PCI works with private landowners, public entities, and other organizations to facilitate the protection and conservation of rare plants throughout Marin, Mendocino, and Sonoma counties. We have worked in settings ranging from coastal wetland, scrub, and dunes to grassland, redwood forest, serpentine, and Sargent cypress habitats to prepare mitigation, restoration, protection, and monitoring plans for…

The western pond turtle is the only native freshwater turtle species in northern California. It has declined throughout 75% of its range and continues to be threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive predators, and a number of other human-induced mechanisms. Marin County Parks and Open Space District has multiple preserve locations where populations of…

North American beavers (Castor canadensis) have been gradually re-establishing populations in Sonoma County after historic extirpation. Beavers have been recognized in recent decades as “ecosystem engineers” that increase biodiversity and riparian system function through their dam building and wetland creation. Although beavers and their dams benefit both natural and human communities, they can also pose…

In 2016, PCI was approached by a group of homeowners along a local creek with a resource protection challenge. The homeowners shared a private driveway in western Sebastopol; a small tributary to Redwood Creek flowed through a steel culvert beneath their collective access route. The culvert had plugged numerous times, and in the summer of…

The spectacular, newly protected Mill Bend Preserve is located at the mouth of the Gualala River, straddling Mendocino and Sonoma Counties along Highway 1. The property was recently purchased for conservation by the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC), with support from the State Coastal Conservancy and multiple other partners. It encompasses a portion of the…

Green Valley Creek is a large tributary to the Russian River, with a drainage area of approximately 31 square miles above the project site. The Iron Horse Vineyards property is one of the largest single-owner properties on lower Green Valley Creek in west Sonoma County, and has provided a unique opportunity to create large, flooded…

In the summer of 2019, PCI’s construction crew removed a channel-spanning concrete dam on Lower Green Valley Creek at Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol, CA. Green Valley Creek is a major tributary to the Russian River and has historically provided critical spawning and rearing grounds for coho salmon. However, coho populations have declined due to…

PCI prepared an ecological resources assessment for this spectacular 821-acre property in 2013. Now, we are assisting Sonoma County Regional Parks in preparing plans for public access to, and resource management of, the diverse forests and scenic grasslands of this landmark location.

The Sonoma Developmental Center is a 900-acre state-owned facility in Glen Ellen, California proposed for redevelopment. The site has provided valued services to the developmentally disabled for a century, is beloved by the local community for recreation, hosts a key pinch point in a regional wildlife corridor, and is located in an area of highly…

PCI has prepared a conceptual design for proposed parkland along Kelly Creek in Petaluma. This 44-acre property will expand on the popular Helen Putnam Regional Park in Petaluma. The land had been proposed for housing by property owner Davidon Homes. However, thanks to community efforts led by the nonprofit Kelly Creek Protection Project, the site, which…

PCI designed and constructed a 5.5 acre-foot swimming pond and its surrounding landscape on a private ranch on Sonoma Mountain. The design included a habitat-friendly natural shoreline comprised of emergent wetland, seasonal wetland, and wet meadow habitats. The project also includes a newly constructed embankment, spillway, pond liner, underwater habitat structures, boathouse, docks, footbridge, paths,…

PCI assisted Tukman Geospatial and partners from California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Native Plant Society in developing a state-of-the-art fine-scale map of Sonoma County’s 1.1 million acres. This 5-year project was led by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and was completed in 2017. Describing and mapping the…

The City of Healdsburg took ownership of Fitch Mountain in November 2017 and will be operating and maintaining the property as a public park and open space preserve. The soon-to-be open Fitch Mountain Park and Open Space Preserve (Preserve) is a 173-acre property that encompasses the entire 991-foot peak of Fitch Mountain and most of…

Mill Creek is a major tributary to the Russian River and harbors some of the best habitat for coho salmon and steelhead trout in the watershed. Fish access to 11.2 miles of excellent spawning and rearing habitat was severely blocked for decades by a 5-ft tall concrete flashboard dam that the National Marine Fisheries Service…

In 2013, PCI began working with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to plan and design projects to improve salmonid habitat value in the lower 1.7 miles of the South Fork Ten Mile River and 4.5 miles of the mainstem Ten Mile River in Mendocino County, California. The general premise compelling the Project is that off-channel rearing…

In 2012, PG&E completed a seismic retrofit at Crane Valley Dam, the embankment that forms Bass Lake, a popular US Forest Service recreational area. A project-specific quarry was developed adjacent to the site on USFS property to supply the project. To restore both the 8-acre quarry site and the 32-acre stockpile and processing areas, PCI…

Green Gulch Creek is a tributary to Redwood Creek in Marin County, one of the last streams south of Lagunitas Creek with a remaining wild run of coho salmon. The San Francisco Zen Center operates a meditation center and one of California’s oldest continuously certified organic farms on the property. Historic realignment and hardening of…

PCI enlarged and enhanced an existing farm pond to create extensive habitat for native aquatic species as well as recreational features in the Sonoma Valley. PCI’s landscape architects developed sound, effective riparian and wetland restoration methods that also blend into the surrounding landscape and are aesthetically pleasing. The creek restoration included design and reconstruction of…

PCI designed and provided construction oversight on three fish passage improvement projects on Stuart Creek, a tributary to Sonoma Creek outside of the town of Glen Ellen, for Sonoma Land Trust. Stuart Creek is a fairly steep, cobble and boulder bed stream with high sediment transport potential. Three man-made partial or total fish passage barriers…

Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve is a 1,089-acre site in east Santa Rosa opened for public use in 2013, and distinguished by rich and varied wildlife habitat and panoramic views of the Santa Rosa Plain. PCI was retained by RRM Design Group to assist with preparation of a Master Plan for the…