Freshwater Farms Reserve

10/03/2023

08/22/2023

05/30/2023

Join NRLT and Planwest Partners, Inc. on June 3, at Freshwater Farms Reserve to celebrate American Hiking Society .

Together we’ll leave the trails and the outdoor community better than we found them. Everyone who takes the pledge will be entered for a chance to win one of four outdoor gear prize packages. Check out the link below to register for our event and take the pledge!

bit.ly/trails-day

03/22/2023

Hey hi hello!

It's a new year, and we've got plenty of events and offerings planned. Check out the schedule below, with more details on our website! Hope to see you out there 🤩

Partner organizations for our events this year include the California Conservation Corps, ¡Échale Ganas! & Camino al Rancho at the Cal Poly Humboldt Wildlife Department, Friends of the Dunes, Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival, Humboldt Trails Council & Volunteer Trails Stewards, the North Coast CNPS Nursery, and the Watershed Stewards Program. Stay tuned for more events!

ncrlt.org

03/22/2023

👀

Want to become a birder but don't know where to start? This might be the place! Already an experienced birder? Fantastic!

Join NRLT and Point Blue Conservation Science for a guided birding walk at Freshwater Farms Reserve as part of the Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival. We will explore Freshwater Farms Reserve, observe birds, and learn how inspiring actions have led to vital habitat restoration!

WHEN: Friday, April 14, from 8:15 am to 12:15 pm
WHERE: Freshwater Farms Reserve, 5851 Myrtle Ave, Eureka
RSVP: godwitdays.org - visit their event registration page for this FREE event

Binoculars will be provided.

Photo: Russ Whitehurst, Wikimedia Commons

03/22/2023

Freshwater Farms Reserve is the ambassador property for the Northcoast Regional Land Trust.

The property boasts a .75-mile nature trail, open every day from 9 am to 6 pm, a working cow pasture and goat paddock, a row crop area, the California Native Plant Society, North Coast Chapter nursery, and a restored tidal wetland that supports rearing habitat for Coho salmon, steelhead, and tidewater goby.

In 2005, the Land Trust purchased 54 acres of bottomland pasture from neighboring Freshwater Farms Nursery to facilitate a wetland restoration and enhancement project and to maintain agricultural uses. In 2012, NRLT acquired the 20-acre Freshwater Farms Nursery property reuniting it with the Freshwater Farms Reserve for a total of 74 acres.

Located in an area historically dominated by tidal wetlands, the property was converted to pasture in the early 1900s to support the growing agrarian culture in Humboldt County. Wood Creek, which runs through the property, meets with Freshwater Slough and is part of the larger Humboldt Bay tributary complex. The Land Trust, recognizing the need to reclaim wetland habitat vital to the successful rearing of salmon and steelhead, as well as other wetland-dependent species, worked with numerous public and private groups to design and implement the restoration.

Elements of the restoration included: the removal of a wooden-flap tide gate; the construction of 3,200 feet of slough channels; the removal of a 300-foot berm on the north bank of Wood Creek; the construction of three habitat ponds; the replacement of an old, crushed culvert with a modified flatbed trailer bridge; construction of tidal hummocks (shallow hills subject to tidal inundation); and revegetation of the entire project area with over 46,000 native wetland plants. All but the last activity was completed in late 2009. The planting phase began in late March and was completed by mid-April 2010.