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FALL 2016

THE SEA RANCH SOUNDINGS

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Picnic revelers. Photo by Mel Gerst. Diane Hichwa Honored at Volunteer Celebration Picnic Hichwa.

By Claire McCarthy Parties and awards are always a popular combination here at The Sea Ranch, and the annual Volunteer Celebration Picnic is no exception. Organized by Volunteer Coordinator Jan Gerst in cooperation with Director of Administration Janice Bono ra and Association staff, the ninth annual gathering took place during Labor Day weekend at One-Eyed Jack’s and drew

a crowd of around 100 convivial folks. They came together to share food, drink and friendship, to celebrate volunteerism at The Sea Ranch, and to find out who would take home this year’s Community Spirit Award. First presented in 2011, the award was developed by the Communication Com mittee and established by the Community Manager in honor of former Board mem successful attempt by members to pur chase the 282-acre central parcel before it could be logged, the CTPZ was finally acquired by TSRA after being “selec tively” harvested by Travelers Insurance Company. The TSRA Board designat ed this largest parcel in The Sea Ranch Commons a “starred” site, intended for recreational use, in 2002. The March 12 workshop was designed to address the question, “How Do We Best Manage the CTPZ?” The first of four guest panelists was Joe McBride, Professor Emeritus of Landscape Ar chitecture & Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley. Professor McBride reviewed the history of vegetation man agement at The Sea Ranch, including his own participation in vegetation stud ies since the late 1980s. He supported

ber Rosemarie Hocker, who passed away that year. In leadership roles and in her vol unteer work behind the scenes, Rosemarie, by encouragement and example, exempli fied what is meant by Community Spirit. Nominations are solicited from the Mem bership, and the winner is selected by a panel of three Members involved in and knowledgeable about community volun teer efforts. This year’s honoree is Diane the Nonindustrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP), but noted that there are parallel forest management issues in other areas of TSR besides the CTPZ. Greg Giusti, University of California Cooperative Extension and Lake-Men docino County Director/Advisor for Forests & Wildland Ecology, described his preference for assessing how a for est functions, as opposed to the term “forest health.” He described the struc tural components of a forest, including spacing, density, and composition, and stressed that fire and especially time have important roles to play, as red woods self-thin over time. Mark Andre, Director of Environmen tal Services for the City of Arcata, de-

Diane is well known at The Sea Ranch and in the broader North Coast community for her passion for the environment and partic ularly birds. Her efforts include: educating Sea Ranchers about the native flora and fauna through articles in the Bulletin and Soundings, regular bird walks, and assis tance with the Christmas Bird Count; in volvement with the Coastal Stewards Task Force that includes contributing seabird monitoring data to annual surveys; educat ing children about bird life through Action Network; volunteering with the Madrone Audubon Society, the Bird Rescue Center, and the Marine Mammal Center; testify ing at the recent NOAA hearing in Gualala on the Expansion of the Cordell Banks and Farallones National Monuments.

BOD Forms Forest Management Subcommittee

By Jacquelynn Baas, Nigel Blair Johns, and David Skibbins

On the 12th of March, in response to dissatisfaction on the part of a signifi cant number of members with the pro posed Nonindustrial Timber Manage ment Plan for The Sea Ranch’s Central Timber Production Zone (CTPZ), The Sea Ranch Association Board of Direc tors hosted a member workshop on for est management strategies for this area. The CTPZ was originally part of The Sea Ranch’s 5,200-acre Precise Devel opment Plan. In the 1970s the devel oper, Oceanic California, sold it along with the North and South Timber Pro ductions Zones (currently owned by Gualala Redwood Timber) to private owners. In 1993, in the wake of an un

John Forenti (L) presented Diane with the award, a framed photo by Mel Gerst. Photo by Claire McCarthy.

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