Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation

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The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation

Our Mission • Our Beginnings • The Foundation Today • Our Future

The Laguna Foundation collaborates with public land managers and private landowners on various projects aimed at enhancing ecosystem resilience to fire. Although we still have a significant distance to cover in achieving a fire-adapted community, each year underscores the important and pressing nature of this work. Recognizing the inevitability of more severe weather due to climate change, our efforts are crucial in building a safer and more resilient landscape. This resilience is essential for both the natural environment of Sonoma County and its inhabitants to endure and flourish.

Our Mission

English | Spanish

The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit with the mission to restore and conserve the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and to inspire public appreciation of this Wetland of International Importance. We accomplish this mission through:

Restoring

Establishing tens of thousands of native trees and plants and removing non-native invasive species which improves water quality, restores lost habitat, improves bio-diversity and mitigates climate change.

Engaging volunteers in our restoration work.

Conserving

Collaborating with land stewardship, resource management planning and implementation with a broad spectrum of stakeholders including private and public landowners, governmental agencies and non-profits.

Conducting conservation science research on endangered species, restoration effectiveness, and invasive species mapping to inform both our own and partner stewardship efforts.

Inspiring

Training volunteer docents to teach students in the classroom and visitors to the Laguna Environmental Center about the Laguna’s important role in our watershed.

Bringing school groups to the Laguna for an exploration of this unique habitat.

Educating community members about the Laguna’s complex wetland ecosystem through our public events that include workshops, lectures, guided nature walks and hands-on, science-based activities.

Our Beginnings

The Laguna Foundation was established in 1989 following the State of the Laguna conference, which united various private and publicstakeholders invested in the Laguna's future. We formally incorporated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1990, initially operating entirely with volunteers until 2002. During those early years, we undertook small-scale restoration projects, advocated on public policy affecting the Laguna, and collaborated with stakeholders to develop a Coordinated Resource Management Plan. This plan set shared goals for improving water quality, habitat, flood control, and other public benefits. Additionally, we launched a docent training program and educational initiatives for local schools.

In 2002, recognizing the need to accelerate our mission to protect, restore, and educate about the Laguna wateshed, our Board of Directors hired an Executive Director and a Resource Development Director. Since then, our efforts, and staff, have significantly expanded. We've undertaken large-scale restoration and conservation science projects throughout the watershed, expanded educational programs, and established the Laguna Environmental Center at Stone Farm in Santa Rosa, CA, to further our impact in the community.

The Foundation Today

Today, our mission-driven staff has expanded and our programs flourish.
The Laguna Environmental Center’s gardens and Great Blue Heron Hall are beautiful and welcoming—the perfect place to hold our own meetings, trainings, workshops, and events. Moreover, this delightful space is a springboard for connecting with our community! When possible, we love to share our facility with other nonprofits and community partners to support their critical work.

Our restoration and conservation science programs help to ensure that the Laguna continues to function and serve the natural and built environments that surround it by re-creating well-connected and biologically diverse habitats. As we plant native species and remove invasive competitors, we expand natural buffer areas along creeks and across remaining grasslands around the watershed. These efforts mitigate flooding, store more carbon, improve water quality, and make this biologically diverse ecosystem even more resilient in the face of climate change induced extremes.

Our native plant nursery staff and volunteers grow over 15,000 native plants year over year, including rare and endangered species only found within the watershed. These plants play a critical role in habitat restoration projects for the Laguna Foundation and other local organizations and government agencies. Our nursery plants enrich endangered butterfly habitat, help restore riparian ecosystems, and aid in the rehabilitation of rare plant communities.

We also find joy in sharing the wonder of nature with children and adults alike. Our Learning Laguna program and field trips, along with our summer camp, help young explorers tune their senses in to nature as they hike, climb on trees, make discoveries, and build connection with each other and the natural world. Participants of all ages connect with the Laguna year-round through hands-on stewardship projects, workshops, art exhibits, presentations, and guided walks.

Our robust volunteer program sustains our programs and staff by providing their time and expertise, and join us from a range of age and backgrounds. From docents to garden volunteers, from the day-to-day handy-person to office support, our organization is stronger and more effective thanks to generous and skilled volunteers.

Our Future

Ensuring a healthy and thriving Laguna de Santa Rosa for decades to come requires long-term planning and collaborative action. We are renewing our commitment through this new 5-year Strategic Plan covering Fiscal Years 2024-2029. Over the past year, our staff and Board held a series of facilitated retreats and work sessions to review and refine our vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities that address current and emerging opportunities and challenges. The team also solicited input from key supporters, partners, and volunteers, and we can now share our collective goals for the next five fiscal years.
Our Strategic Priorities are ambitious, but we believe also focused and pragmatic. With your help, we know we can get them done. None of this happens without collaborative partnerships and sustained commitment from you. The Laguna Foundation has been the voice of the Laguna de Santa Rosa for the last 35 years and we look forward to continuing this vital work for the next 5 years and beyond! Join us in sharing the passion, energy and hope it takes to realize our vision of resilient, vibrant ecosystems and communities of the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. We can all be watershed stewards – together, we flourish.

Click here to read our exciting 5-Year Strategic Plan

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Our Mission
English \| Spanish	The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit with the mission to restore and conserve the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and to inspire public appreciation of this Wetland of International Importance. We accomplish this mission through: Restoring Establishing tens of thousands of native trees and plants and removing non-native invasive species which improves water quality, restores lost habitat, improves bio-diversity and mitigates climate change. Engaging volunteers in our restoration work. Conserving Collaborating with land stewardship, resource management planning and implementation with a broad spectrum of stakeholders including private and public landowners, governmental agencies and non-profits. Conducting conservation science research on endangered species, restoration effectiveness, and invasive species mapping to inform both our own and partner stewardship efforts. Inspiring Training volunteer docents to teach students in the classroom and visitors to the Laguna Environmental Center about the Laguna’s important role in our watershed. Bringing school groups to the Laguna for an exploration of this unique habitat. Educating community members about the Laguna’s complex wetland ecosystem through our public events that include workshops, lectures, guided nature walks and hands-on, science-based activities.
Our Beginnings
The Laguna Foundation was established in 1989 following the State of the Laguna conference, which united various private and publicstakeholders invested in the Laguna's future. We formally incorporated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1990, initially operating entirely with volunteers until 2002. During those early years, we undertook small-scale restoration projects, advocated on public policy affecting the Laguna, and collaborated with stakeholders to develop a Coordinated Resource Management Plan. This plan set shared goals for improving water quality, habitat, flood control, and other public benefits. Additionally, we launched a docent training program and educational initiatives for local schools. In 2002, recognizing the need to accelerate our mission to protect, restore, and educate about the Laguna wateshed, our Board of Directors hired an Executive Director and a Resource Development Director. Since then, our efforts, and staff, have significantly expanded. We've undertaken large-scale restoration and conservation science projects throughout the watershed, expanded educational programs, and established the Laguna Environmental Center at Stone Farm in Santa Rosa, CA, to further our impact in the community.
The Foundation Today
Today, our mission-driven staff has expanded and our programs flourish. The Laguna Environmental Center’s gardens and Great Blue Heron Hall are beautiful and welcoming—the perfect place to hold our own meetings, trainings, workshops, and events. Moreover, this delightful space is a springboard for connecting with our community! When possible, we love to share our facility with other nonprofits and community partners to support their critical work. Our restoration and conservation science programs help to ensure that the Laguna continues to function and serve the natural and built environments that surround it by re-creating well-connected and biologically diverse habitats. As we plant native species and remove invasive competitors, we expand natural buffer areas along creeks and across remaining grasslands around the watershed. These efforts mitigate flooding, store more carbon, improve water quality, and make this biologically diverse ecosystem even more resilient in the face of climate change induced extremes. Our native plant nursery staff and volunteers grow over 15,000 native plants year over year, including rare and endangered species only found within the watershed. These plants play a critical role in habitat restoration projects for the Laguna Foundation and other local organizations and government agencies. Our nursery plants enrich endangered butterfly habitat, help restore riparian ecosystems, and aid in the rehabilitation of rare plant communities. We also find joy in sharing the wonder of nature with children and adults alike. Our Learning Laguna program and field trips, along with our summer camp, help young explorers tune their senses in to nature as they hike, climb on trees, make discoveries, and build connection with each other and the natural world. Participants of all ages connect with the Laguna year-round through hands-on stewardship projects, workshops, art exhibits, presentations, and guided walks. Our robust volunteer program sustains our programs and staff by providing their time and expertise, and join us from a range of age and backgrounds. From docents to garden volunteers, from the day-to-day handy-person to office support, our organization is stronger and more effective thanks to generous and skilled volunteers.
Our Future
	Ensuring a healthy and thriving Laguna de Santa Rosa for decades to come requires long-term planning and collaborative action. We are renewing our commitment through this new 5-year Strategic Plan covering Fiscal Years 2024-2029. Over the past year, our staff and Board held a series of facilitated retreats and work sessions to review and refine our vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities that address current and emerging opportunities and challenges. The team also solicited input from key supporters, partners, and volunteers, and we can now share our collective goals for the next five fiscal years. Our Strategic Priorities are ambitious, but we believe also focused and pragmatic. With your help, we know we can get them done. None of this happens without collaborative partnerships and sustained commitment from you. The Laguna Foundation has been the voice of the Laguna de Santa Rosa for the last 35 years and we look forward to continuing this vital work for the next 5 years and beyond! Join us in sharing the passion, energy and hope it takes to realize our vision of resilient, vibrant ecosystems and communities of the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. We can all be watershed stewards – together, we flourish. Click here to read our exciting 5-Year Strategic Plan