On Sunday, November 10th, the Friends of the Lost Coast will be having their Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour event. This is their 9th year presenting this event and their second year at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, a historic venue in the college town of Arcata, California. The venue has a mix of seating types (i.e. theatre style seating and table seating), plus food and drink on offer from the Arcata Theatre Lounge menu. This is the exclusive event in Humboldt County that will feature 12 excellent films which were custom selected by Friends of the Lost Coast and unique to this Arcata screening. Doors open at 6pm with live music by Bandemonium!, a silent auction, and socializing. The films start at 7pm.
The Friends of the Lost Coast annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour event features the best in environmental filmmaking and supports their education and stewardship programs.
Founded by a group of community-minded nature lovers in 2000, Friends of the Lost Coast originally partnered with staff at the King Range National Conservation Area to bring interpretive information about the local Lost Coast region Conservation Lands to the public. Early projects included natural science fairs and the movie, Lost Coast Adventures, which teaches safety and stewardship to visitors. Since then, they have grown to include many more partners and great programs.
Their mission is to inspire a passion for understanding and preserving the natural life of the Lost Coast region in students, visitors, and the community. Sharing this passion is what their programs are all about as they work toward their vision of a time when local and global communities understand, value, and appreciate the unique environment of the Lost Coast region and reflect this in their personal lives.
The Lost Coast Environmental Education Resource (LCEER) brings fun, hands-on learning about the environment to local schools. Teaching students about nature in their own back yard encourages the next generation of environmental stewards. This program is a partnership with the King Range National Conservation Area. Their day camp serves over 60 kids each year, ages 4 – 13, bringing them outside to hike, create nature inspired crafts, learn about edible and medicinal plants, journal, observe wildlife, swim, play, explore, and learn the value of giving back through service projects. The Friends of the Lost Coast also run the Lost Coast Education Center. a perfect place for students of all ages to engage in the natural world, learn about sustainable gardening practices, water conservation, and the benefits of mimicking nature in their own landscapes.
Their Shelter Cove Invasive Plant Program (SCiPP) brings a small community together for a common cause—to remove invasive plants from their own neighborhoods in order to further preserve the natural biodiversity of the King Range National Conservation Area that is literally in their backyards.
The Friends of the Lost Coast also lead hikes and sponsor lectures. Subjects include tide pools, plants, animals, geology, photography, history, and more. Led by experts and enthusiasts in natural science, participants go home with a greater understanding of the natural world around them. Their Lost Coast Trail Stewards & Trailhead Hosts program organizes volunteers to assist BLM with both a backlog of trail maintenance projects and engaging visitors at Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove on the weekends of highest summer usage. Their Trailhead Hosts answer questions and share information about the King Range, park rules/regulations, and Leave No Trace principles, while their Lost Coast Trail Stewards offer ongoing volunteer opportunities for trail enthusiasts to assist BLM with varied trail maintenance and road cleaning projects in the KRNCA.
Justin Crellin, Administrative Coordinator at Friends of the Lost Coast, says, “The event has helped us connect with different segments of the community – and especially so since moving the event to northern Humboldt. The On Tour event is also our largest single fundraising event each year, supporting our education, stewardship, youth, and citizen science programs. It is also a great vehicle to promote these programs — and the larger works of Friends of the Lost Coast — in the community, and it offers local businesses a way to support our work through sponsorship of our WSFF presentation.”
Crellin goes on to say, “The films are always great – and it is fun to get together with our community over film, food/drink, and music. It is also a great annual opportunity to tell the community about the work of Friends of the Lost Coast and to hopefully inspire attendees to not only get involved with FOLC, but also to make positive changes in their lives for the health of our planet!”
