Tuleyome

Location

607 North Street

Woodland, CA 95695

Hours

M-F 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Phone

+1 (530) 350-2599

Web

http://www.tuleyome.org/

Facebook page

Email

<sdhusby AT tuleyome DOT org>

Executive Officer

Sara Husby

"People, Policy and Place"

Tuleyome is an environmental non-profit organization focused on actively protecting the Northern Inner Coast Range and the Western Sacramento Valley. Tuleyome's interests are to "protect, restore and enhance the aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial environmental value". Tuleyome is currently working on several different projects and programs, all focused on local environmental issues. These programs include Yolo Hikers, an outdoor exploration youth group for underserved youth, Nature's Theatre, a community garden and much more.

In 2011, Tuleyome was awarded a $1.4 million grant by the California Department of Fish and Game to clean up 3 abandoned mercury/nickel mines in the upper Putah Creek watershed during the next 3 years. See press release.

See their website for more information about current projects, how to volunteer, how to donate, and about their library (including Tuleyome Tales).

Walker Ridge public lands cover an area of 14,000 acres along an 11-mile, north-south trending ridge located on the boundary of Colusa and Lake Counties, just north of Highway 20 and the Cache Creek Wilderness, and immediately to the west of Bear Valley.

The California Native Plant Society has petitioned WR to be protected as an “Area of Critical Environmental Concern” because of a high diversity of plant species, serpentine-associated plants, special-status plants, potentially undescribed plants, unusual plant associations, and wetlands.

Canadian developer AltaGas is proposing a 29-turbine wind development project for the top of Walker Ridge, a project that threatens this area’s biological resources, water resources from mercury contamination caused by disturbance of serpentine soils, scenic beauty, wilderness characteristics, and the overall conservation values of the region.

Tuleyome strongly supports responsible renewable energy development, but some places are inappropriate for development of any kind. The proposed Walker Ridge wind development will generate only marginal wind energy at the cost of great ecological harm.

Values of the Region:

• Rare Plants: Rare ‘serpentine’ soils support high numbers of uncommon or narrowly-distributed California native plant species and plant communities.
  

• Important Wildlife Corridor: The ridge is part of an important wildlife corridor of unbroken natural habitat that provides connectivity from the Klamath-Siskiyou region and the Mendocino National Forest to the north, through to the Cache Creek Wilderness Area and Knoxville public lands to the south.
  

• Crucial Habitat The plants and animals of the ridge have only been partially documented, but we do know it is currently home to:
  

• Bobcat, Brown Bear
  

• Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Migratory birds
  

• 80 species of butterfly, including 5 rare butterflies
  

• Almost 50% of the dragonfly/ damselfly species of California
  

• Great Recreation: Walker Ridge’s proximity to Bear Valley and Highway 20 make it easily accessible for recreation, it is great for hiking, picnicking, bird watching, plant observation and gorgeous wildflower displays.
  

• Amazing Views: from the top of the ridge you can see Snow Mountain, Mount Shasta, the Sierra, Mount Diablo, and Mt. Konocti past the beautiful wildflower displays and views of California’s grasslands.
  

• Educational Value: Universities, botanical groups and individuals lead trips up to Walker Ridge to study plants in the area. Many plants are likely yet to be identified on the ridge.

Please view our website for more information, and or to donate and help save Walker Ridge!

Tuleyome is now working towards the designation of 800,000 acres of public lands in the region as the "Blue Ridge Berryessa National Conservation Area" (that's equivalent to about half the total land area of Delaware). The area would encompass lands managed by the BLM, BOR (Bureau of Reclamations), CA DFG (Department of Fish & Game) and the UC Natural Reserve System. And would cover parts of Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano and counties. You can learn more about the campaign on their website: Blue Ridge Berryessa National Conservation Area Campaign Page. The Sierra Club is supporting this campaign.

Tuleyome has been involved in a number of successful environmental campaigns over the last few years. In 2006, Tuleyome was an active part of the campaign to win Wild & Scenic River designation of 31 miles of Cache Creek, in order to protect the creek from future dam projects, water diversion, and other forms of development which threaten the wildlife, fisheries and recreational activities on Cache Creek.

In 2010, Tuleyome successfully purchased a 72-acre parcel at the headwaters of Cold Canyon. They celebrated on April 18th by trailbuilding! This land is surrounded by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public lands on two sides, and University lands to the north. Acquisition of this property means that the Cold Canyon headwaters will be protected, preserving not only the property itself but the viewshed and water quality of the creek canyon downstream; the property will be open to the public via an existing hiking trail, the same as the rest of the Cold Canyon Reserve; and with the acquisition a new trail can be built, creating a ridge-to-ridge loop.

Tuleyome also stepped up their efforts towards the creation of a Blue Ridge Conservancy Project by purchasing the 640-Acre Ireland Ranch, which abuts 9,100 of Bureau of Land Management public lands at Berryessa Peak. Until the Ireland Ranch purchase, the Berryessa Peak Unit was completely encircled by private property, which meant that there was no way for the public to enjoy the recreational opportunities of Berryessa Peak. Tuleyome plans to begin docent-led hikes and support further educational opportunities and scientific studies in the area.

Other Recent Successes

• Purchase of 600+ acre parcel on the south flank of the Goat Mountain in the headwaters of North Fork of Cache Creek
  

• Thompson Wilderness Bill - designates more than 210,000 acres of Northern California as wilderness.
  

• New Bureau of Reclamations Management Plan Lake Berryessa - Opens the lake to full public use, including a 150-mile hiking trail.
  

• New BLM Ukiah Recreational Area Management Plan - Successfully lobbied for the revision of the BLM Ukiah RAMP to remove a number of potentially harmful clauses.

• President - Andrew Fulks
  

• Vice President - Daniel Mora
  

• Treasurer - Jim Eaton
  

• Senior Policy Director - Bob Schneider
  

• Helen McCloskey-Secretary
  

• John and Judy Ahmann
  

• Victoria Brandon
  

• Glenn Holstein, PhD.
  

• Carol Kunze
  

• Chad Roberts
  

• Jeff Falyn and Lyndsay Dawkins

• Sara Dawn Husby (Executive Officer)
  

• Charlotte Madeleine Orr (Executive Assistant)
  

• Kate Pearl (Policy Associate)
  

• Don Morrill (Part-Time Development Coordinator)