SANCTUARY FOREST

Support our mission by creating your own fundraiser. Sanctuary Forest was created in 1987 out of efforts to protect the remaining old-growth redwood forests in the Mattole River headwaters in northwestern California. The organization continues to protect land through conservation easements and direct land acquisition, and now protects the river through the Mattole Flow Program. We monitor the river’s flow throughout the drought season, provide water storage tanks for residents who choose to forgo pumping from the river each summer, and educate the public about what they can do to improve the health of the river. The Mattole is home to coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, all of which are facing extinction. Help us help the salmon by donating now!

Located on California’s north coast, the Mattole lies at the southern end of the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. It is one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers on the Pacific Coast. With its pure strains of native salmon, significant blocks of conserved lands, sparse population and a 30 year history of community commitment to restoration, the Mattole represents one of the best opportunities for watershed-wide restoration in the nation.

The Mattole River runs through the heart of the fabled Lost Coast, and Sanctuary Forest’s conservation and education work helps to connect residents and visitors to the spectacular conserved public landscapes that make this the largest U.S. coastal wilderness outside of Alaska. The King Range National Conservation Area (now 40 years old, and a jewel of the National Landscape Conservation System) spans 68,000 acres of rugged mountains between the Mattole and the Pacific, while the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park extends this wild coastline to the south. Sanctuary Forest leads educational hikes into both of these areas, as well as through old-growth redwoods and salmon habitat that we’ve conserved in the Mattole headwaters. Join us out on the trails!