 Veronica Bowers recently enthralled an audience of about 50 members and supporters of the Watershed Council by explaining how to help our native songbirds flourish. When Veronica and her husband moved to Sebastopol 27 years ago, their 1.5 acre parcel was largely covered with tree stumps and 64 rosebushes. They removed the rose bushes and began a process of turning the parcel into a haven for native plants and, consequently, native songbirds. Some years as many as 35 species of songbirds nest on their property. Veronica founded Native Songbird Care and Conservation, a nonprofit corporation (NSCC), 20 years ago. NSCC is the only wildlife hospital devoted exclusively to songbirds. Approximately 1000 birds are treated by NSCC each year, and about 85% are healed and released back to the wild. Veronica explained the many reasons why native vegetation provides the best environment for native songbirds. Native plants are largely drought-tolerant. The fruits of native plants, and the insects that feed on such plants, both allow native birds to succeed. Almost all terrestrial birds, about 96%, feed their young insects. It takes between 6000 to 9000 caterpillars to successfully feed one clutch of young songbirds. As Veronica put it, a world without insects is a world without diversity.  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
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Last month, a few Watershed Council members and friends joined together to lend a hand and help a fellow community member plant a rain garden in their backyard. What was estimated to take several days for one person to complete was finished in just a few hours. That is the magic of collaborative effort. Not to mention, spending a day outside digging holes, moving soil, and shoveling gravel is way more fun with a few friends by your side to share stories and many laughs with. Twelve native plants - an assortment of grasses and rushes - were planted in the pre-designed swale to help slow and spread quick moving water from the top of a hill beside the resident’s home. These plants, once established, will significantly increase the holding capacity of the soil they now live in and reduce the flooding frequency and intensity. It’s always a great day when we can spend time on a solution that benefits our local environment and serves our own needs as well. This work party was the beginning of what we hope to be a new practice within our Council and across our beloved watershed. Let’s work together to restore our lands and protect our ecosystem! Reach out to us if you are interested in joining the Fire and Water Land Management Working Group, where we gather folks interested in work-exchange parties to help each other do this great work at a low cost. In Collaboration, AGVWC Board Member  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.  A true champion for defense of the environment, conservation, and other priorities of the Atascadero / Green Valley Watershed Council (AGVWC), Assemblymember Damon Connolly, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, shared an update at our Summer Quarterly Gathering on July 12 about legislation he authored last year, AB 2196 – The Beaver Bill! The bill was signed by the Governor in the fall and codifies into law a Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to restore beaver habitat – and beaver – in California.
Damon kicked off his talk with a question: “Do we have Beaver Believers” here today? Which was greeted with an enthusiastic collective “yes!” “I learned a lot about “nature’s little engineers” in the process of getting this legislation on the books,” he said. “The impact their dam complexes have is pretty amazing – creating habitats for rare and endangered species, reducing the intensity of floods, improving soil health, reversing erosion, creating subterranean water recharge, sequestering carbon, and helping to stop or reduce the severity of wildfires – something that’s very important in our district.” The attentive gathering of about 30 had an opportunity to ask questions. One of the key questions: will AB 2196 help restore Beaver in the Russian River? Yes, AB 2196 is expected to help restore beaver populations in the Russian River, which may include the Green Valley and Atascadero Creeks. Brock Dolman, Permaculture & Wildlands Program Director for Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, sponsor of the Beaver Bill, was on hand with Beaver trinkets and fashion and to help ask and answer some of the great questions. Damon also shared a lengthy list of policies he is addressing in Sacramento, including his successful call for and audit of the Department of Pesticide Regulation, which has not been done in decades, authoring AB 929, which will help California protect wetlands and small community water systems across the state, and AB 263 that will maintain river flows for at-risk salmon runs on two critical Klamath River tributaries – the Scott and Shasta Rivers. Thanks to all who attended, and much gratitude to Assemblymember Connolly – who stayed after his talk till the end of the meeting! We look forward to hosting you at our fall gathering, date TBD, but weather permitting, it will be held at Ragle Ranch Park once again. Woody Hastings AGVWC Board Member  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
“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:
- 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  On Sunday January 19, 2025, AGVWC, in collaboration with the Sebastopol Grange, Common Space Community Land Trust, Weaving Earth / Walking Water and The Water Folk, hosted a screening of the documentary Water Is Love: Ripples Of Regeneration followed by a panel discussion. "Water Is Love: Ripples of Regeneration is a poignant documentary that delves into the intricate relationship between communities and their water sources. The film highlights the challenges faced by various communities worldwide in ensuring sustainable water management and showcases inspiring stories of resilience and regeneration. The filmmakers follow a group of young people grappling with the climate crisis while they weave in inspiring stories of regenerative ecosystem design. The film highlights the challenges of water scarcity and the innovative solutions being implemented to ensure water sustainability. It emphasizes the importance of community-driven efforts in water conservation and the ripple effects that could result in climate resiliency.”
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
Many times these plans are supported and justified by agencies that are under staffed, but the plans themselves are weak. Speculative developer pressure is intense, and developers always complain about doing important surveys, delay, and fees. Wildlife folks need to learn and be at the table. Resource staff must be supported by the concerned public and funding and advocacy greatly improved.
Speculative development must not continue at the expense of vital and sensitive habitats and corridors especially now as species are scrambling to survive the climate chaos to which poorly planned development has contributed. We had a great tour at the the Husary Olive Mill and Nursery on October 12th! Mousa Husary gave us the full tour of his oil processing equipment, most of which was made in Italy and shipped directly here to Graton. He also showed us how he propagates olive trees, and offered for tasting two different olive oils that were pressed on site last year. By the time we were done, he had walked us through the entire process from starting a baby tree, through caring for an orchard, harvesting fruit, pressing and filtering the oil, and bringing it to the table! We are lucky in this watershed to have local producers of a variety of organic, quality food! Thank you, Mousa, for being so generous with your time, knowledge - and olive oil! - Jean Redus, Co-chair, AGVWC Board of Directors  editing images 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 |
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