Summer, 1996 (v8n3)

The goal of the Marin Coastal Watershed Enhancement Project (see previous page) is to develop cooperative solutions to water quality issues in coastal Marin County. Materials developed by the project include a guide, a video, a series of fact sheets, and a status report on the coastal watersheds included within the scope of the project. Additionally, a collection of related articles on environmental enhancement through agriculture is available from Tufts University.

Creek Guide

Creek Care: A Guide for Rural Landowners and Residents, 19 pages, 1995, UC Cooperative Extension. This guide is designed to encourage and support the stewardship of creeks in coastal Marin County, and is being adapted for use in the Russian River Watersheds in Sonoma County and for the urban side of Marin County. It is a component of the Marin Coastal Watershed Enhancement Project and includes sections on healthy creeks, riparian corridors and uplands, and guidelines for improving creek health. Single complimentary copies of the guide are available from UC Cooperative Extension, 1682 Novato Blvd., Suite 150B, Novato, CA 94947; (415) 899-8620.

Video

Downstream: Planning for the Future of Marin Coastal Watersheds, 14 minutes, 1995, UC Cooperative Extension, Marin Community Foundation, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, $20. This tape is a teaching companion for ranch planning and is suitable for any audience interested in a balanced view of water quality issues in agriculture or addressing the problem of nonpoint source pollution. It identifies and shows solutions to these problems and introduces the concept of voluntary compliance with water quality law through written ranch plans. Filmed along the Marin County coastline, it is available through UC Cooperative Extension. Send checks for $20 payable to "UC Regents" to Stephanie Larson, UCCE, 2604 Ventura Ave., Rm. 100, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; (707) 527-2621.

Fact Sheets

Various fact sheets related to the Marin Coastal Watershed Enhancement Project are available from the agencies involved. Titles include: Designing Feeding and Watering Areas to Avoid Nonpoint Source Pollution, Funding Conservation Projects, Ranch Maps, Recognizing Nonpoint Pollution Sources on Ranches, Photographic Monitoring, Planting Willows, Vegetation Monitoring, Water Quality Checklist, Water Quality Laws and Local Application, Water Quality Variables, Water Testing for Rural Landowners, and Writing Ranch Plans. Single complimentary copies are available from Marin Agricultural Land Trust, PO Box 809, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956, (415) 663-1158; Marin County Resource Conservation District, PO Box 219, Point Reyes Station, CA 945956, (415) 663-1231; Natural Resources Conservation District, 1301 Redwood Way, Suite 170, Petaluma, CA 94954, (707) 794-1242; Point Reyes National Seashore, Range Conservationist, Park Headquarters, Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956, (415) 663-8525; and the University of California Cooperative Extension offices at 2604 Ventura Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403, (707) 527-2621, and 1682 Novato Blvd., Novato, CA 94947, (415) 899-8620.

Conference Proceedings

Environmental Enhancement Through Agriculture, 1995, $20. Includes the paper by Ellen Rilla and Stephanie Larson of UC Cooperative Extension excerpted in this issue of Sustainable Agriculture. This volume develops the idea of an agriculture that serves the environment rather than conflicting with it. Its 36 papers offer examples of agricultural systems that benefit the environment in diverse ways: increasing wildlife habitat and biodiversity; protecting water quality in streams and estuaries; producing substitutes for nonrenewable energy sources; turning urban waste into a resource instead of a problem; offering aesthetically appealing landscapes; and bringing urban residents into closer contact with food production and the land. The papers are from a conference in Boston, Mass., in November 1995 sponsored by the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the American Farmland Trust, and the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture. Copies are $20, postpaid. Send checks (US funds only) payable to "Trustees of Tufts College" to Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment, School of Nutrition, Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.

(More information can be obtained on this project and others through the California Watershed Projects Inventory homepage, located at http://ice.ucdavis.edu. The database provides a tool for sharing information about watershed projects throughout California. Marin Project Products