Category: Uncategorized

Wood Creek Phase III Restoration – CONTRACT DOCUMENTS – REVEGETATION

Issue for Bid – April 2025

Location and Description.  The Project is located at 5851 Myrtle Ave, Eureka, CA 95503. The project is on NRLT’s Freshwater Farms Reserve south of Myrtle Avenue and on the privately owned Felt Ranch north of Myrtle Avenue. The project extends onto County right of way and onto a private parcel north of Felt Road.

The project will restore approximately 12 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands for fish and wildlife by constructing over 7,500 feet of tidal and stream channels, excavating a pond and two alcoves, building a new County culvert crossing of Wood Creek on Felt Road, plugging the old culvert and rerouting Wood Creek, building 72 planting hummocks along the new channel banks, and installing 102 large wood habitat structures. Much of the project lies in areas with soft and saturated soils that may require specialized low ground pressure equipment, and/or swamp mats, or other means to complete the work. This bid (“Bid”) is specific to the propagation of vegetation, installation of vegetation, maintenance of vegetation, and treatment of limited invasive vegetation areas (collectively termed as “revegetation” throughout this document) following earthwork to create the aforementioned elements.

The Project will be conducted over three seasons, as further specified in the Special Conditions. Year 1 revegetation actions will occur on NRLT property and extend south, under Myrtle Avenue, to the existing Felt Ditch, as indicated in the Contract Drawings. Year 1 vegetation installation will commence in November 2025, for small container planting, and in January 2026 for wetland plug and willow stake planting, both of which are outside the nesting bird season. Year 2 revegetation actions will occur south of the Felt Ditch and will follow the same schedule as Year 1. A one-year maintenance period is a component of the project, which will begin after the completion of Year 1 planting and Year 2 planting. Therefore, maintenance actions will occur into early 2028 which is one year after the Year 2 plantings (which will occur, at the latest, in January 2027). Invasive plant treatments will occur in 2026 (Year 2) and 2027 (Year 3); the first treatment will commence in April 2026 and end in November 2026, and the second treatment will commence in April 2027 and end in November 2027.

Revegetation Bid Packet

Contract Documents:

Wood Ck Ph III Revegetation Bid Packet

Attachment A: Wood Creek III Revegetation Design

Attachment B: Wood Creek III Revegetation Technical Specifications

Attachment C: Permits and Permit Conditions

Attachment D: Invasive Plant Management Plan

Other Documents:

Wood Creek Phase III Restoration – CONTRACT DOCUMENTS – Wood Procurement

Request for Proposals – April 2025

NRLT is requesting proposals for large woody debris (LWD) consisting of logs, logs with rootwads attached, and slash to be used in the Wood Creek Phase III Restoration Project (Project) located on Wood Creek approximately ½ mile upstream of the confluence with Freshwater Slough in Humboldt County, California. This is a grant-funded project in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Cannabis Restoration Grant Program, Point Blue Conservation Science, and landowners Sean & Kathy O’Day with the goal of:

  • Restoring hydrologic connectivity between previous downstream restoration of Wood Creek and the Felt Ranch wetlands;
  • Establishing juvenile salmonid migration access between Wood Creek and the Felt Ranch wetlands;
  • Enlarging the tidal influence onto Felt Ranch to elongate the transition zone from brackish to fresh-water conditions;
  • Enhancing the existing freshwater wetlands on Felt Ranch to create a diversity of slow-water productive rearing habitats for juvenile coho while benefiting other native wetland dependent wildlife and vegetation; and
  • Enhancing drainage and reducing flooding inundation of agricultural areas within and adjacent to the Project Areas.

The LWD consists of several types of materials needed for the Project. A total of up to 224 LWD units and 70 cubic yards of slash shall be delivered to the delivery site(s). Deliver a minimum of 25% of each item contracted for delivery by August 15, 2025, and the entire amount by June 30, 2026, as described in detail in Attachment A.

Wood Procurement RFP Packet

Contract Documents:

Wood Creek Phase III Restoration Project – CONTRACT DOCUMENTS: Earthworks

Issue for Bid – April 2025

The Wood Creek Phase III Restoration Project is located at 5851 Myrtle Ave, Eureka, CA 95503. The project is on the NRLT Freshwater Farms Reserve south of Myrtle Avenue, on the privately owned Felt Ranch north of Myrtle Avenue, and extending onto County right of way and onto a private parcel north of Felt Road.

To be constructed over two seasons, the project will restore approximately 12 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands for fish and wildlife by constructing over 7,500 feet of tidal and stream channels, excavating a pond and two alcoves, building a new County culvert crossing of Wood Creek on Felt Road, plugging the old culvert and rerouting Wood Creek, building 72 planting hummocks along the new channel banks, and installing 102 large wood habitat structures. Much of the project lies in areas with soft and saturated soils that may require specialized low ground pressure equipment, and/or swamp mats, or other means to complete the work.

Year 1 construction will commence outside of the nesting bird season and will complete all work on the NRLT property and extend south, under Myrtle Avenue, to the existing Felt Ditch, as indicated in the Contract Drawings. Connecting the new Felt Slough channel to Felt Ditch is intended to improve local drainage for Year 2 construction. Year 1 construction will also include the cutting and laydown of vegetation within the Year 2 footprint to reduce the potential for nesting birds in the work area during Year 2 construction. The contractor may construct the new County culvert on Felt Road during either Year 1 or Year 2.  Year 2 the contractor will finish construction of all remaining components of the project during the in-water work window of June 15 to October 15.

Engineers Estimate: $4,550,000

Earthworks Bid Packet

Contract Documents:

Other Documents:

Press Release: Completed Conservation Easement on the Butte Creek Ranch

Preserving Our Natural Heritage: NRLT Completes Conservation Easement on the Butte Creek Ranch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/20/24

Download Press Release Here

Bayside, CA – The Northcoast Regional Land Trust (NRLT) is excited to announce the completion of a conservation easement on the Butte Creek Ranch, a beautiful 3,079-acre working ranch owned by the Cottrell/Moore family in southeastern Humboldt County. This important achievement was recorded on June 26, 2024 and ensures that the land’s natural and agricultural values are protected forever, while still allowing for its use and enjoyment by current and future owners.

A peaceful pond on the Butte Creek Ranch property.

After generations of stewarding lands in the Larabee Valley, Gloria Cottrell and her daughter Leslie Moore have worked hard to put the family ranch back together. They purchased the Butte Creek Ranch back from other family members in 2021, and shortly after began work on a conservation easement with NRLT. Leslie and her husband, Wes, are taking a long-range approach to land management, and the completion of this conservation easement sets in stone their commitment to protecting this ranch for generations to come.

Butte Creek Ranch is home to nearly 10 miles of streams, 2,000 acres of commercial timber forests, diverse wildlife and, for six months of the year, up to 225 cow-calf pairs the family raises for beef production. Over the long-term, the landowners intend to utilize prescribed burning across the rangeland to maintain quality forage, stave off conifer encroachment, and improve fire resiliency in the region. With the conservation easement now in place, NRLT will conduct annual monitoring visits to maintain a constructive relationship with the landowners and to ensure that the land’s forest, agricultural, and wildlife values are protected forever.

The location of Butte Creek Ranch makes its long-term protection even more impactful. By linking to the existing Charles Mountain Conservation Easement and bordering Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, Butte Creek Ranch creates a continuous corridor of protected land that further connects to the Diamond D Ranch and Chalk Mountain Ranch Conservation Easements, all held by NRLT. This connectivity is crucial for the health and resilience of our local ecosystems, and especially for water quality in the lower Eel River Basin. Additionally, protecting the Little Van Duzen River and its tributaries on the property conserves vital habitat for endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead populations.

A misty Butte Creek morning on the Little Van Duzen.

Funds for Butte Creek Ranch were made available through the California Strategic Growth Council’s (SGC) Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) in collaboration with the Department of Conservation. SALC is part of  California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.

NRLT is very thankful to the Cottrell/Moore family, the SGC, California Climate Investments, the California Department of Conservation, and to our dedicated supporters in northwestern California and beyond for making this conservation easement a reality. Together, we are preserving our natural heritage, protecting irreplaceable waterways, and creating a sustainable future for our community and the environment.

 

Winter Updates

Freshwater Farms Reserve Nature Trail and parking lot temporarily closed due to forecasted storm conditions: 11/19 – 11/22. Questions? Email info@ncrlt.org.

From an email sent to our community November 18, 2024

Find the full email here.

 

The rain and dark days are here again and besides battening down the hatches at Freshwater Farms Reserve, we are also closing in on the end of big year. With a small team for much of 2024, we continued to make progress on some really exciting conservation easement projects (I can’t wait for you to read about them in our winter newsletter, coming soon!).

But even with a staff of three, you made sure we were never doing this work alone. Thank you for coming out to events, volunteering at Freshwater Farms Reserve, and generously supporting conservation with your time, money, and other contributions.

We are excited to be staffed up again, with the addition of Project Managers Connor and Lily earlier this fall, and our newest team member, Riley Martel-Phillips, who started just last week. Riley is returning home to Arcata after earning a degree in Economics and Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. She is excited to collaborate with the local community on conservation efforts as our new Administration & Community Engagement Manager. Learn more about her and the rest of our team here.

This year’s Boots & Birkenstocks Annual Celebration at the Fortuna River Lodge on October 12th solidified once again that our community comes together for conservation (find yourself or other NRLT supporters in photos from the event here).

I am proud to be part of an organization that intentionally includes people from different backgrounds and ideologies to work together towards a sustainable future for our land and communities. Amidst politically polarizing times, it is wonderful to come together as neighbors in celebration of our shared values: a deep care for the lands that sustain us.

I hope you’ll continue to celebrate with us at this year’s NRLT Open Office Holiday Party, coming up on Friday, December 13th. Our door is open to everyone as we head into our 25th year of conserving wild and working lands in Northwestern California together. Appetizers and refreshments will be provided, you bring the merriment!

No matter where you are this season, we hope you are staying warm and dry. Thank you for being part of this special community of people who care for our region’s remarkable landscapes that are as unique as each one of us. I’m grateful to have your perspectives and support in this conservation work.

Warmly,

Nadia Van Lynn
Outreach and Development Manager
Northcoast Regional Land Trust
n.vanlynn@ncrlt.org

Find the full email here.

Highlighting Our Coastal Conservation Efforts

August 21, 2024

At the Northcoast Regional Land Trust, we’re thrilled to see our work recognized in the Land Trust Alliance’s recent article, Coastal Connections: The Economic Benefits of Conservation to Coastal Communities in Maine and California, published online and in the Summer 2024 Saving Land magazine. This piece highlights the critical role that conservation plays in supporting the economic health and resilience of coastal communities, including our own here in Northern California.

One of the featured projects is our ongoing restoration work at Freshwater Farms Reserve. This unique 74-acre property, located between Arcata and Eureka, has been a focal point for our efforts to restore and enhance critical coastal wetlands, while maintaining local agricultural production. This landscape provides essential habitat for a variety of wildlife, including fish, birds, and other species, alongside seasonal grazing lands for cattle production.

Our work at Freshwater Farms Reserve includes the restoration of tidal channels, the removal of invasive species, and the replanting of native vegetation. These efforts not only improve habitat quality but also contribute to the overall resilience of the coastal environment. Additionally, the Reserve serves as a community space where visitors can learn about the compatibility of conservation and agriculture through educational programs and guided tours.

The article underscores how restoring natural landscapes like Freshwater Farms Reserve not only safeguards the environment but also enhances the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. From boosting local economies through eco-tourism to protecting the natural resources that coastal communities rely on, conservation is a powerful tool for ensuring a sustainable future.

We’re proud to be featured alongside other organizations making a difference and are grateful to the Land Trust Alliance for their continued support of land trusts like ours. Together, we’re protecting the local ecosystems that sustain us.

Thank you to the Land Trust Alliance for including us in this important work!

Read the full article here: Coastal Connections: The Economic Benefits of Conservation to Coastal Communities in Maine and California.

NRLT is a proud, accredited member of the Land Trust Alliance, a mark of distinction that signifies our commitment to excellence, accountability, and the enduring stewardship of the lands we protect.

Thanks for a great Summer Celebration!

July 29, 2024

Thank you to all who came out to celebrate and support local land conservation on Saturday, July 20, 2024! The Northcoast Regional Land Trust hosted its sixth annual “Summer Celebration” benefit concert at NRLT’s demonstration property, Freshwater Farms Reserve, 5851 Myrtle Ave., Eureka. Over 400 people were in attendance and helped us raise over $15,000 for important land conservation projects in our region.

The event featured local favorites, Huckleberry Flint, with an opening performance by Canary & the Vamp. Family friendly activities included face painting by Lela Annotto Arts, a kid play area by the Ukeladies (friends & family of Freshwater Family Farm), and a cake walk fundraiser for NRLT. Food and drink were available from Los Giles, Fern Mountain Eats, Freshwater Family Farm, Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate, Fieldbrook Winery and Eel River Brewing.

Huge thanks to attendees, performers, vendors, and volunteers who made this event the celebratory success we look forward to every year!

Lots to Celebrate at Freshwater Farms Reserve

July 5, 2024

Can you believe it’s been almost 20 years since NRLT first took on stewardship of the Freshwater Farms Reserve (FWFR)? In that time, we’ve seen countless individuals, agencies, school groups, organizations, families, and more take part in making this the rich community resource it continues to be today.

Already this year at FWFR, there have been several volunteer workdays with various partners (including Cal Poly Humboldt, the California Conservation Corps Watershed Stewards Program, and Humboldt Trails Council), a bilingual family event, multiple Cows & Cattails field trips—and that’s just the NRLT hosted activities!

The California Native Plant Society continues to nurture a vibrant nursery under the gentle hands of their dedicated volunteers; Freshwater Family Farms diligently grows microgreens to sell to the community at large; and the North Coast Community Garden Collaborative with Redwood Community Action Agency is off to a full growing season with lots of work put in by their staff and Cal Poly College Corps interns.

We are proud of all that has grown out of this humble ambassador property, and all the ways it continues to bloom. We are particularly excited about the addition of three new benches, funded by a grant from Eureka Rotary Club and made and donated by Monument Settings, and an owl nesting box built and installed on the North side of the Graham-Long Dairy Barn by NRLT supporter, Gary Falxa. These projects represent the committed involvement of our local community, who continue to show up for and invest in the people and wildlife who visit this special place.

Join us on July 20th, 2024 as we host our Summer Celebration at Freshwater Farms Reserve, and you can see all these projects and connect with our conservation community! Tickets and more information available at givebutter.com/huckflint2024.

Year in Review: 2023

December 28, 2023

As we bid farewell to 2023, let’s look back on the highlights and achievements that have marked this year for the Northcoast Regional Land Trust (NRLT). In 2023, we made significant progress in our mission to conserve, protect, and promote wild and working lands, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our volunteers, landowners, board members, staff, and partners. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Conservation Efforts

In addition to eight conservation easement projects already in progress at the start of the year, we began work on three new projects in 2023—  two of which we just learned will receive full funding thanks to the Department of Conservation’s SALC program! Altogether, we are working towards the protection of over 56,000 acres of productive forestland, expansive rangelands, critical salmon streams, vital habitats, and open spaces that make our region so unique.

And that is in addition to the 60,000 acres of already protected land.

Community Engagement

In our efforts to foster a strong community for conservation, we partnered with numerous individuals and organizations to host 16 stewardship workdays and interpretive events in 2023. Big thanks to our partners (including Humboldt Trails Council, Friends of the Dunes, Echales ganas!, CCC Watershed Stewards Program, Cal Poly YES, Umoja Center for Pan African Student Excellence, SJEIC, Office of Student Life, Center for Community Based Learning, Environmental Science and Management Dept., and Wildlife Dept., Point Blue Conservation Science, Salmonid Restoration Federation, and Planwest Partners, Inc.), and our stellar volunteers for supporting coastal farmland stewardship and engagement for all.

Additionally, over 450 people graced our biggest Summer Celebration yet at Freshwater Farms Reserve in August!

Educational Initiatives

We believe in the power of education to ensure the legacy of land stewardship in our region. To this end, we led 19 Cows & Cattails field trips, educating over 750 elementary students about the compatibility of wildlife habitat and agriculture. We also reignited our High School Biological Monitoring Program in the spring, thanks to botany help from Tony LaBanca and collaboration with the Botany and Environmental Science teachers at Alder Grove Charter School.

Fundraising Success

We are incredibly grateful for the generous support we received from our community this year. Every dollar makes a difference to protect wild and working lands in our region. During our Annual Celebration, Boots & Birkenstocks in October, we raised over $60,000 for wild and working land conservation. These funds will play a significant role in our conservation efforts in 2024.

Strategic Planning

Our Board and Staff took a deep dive into our strategic plan during a retreat in Southern Humboldt in June. This retreat enabled us to reassess our goals and strategies, setting us on a clear path toward achieving our mission. It also served as an opportunity for Board and Staff to get out on the lands that sustain us with a tour of a prospective easement property!

Appreciation

Northcoast Regional Land Trust would not be what it is today without you — our dedicated volunteers, landowners, board members, staff, and partners. Your commitment and contributions have been instrumental in our accomplishments this year.

We extend additional thanks to our 2023 Annual Sponsors for their unwavering support: Wildberries Marketplace, Humboldt and Mendocino Redwood Companies, and North Fork Lumber. Look for our full list of donors in the next newsletter, coming spring 2024.

Looking Ahead

As we step into 2024, we are excited and optimistic about what lies ahead. This is an exciting time to be part of NRLT—with more active projects than ever before, and a strong and supportive community that continues to grow. Thank you for being part of a special group of people dedicated to protecting our shared values in northwestern California—a love of the land, the community, and our way of life. Here’s to another year of conserving the lands we love! Happy New Year!