You are here
Friends of Gualala River
Gualala Roads Assessment Order: Fourth Quarter 2026 Update
CONTRACT-FUNDED ASSESSMENTS
The North Coast Water Board has been allocated $5 million in contract funds in part to evaluate the current status of sediment issues in the Gualala River Watershed and to conduct on-the-ground assessments of road-related sources of sediment.
Landowners interested in receiving contract-funded assessments are strongly encouraged to contact North Coast Water Board staff at RB1-Gualala@waterboards.ca.gov to be considered for inclusion in the early rounds of assessments.
PROJECT STATUS
North Coast Water Board staff continue to review and consider public comments received on the draft Gualala Roads Assessment Order. A summary of comment themes and staff responses will be made available in January 2027, in advance of the February 2027 adoption hearing.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Staff Office Hours
North Coast Water Board staff continue to hold recurring staff office hours that serve as unstructured meetings during which members of the community are invited to share any questions or comments they may have about the Gualala Roads Assessment Order project.
The next staff office hour is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, 2026, from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm. This will be a virtual meeting and Zoom details will be provided in the coming weeks through this email subscription service and on the program webpage at https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/ northcoast/water_issues/programs/gualala_roads/index.html.
January 2027 Community Meeting
North Coast Water Board staff will hold a community meeting at the Gualala Arts Center on Thursday, January 21, 2027 from 9:00 am – 10:30 am. This will be a hybrid meeting and those who are unable to attend in-person are invited to join via Zoom.
At this community meeting, staff will provide an overview of the proposed Gualala Roads Assessment Order, which will be released prior to the meeting.
Additional details and instructions for participation will be provided at least 10 days in advance of the meeting.
February 2027 Adoption Hearing
The adoption hearing for the proposed Order has been moved from December 2026 to February 2027. This change was made to provide staff sufficient time to meaningfully consider the significant volume of public comments submitted for the draft Order.
Additional details and instructions for participation will be provided when available, at least ten days prior to the adoption hearing, on the following webpages:
Gualala Roads Program webpage: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/gualala_roads/index.html
Board Meeting agenda webpage: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/board_info/board_meetings/2027/index.html
FUTURE QUARTERLY UPDATES
North Coast Water Board staff will continue to provide quarterly updates throughout the development of the Gualala Roads Assessment Order. Please forward this email and/or direct interested individuals or groups to subscribe at the following link for timely project information: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CAWRCB/subscriber/new?topic_id=r1_tmdl_gualala_river_watershed
Sonoma Resource Conservation District: Request for Qualifications
The Sonoma Resource Conservation District is soliciting Statements of Qualifications for the development of a web-based Rural Roads Technical Workshop Series.
The workshop series will be developed to increase local capacity for applying practical and applicable techniques addressing rural road-related erosion, drainage, maintenance, and resource-protection issues in the Gualala River Watershed.
Statements of Qualification must be submitted to the Sonoma Resource Conservation District by Friday, October 30, 2026.
For more information, including how to submit Statements of Qualifications, please visit the Sonoma Resource Conservation District webpage at https://sonomarcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/RFQ-Web-based-Technical-Road-Workshop-FINAL.pdf or email Jason Wells at jwells@sonomarcd.org
Little Pepperwood Timber Harvest Plan
Gualala Redwood Timber’s 269-acre Little Pepperwood Timber Harvest Plan (THP 1-26-00076-SON) is located in southern Mendocino and northern Sonoma Counties, approximately 3 miles east of the town of Gualala. Surface flow from the THP drains into Big Pepperwood Creek, Little Pepperwood Creek, and several tributaries to Big Pepperwood and Rockpile Creeks. The plan was submitted to Cal Fire on June 16, 2026. CalFire recommended approval on Aug. 27; public comment period ended on Sept. 8.
On October 21, 2026, Cal Fire rescinded their recommendation for approval of this plan, and announced that sections 2 through 5 of the plan were being recirculated due to “significant new information” which had been added. The newly added information includes protection measures and related environmental analysis for Foothill Yellow Legged Frog, proposed operations during the winter period, use of heavy equipment on steep and/or unstable areas, culvert sizing calculations, and greenhouse gas quantitative analysis.
The public comment period has been re-opened for 30 days. The new close of the comment period is Friday, November 20, 2026 at 5pm Pacific Time.
Little Pepperwood Timber Harvest Plan documents Submitted on June 16, 2026Little Pepperwood THP Section 1 – [1 MB, 10 pages] Legal description: Cover pages, signatures.
Little Pepperwood THP Section 6 – [1 MB, 1 page] Archeological information: (confidential)
Recirculated on October 21, 2026Little Pepperwood THP Section 2 – [18 MB, 93 pages] Operations: Silviculture, yarding, erosion hazard rating, winter operations, roads & landings, watercourse & lake protections, alternative watercourse & lake protections (in lieu of standard rules), biological resources, maps.
Little Pepperwood THP Section 3 – [2 MB, 22 pages] Supporting materials: General site description, analysis of alternatives, variable retention, discussion and justification of use of ground based equipment on unstable areas, discussion and justification of alternative watercourse and lake protection practices, cultural resources.
Little Pepperwood THP Section 4 – [3 MB, 114 pages] Cumulative Impacts: Past, present and future projects, assessment of cumulative watershed effects, soil productivity, biological resources, recreational, visual, traffic, greenhouse gas impacts, wildfire risks.
Little Pepperwood THP Section 5 – [32 MB, 313 pages] Attachments: Including soil erosion hazards, Erosion Control Plan, Greenhouse Gas calculations, landslides, roadwork, stream reports, botanical surveys, Northern Spotted Owl information.
Little Pepperwood THP: Additional Documents“LP” THP: First Review Questions, by Dept. of Fish & Wildlife
[6/23/26, 0.2 MB, 2 pages]
“LP” THP: First Review Report, by CalFire
[6/25/26, 1 MB, 7 pages]
“LP” THP: RPF Responses to First Review Questions
[7/7/26, 5 MB, 45 pages]
“LP” THP: Pre-Harvest Inspection by Dept. of Fish & Wildlife
[7/14/26, 0.2 MB, 5 pages]
“LP” THP: Pre-Harvest Inspection by CA. Geological Survey
[7/16/26, 2 MB, 13 pages]
“LP” THP: Pre-Harvest Inspection by CalFire
[7/16/26, 1.5 MB, 15 pages]
“LP” THP: Response to Agency Recommendations, by Registered Pro. Forester
[7/30/26, 26 MB, 25 pages]
“LP” THP: 2nd Review Team Recommendations by CalFire
[8/6/26, 1 MB, 1 page]
“LP” THP: Marbled Murrelet Consultation by Dept. of Fish & Wildlife
[8/11/26, 1 MB, 7 pages]
“LP” THP: Response to 2nd Review Recommendations, by Registered Pro. Forester
[8/11/26, 2 MB, 6 pages]
“LP” THP: Remaining Question from 2nd Review by CalFire
[8/14/26, 1 MB, 1 page]
“LP” THP: Response to Remaining Question by Registered Pro. Forester
[8/19/26, 3 MB, 8 page]
“LP” THP – Recommended for approval, by Cal Fire
[8/27/26, 1 MB, 1 page]
“LP” THP – Comments on behalf of Friends of Gualala River, by Jason Holder, Esq.
[9/8/26, 2 MB, 48 pages]
“LP” THP – Comments by Friends of the South Fork Gualala
[9/8/26, 16 MB, 111 pages]
“LP” THP – Additional revisions necessary for approval, by Cal Fire
[9/29/26, 1 MB, 2 pages]
“LP” THP – Response to necessary revisions by Reg. Pro. Forester
[10/8/26, 3 MB, 14 pages]
“LP” THP – Rescission of approval recommendation, by Cal Fire
[10/21/26, 2 MB, 2 pages]
“LP” THP – Recirculation of plan due to new information, by Cal Fire
[10/21/26, 1 MB, 2 pages]
All documents regarding this logging plan are available in the new CalTREES system.
Unfortunately, CalTREES is not easy to use, so FoGR has compiled some
basic instructions for use of CalTREES to help you navigate the system.
To download additional documents for this logging plan,
if you want to follow the back & forth as agencies ask questions and the RPF replies,
visit the Little Pepperwood THP page on the CalTREES website.
Below are instructions on how to submit comments during the public comment period.
The new public comment period will close on November 20, 2026 at 5pm Pacific Time.
To submit your comments on a logging plan, email your comments to: santarosapubliccomment@fire.ca.gov
or send your comments via U.S. Mail to:
Forest Practice
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
135 Ridgway Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
In the subject line of your email message, or at the top of your letter,
be sure to reference the THP number and name, for example:
THP 1-26-00076-SON “Little Pepperwood”
The Fine Print I:
Disclaimer: The views expressed on this site are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) unless otherwise indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s, nor should it be assumed that any of these authors automatically support the IWW or endorse any of its positions.
Further: the inclusion of a link on our site (other than the link to the main IWW site) does not imply endorsement by or an alliance with the IWW. These sites have been chosen by our members due to their perceived relevance to the IWW EUC and are included here for informational purposes only. If you have any suggestions or comments on any of the links included (or not included) above, please contact us.
The Fine Print II:
Fair Use Notice: The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of scientific, environmental, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc.
It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal or technical advice.
This site is not the official webpage of the Industrial Workers of the World.