Yuba Watershed Institute

Come help us steward a mountain meadow!

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On Saturday, May 5th, join the Yuba Watershed Institute (YWI) for a day of meadow restoration and education in the ‘Inimim Forest, the San Juan Ridge’s community forest.

Participants will be removing invasive plants and encroaching conifers from a wetland meadow, helping to preserve this special habitat type, which is rare in the Sierra Nevada foothills. There will also be an educational talk on meadow ecology.

Meet at 10 am at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center to carpool to the site. Bring a lunch and gloves, and digging forks and loppers (if you have them). For more information, contact Daniel Nicholson at danmadrone@gmail.com, or (530) 575-6192.

This event is part of the first annual Know Your Watershed Week. Check out the link for lots of great activities around the Yuba River watershed and beyond!

The YWI welcomes a new Executive Director

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The Yuba Watershed Institute has a new executive director! Chris Friedel has been actively engaged with the stewardship of California landscapes since 2004. In Marin County, he managed coastal riparian and wetland restoration projects for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service. In the Sierra Nevada, he has managed diverse projects for the South Yuba River Citizens League, Camptonville Community Partnership, and Yuba Watershed Institute, including salmonid habitat enhancement, environmental education, forest health, and biomass utilization. Chris began his current role as the YWI’s Executive Director at the beginning of April 2018, and is continuing the YWI’s legacy of collaborating with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to steward the forested lands of the San Juan Ridge.

Prop 1 grant from SNC for ‘Inimim Forest planning

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The YWI is excited to announce that we have been awarded a Prop 1 grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for our work making the forests of the San Juan Ridge more resilient to drought, fire, climate change, and bark beetles!

Check out our new ‘Inimim Forest web map to see some of the data we’ve been compiling to help us with a revision of the ‘Inimim Forest Management Plan.

Fungus Foray is this weekend – here is the schedule!

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Here is the schedule of events for the 20th Annual Yuba Watershed Fungus Foray and Wild Mushroom Exposition. Visit www.yubawatershedinstitute.org for tickets and event info.

Saturday, December 9th

9:00 – 9:15 • Register and sign-up for a foray group. Please arrive by 9:00 to ensure your place in a group.

9:15 – 9:45 • Introduction to the Foray and Basic Forms of Fungi and Where to Find Them

10:00 – 2:00 • Wild mushroom hunt

2:00 – 3:00 • Fungi of Colorado/ North American Mycoflora Project – Andy Wilson

3:00 – 4:00 • Fungi of the Yuba Pass – Douglas Smith

4:00 – 4:30 • DNA Sequencing Described – Damon Tighe

Sunday December 10

Sunday we host the 7th annual Wild Mushroom Exposition. The Exposition will be filled with presentations, interactive displays, and workshops based on our seasonal Sierra mushrooms. Stop by anytime between 11 am and 4pm. There will be wild-crafted food concessions, mushroom merchandise available for sale, break-away mini hikes on campus (weather dependent), and lectures and workshops that celebrate fungi.

11:30 – 12:00 • Citizen Science With iNaturalist – Damon Tighe

12:00 – 1:00 • History of Truffle Cultivation in California – Todd Spanier

1:00- 1:30 • Cultivation of Fungi Overview – Christopher Hodge

1:45 -2:45 • Medicinal Mushrooms – Christopher Hobbs

3:00- 3:30 • Overview of Discoveries of the Weekend – TBD

We need a few more volunteers!

We are looking for a few more volunteers to make the event run smoothly, especially on Sunday afternoon. If you are interested and available, please contact chris@yubawatershedinstitute.org. Volunteers will get free admission to the event.