Piper on the Ridge this Sunday!
Jessica Taylor, Development Director

Join us on Sunday, October 9th, for Piper on the Ridge atop Mount Vision for the first time since 2018! Together we will observe the cyclical nature of the year, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, and the rise of the Hunter’s full moon while enjoying the music of Scottish bagpipes. 

The West Marin community has been celebrating the seasonal changes with Piper on the Ridge for nearly 50 years. Piper was started by Kate Munger and friends, who sought to enjoy the changing of the seasons with bagpipes and a picnic with friends under the full moon. Piper was given to EAC as a fundraiser in the 1990s, and it has since woven itself into our annual celebrations.

Watch our 2021 Piper in the Wetland Video for a sneak peek of Sunday’s festivities showcasing Scottish bagpiper Dan McNear, and our Piper Master of Ceremonies, Mia Monroe. 

We hope to see you on Sunday evening under the Hunter’s Moon! Please remember to dress warmly, bring a flashlight, and picnic dinner. No dogs, fires, or smoking per our permit guidelines.

RSVP today! Space Limited

Appreciation for a Wonderful Annual Membership Meeting & Awards
Morgan Patton, Executive Director

Our membership community gathered this September at the Dance Palace Community and Cultural Center for our first in-person annual Member Meeting & Awards since the start of the pandemic! Each year, we gather to share our work, elect our Board of Directors, recognize our volunteers, and celebrate our local environmental heroes with our awards for Youth Advocacy, Public Service, and our Peter Behr Steward of the Land and Sea. 

We mingled on the Dance Palace porch while enjoying a variety of homemade appetizers and sipping handcrafted hibiscus mango iced tea and strawberry lemonade before the indoor programming began. It was delightful to see so many friendly faces in person again after so long.

Fortunately, the weather was perfect–as the long-lasting heat dome that had settled over the entire western United States bringing with it all-time record high temperatures–gave way before our event. The heat wave was a stark reminder of the challenges of a changing climate. The climate crisis, appropriately renamed as the crisis that it is, now touches every aspect of our work. 

Read the Meeting Recap and Enjoy Shared Recipes

Join MPA Watch this Fall!
Leslie Adler-Ivanbrook, Program Director

If you love walking on the beach and want to contribute to a community science program, this program is for you! We are currently recruiting volunteers for a Drakes Beach training Saturday, October 22nd. 

Marin MPA Watch is part of a statewide community science program training volunteers to collect data on human activity in and near California’s network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Marin MPA Watch volunteers survey activities at four locations in Marin: Corte Madera Marsh, Agate Beach / Duxbury Reef, Limantour Beach, and Drakes Beach.

Volunteers observe and collect data on human uses (like birding and walking) of coastal and marine resources both inside and outside of MPAs, and use standardized protocols to collect relevant, scientifically rigorous, and broadly accessible data that helps inform statewide monitoring and enforcement efforts.

Join us for our upcoming training session to become a certified Marin MPA Watch volunteer and help support healthy oceans through community science. As a volunteer, you will contribute to a better understanding of how people engage with the coast in MPAs, all while enjoying a walk along this amazing beach, rich with natural beauty and marine life.

Next Training: Drakes Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore
October 22, 2022  | 2:30 - 5:00 PM

Coastal Commission Approves Seashore's Water Quality Strategy

Morgan Patton, Executive Director

The California Coastal Commission (Commission) evaluated the National Park Service's (NPS) draft Water Quality Strategy for the Point Reyes National Seashore (Seashore) on September 8, 2022. Leading up to the meeting, the Commission released their Staff Report on August 19th for public comment and input. The Commission received more than 18,000 public comments, with more than 17,800 requesting the Commission revoke the April 2021 approval of the General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA).

The Water Quality Strategy outlines the actions NPS will undertake each year to ensure that coastal resources are protected to the maximum extent practicable.

Our ultimate goal is to prevent commercial dairy and ranching operations from negatively affecting the coastal resources of the Seashore and Drakes Estero Marine Wilderness. The implementation of the controversial GMPA is complicated with many layers for the NPS team to review and manage. In order to discover potential problems and eventually eliminate negative impacts over time, it is essential to provide public openness in the long-term implementation of the GMPA. One way to help is with a comprehensive water quality monitoring program.

As we concentrated on the particular matter before the Coastal Commission—the evaluation and approval of the Water Quality Strategy —we were able to effectively campaign for specific items to improve the overall strategy and hold operators accountable who are in violation of leases or environmental regulations.

Where we understood the Water Quality Strategy to fall short, we advocated for changes. We met with environmental partners, and staff from NPS and the Coastal Commission, and connected with the Regional Water Quality Control Board to discuss our concerns. 

We were not able to support the Water Quality Strategy as submitted and asked the Commission to not approve the strategy unless additional items were added.

Continue Reading

County Supports Monarch Conservation Measures with Resolution

Morgan Patton, Executive Director

In honor of California Biodiversity Day, the Marin County Board of Supervisors recognized the need for our communities to support the western monarch butterfly population with conservation efforts.

The Resolution was introduced by District 4 Supervisor, Dennis Rodoni, whose district supports historic overwintering grounds for the butterfly in the coastal villages of Bolinas and Stinson Beach. The fall and winter monarch coastal overwintering phenomenon has been in steep decline since the 1980s, as the populations are under stressors from habitat loss, pesticide use, invasive plants, and more.

The arrival of the western monarch butterfly to the coast signals the beginning of autumn and symbolizes change, transformation, rebirth, hope, and abundance. The butterfly is of particular significance for the people of Indigenous Mexican and Central American origins.

With continued stark declines in the butterfly population —declining more than 97% since the 1980s—the butterfly is on track for probable extinction risk unless something is done.

Earlier in September, Marin County’s Agricultural Department banned the sale of tropical milkweed at nurseries operating in the County. Tropical milkweed interferes with monarch migration and reproduction—as it does not die back in the fall months when the monarchs need to migrate to the coast to survive the winter. Caterpillars in the winter months are less likely to survive the winter months. Tropical milkweed may also host a parasite (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE) that reduces body mass, lifespan, mating success, and ability to fly.

The resolution was supported by all Supervisors and several speakers including EAC attended the meeting to support the Resolution and provide updates on collaborative projects taking place throughout the County to support the monarch butterfly. 

A special Thank You to Lauren Richards, Summer Legal and Policy intern, who completed the first draft of the Resolution.

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Don't Miss Out! Virtual Birding Festival Talks Expire December 31st
Jessica Taylor, Development Director

With cooler and longer nights of autumn, it’s just the right time to cozy up with a warm beverage and catch up on some of the Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival’s amazing online programming before it expires on December 31st!  

Our online presentations include an amazing line up of speakers on a variety of topics, including: 

• Sharks of California with David McGuire
• Sea Turtles to Sidewinders: Reptiles & Amphibians of the American West with Erin Westeen & José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca
• The Road to Fox Hollow: Discovering Our Foxy Neighbors with Bill Leikam
• The Curious Lives of Backyard Birds: A Conversation with Award-Winning Author Amy Tan & Festival Co-Founder David Wimpfheimer
• Beaver in California: Creating A Culture of Stewardship with Kate Lundquist of Occidential Arts and Ecology Center
• The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Jack E. Davis & Point Reyes Books
• Let’s Get Batty: A Look at Western Bat Species with Dr. Brian Halstead
• A Look Into Baja California’s Natural Protected Areas with Claudia Guzmán Rubio, Community Engagement Coordinator for Terra Peninsular

Don’t miss out, online access to these amazing webinars end on December 31st. 

Purchased Your Virtual Pass? 

If you purchased a pass when you attended the festival, you received an email from us in May with a special discount code to access the videos.

Need to Purchase a Virtual Pass? 

Virtual Passes will be available for purchase for $40 through December. Online viewing access ends on December 31st.

Litter Bugs Me Results:
Cleaner Roadsides This Year!
Leslie Adler-Ivanbrook, Program Director

Thank you to the 78 volunteers who helped make this year’s Litter Bugs Me and Coastal Cleanup Day a great success! Each year since 2009, EAC has coordinated with individual volunteers, businesses, village associations, and clubs to adopt-a-roadside in West Marin’s coastal towns to help reduce the summer season’s accumulated trash before the winter rains wash it into the creeks, bay, and ocean. It’s a great way for us to give back and protect the land and waters we love!

From September 12-17th, volunteers helped pick up trash from West Marin’s roadsides. This year, the East Shore Planning Group, Inverness Association, Olema Association, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, Rotary Club, Palace Market, San Geronimo Valley Community Center Greenstitch Youth Climate Group, West Marin Climate Action, and EAC recruited volunteers for the cleanup effort. 

This year’s effort resulted in the removal of over 448 lbs. of trash and 270 lbs. of recycling from our watershed! In addition, EAC volunteers removed 90 gallons of discarded oyster shells from Millerton Point State Park, Alan Sieroty Beach, in partnership with Tomales Bay Oyster Company, who provided the collection bins and disposed of the shells. 

This year’s collected trash is a significant decrease compared to last year when we collected 1,300 lbs. of trash and 600 lbs. of recycling. We do not believe it's from the reduced effort, but due to cleaner roads and beaches. This year, notable items teams collected included 6+ large foam insulation sheets, two old computers, one tire, one lawn chair, and about 240 old roadway reflectors. The worst thing we found was a face mask filled with human feces. Gross! Kuddos to Olema Valley Association for safely getting that off the roadside! 

Thank you again to all of the wonderful volunteers and partner groups, as well as our sponsors Recology Sonoma Marin, who donated the use of trash and recycling bins, and KWMR, who supported this effort with fantastic radio outreach and donated snacks and drinks for our hard-working volunteers! Your support has helped keep our roadsides clean and helped prevent harm to our watershed, ocean, and wildlife. 

We hope you’ll join us and our partners next year for Litter Bugs Me in the spring (March/April) and in the third week of September 2023!

Past Copies of Print and Email Newsletters, Publications, and Blogs

Western Monarchs - Videos, Working Group Update, Resource Library 

Healthy Tomales Bay

Marin MPA Watch Volunteer Program

Point Reyes National Seashore Ranching Plan

Safeguarding our Coast and Ocean Blog

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