide habitat for, native bees.

What I like best about our gatherings is meeting new environmental champions for the first time. Their enthusiasm and commitment rub off on me. And the connections keep rippling outward with each new person we meet there. (The coffee and pastries are my other favorite thing!) 

- Jean Redus, Co-chair, AGVWC Board of Directors