F.O.A.M.

Welcome to FOAM! FOAM(Friends of the Arcata Marsh) is an organization located at the Interpretive Center at the Arcata marsh which strives to enhance visitors' understanding of what the marsh does for its surrounding commmunity and enviornment. FOAM accomplishes this by offering activities and information at the Interpretive Center, for and throughout the marsh.

click to read rules and regulations

The Interpretive Center

Recreation

BIRDING:A major attraction of the marsh is the oppurtunity to view a huge variety of birds. FOAM aids this popular hobby by offering bookshelves full of birding information and guidance. There is even bird information available directly from other local birders provided by a posting board at the Interpretive Center, called the Arcata Marsh Bird Alert. This is a place for birders to leave posts about birds they have found and where they saw them. The Arcata Marsh Bird Alert also includes listings for birding "hot spots" and "The Bird of the Month," usually an important bird found in the marsh, with useful facts about the bird's role in the marsh. There is also another tour lead by the Audubon Society , an orginzation dedicated to birds, conservation and nature, which begin at 8:30 on Saturdays, also rain or shine. These tours are for the pure joy of birding so vistors should be sure to bring their binoculars.

GODWIT DAYS: FOAM also continues to promote bird enthusiam through their tabling at the local migrant bird festival called Godwit Days. Many tours for Godwit days are put on by naturlists from FOAM. FOAM also has many other events ran for the festival which change from year to year.

ARTWORK FOAM organizes with local photographers in turning the Interpretive Center walls into an art venue. Every month, these walls feature a new artist's work and this artwork must comply with the request of FOAM, which is that the photos show birds, plants or other things related to the marsh. The photos can certainly be artistic, yet must, in some way, tie in with the marsh.

Education

TOURS: FOAM provides many activities that will incourage and nuture visitors' interests in nature and wastewater treatment, no matter what level of knowledge. FOAM entertains and educates by offering guided nature walks at 2:00PM on Saturdays that are free to the public and take place during rain or shine. Depending on who guides the tour, visitors can expect to learn about birds, plants and history of the marsh. As for that last Saturday of the month, these tours are focused on waste water treatment and how the marsh accomplishes this. Personal tours can also be arranged two weeks in advance by calling the Interpretive Center(phone number listed at the bottom of the page.)

Nature walks can be enjoyed by the whole family

EXHIBITS: All of the exhibits inside of the Interpretive Center are designed and funded by FOAM. These exhibits vary from political views on waste water treatment to actual treatment of water. Most of the exhibits are interactive, reinforcing concepts through puzzles and other gadgets(can be seen in the exhibit of the water cycle below). The Interpretive Center also provides free literature (via brochures) with information on bird trails(not just of the Marsh but of N. California) as well as maps and information about the marsh.

WETLANDS ON WHEELS: This is FOAM's program directed toward elementary education. Slideshows and plant clippings are a couple of tools that uses during their presenations as well as a skit put on by students at the end. These presentations are put on by voluntary instructors (usually students at Humboldt State University.)

AWARDS FOR ED.

FOAM awards one special student for the best wetland-related project at the Humboldt County Science Fair. This award illustrates the students understanding of wetland processes.
For college students, FOAM has $1000 to award in grants for research projects.

An exhibit about the water cycle, which actually rains when the nob in the lower left is turned.

Volunteer

The Interpretive Center is mainly ran by volunteers as well as FOAM's activities and programs. Volunteers may perform a ranging degree of work, from maintenance to education. Though a large majority of the maintenence is performed by the City of Arcata, FOAM organizes service days where people from the community can come volunteer their time at the marsh. For educational work, such as taking visitors on tours of the marsh, docent trainings are required. Docent trainings are provided twice a year. All inquiries about volunteer work should call the Interpretive Center at (707)826-5143.

Donations

FOAM is entirley funded by donations and fundraisers. For those who donate often, FOAM has a membership program, allowing memebers to recieve the FOAM newsletter. Memebers are also allowed to vote for board members. The application for becoming a member can be found on the last page of FOAM's informational pamphlet.

Contact

All information on this page was from:

Denise Homer

Interpretive Naturalist

Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center

(707)822-8184

email: dhomer@arcatacityhall.org

Page created by:

Robert Camacho

email: rjc21@humboldt.edu