On February 21st, Gold Ridge RCD staff participated in a milkweed planting field trip hosted by Point Blue Conservation Science at Crane Creek Regional Park in Rohnert Park. Point Blue’s Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW) Program empowers students, teachers, and parents to get involved in restoration efforts within…

Community Grazing Initiative Increases Wildfire Resilience — Targeted grazing is an effective practice with numerous environmental benefits, including reducing wildfire risk, sequestering carbon dioxide, producing natural fertilizer, and connecting community members. LandSmart Grazing is a collaborative program between Gold Ridge and Sonoma RCD designed to support high-fire risk neighbors to utilize grazing to reduce fuel load and…

Each winter and spring, coho salmon and steelhead trout hatch from eggs laid in streambed gravels by spawning adult fish. Juvenile coho and steelhead spend the first year of their lives in the creek before migrating to the ocean the following spring. These fish are only a few inches long…

The Gold Ridge and Sonoma Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) are happy to announce that new funding has become available to assist with the cost of compost application on agricultural lands in Sonoma County! …

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Gold Ridge RCD reflects on our commitment to community, justice, education, and stewardship. This year marks 60 years since Dr. King led the march on Washington and gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of a crowd of over 250,000…

A decade ago, the Gold Ridge RCD launched a program to improve summer instream flow in the Salmon Creek mainstem by designing and building rainwater catchment systems to provide an alternative water source for residences and ag operations around Bodega. Lacking significant groundwater, most residents in the area either draw…

This month at the 77th Annual California Association of Resource Conservation Districts statewide conference, the North Coast Soil Hub was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Conservation Partnership of the Year from USDA-NRCS California. The North Coast Soil Hub is a regional network dedicated to advancing the adoption of climate-friendly agriculture in…

Woolly distaff thistle (Carthamus lanatus) is a highly invasive and noxious weed that has become increasingly established on rangelands in Marin and Sonoma at an alarming rate. Distaff thistle severely degrades rangelands, outcompetes and displaces native and desirable rangeland species, and spreads easily and quickly, creating dense infestations. …

This project will help Sonoma County schools support experiences for locally grown food to enrich the campus, families, farms and youth of Sonoma County. This grant will support Farm to School in 4 ways; 1) expand a school garden technical assistance and capacity building program, 2) provide farm field trip…