Story reposted with permission from The Times-Standard.
Friends of the Lost Coast’s mission is to inspire a passion for nature in the Lost Coast region, which extends from Northern Mendocino up to the Lost Coast Headlands north of the King Range. Justin Crellin, Executive Director, says that the “King Range represents the core of our programming.” He added, “BLM (Bureau of Land Management) King Range is a great partner. Please shout them out.”
It’s a small organization, with many programs. There’s one full-time staffer, two part-time folks, and some contractors that support education programs.
The flagship youth program is the Lost Coast Environmental Education Resource, historically conducted in partnership with BLM. Although its funding was clawed back by the Trump administration, the initiative persists.
“We’ve rallied to keep this program going,” Justin says. It involves six schools, with multiple classrooms at each school studying natural science, with a local public lands tie-in.
The group just hosted their annual Natural Science Day event in Garberville, involving 15+ nonprofits and agencies. There was also the Summer Adventure Camp, featuring different outings every day, many out on the land with some happening at the Lost Coast Nature Center in Whitethorn.
That Center, with its Native Plant Garden and Nursery, serves as the organization’s home base. They host a monthly native plant workday (3 rd Sundays). Some plants propagated and/or grown at the garden get sold at seasonal plant sales, while others are used in the Friends’ revegetation projects.
The Lost Coast Lecture series goes from fall to spring, with recorded lectures available on YouTube. Justin says that remote technology has greatly expanded the pool of experts the organization can bring in. They still host lectures in person as well. Past workshops have included nature-themed arts and crafts in conjunction with the region’s Wailaki tribe; astronomy events; a mini-mushroom fair, using microscopes to study local fungi, along with a mushroom display, field outings, and art/kids’ activities; and Art in the Garden, where rotating fine artists teach a free workshop in June when the garden is in full bloom. They also show nature films in the Friends’ 100-year-old barn.
Come summer, there is an interpretive hike series, led by experts. These sometimes feature special access behind gates or on private land that you and I typically couldn’t get into.
Due to the threats they perceive to public lands, the Friends have ramped up their efforts in public lands advocacy.
There are a slew of stewardship programs and citizen science programs. The Lost Coast Trail Stewards perform monthly trail maintenance. Trailhead Hosts promote safety on Black Sands Beach and provide Leave No Trace education. Others include Shelter Cove workdays, managing native plant gardens on BLM land, partnering with BLM on annual Earth Day and National Public Lands Day events, and managing Shelter Cove’s Adopt-A-Beach program. All of these offer stipends for youth to incentivize their participation.
Citizen science encompasses work with Cal Poly Humboldt to monitor stranded or deceased marine mammals on eight beach segments. Other offerings include phenology (life cycles of native plant species), monitored weekly at three King Range locations; information is uploaded to Nature’s Notebook and tracking marine debris from cleanups is reported to Northcoast Environmental Center.
The newest citizen science possibility tool is a cool little thing called Haikubox, technology that records and identifies birds and bats by their vocalizations. A local couple who are birders sponsored the Friends of the Lost Coast in purchasing their own. Justin says the most surprising visitors so far have been marbled murrelets, because the species is considered a denizen of old-growth woods and the ocean, and there’s no old growth near their Haikubox. Data is shared with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The next phase is to distill that data to make it more accessible for interpretive analysis. You can analyze what you hear here: https://birds.haikubox.com/listen/E4B063BBB044.
Given the program depth and lean staffing, it’s not surprising that the Friends lean heavily on volunteers and have an open door for them. They also need donations. You can click here to help: https://lostcoast.org/get-involved/.
Justin mentioned the change in the population living in the Lost Coast area. He said, “We’re seeing energy developing in Southern Humboldt among transplants to SoHum. These folks want to become involved in preservation and in the community more widely.”
He also mentioned bonding with visitors: “We seek to turn the visitors’ lifelong memories into a lifelong connection with the region. Hopefully, they come back, continuing to support the community.”
As part of the organization’s outreach in Northern Humboldt, there is an exclusive Humboldt presentation of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival – happening on Sunday, Nov. 8, at the Arcata Theatre Lounge. It’s the Friends’ main annual fundraising event. For details on films and to buy tickets, go to https://lostcoast.org/wild-and-scenic-film-festival/.
Consultant Michael Kraft writes the Good Work series, volunteering on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.