Good news -- California State Parks has been able to increase park operations so that Fort Ross is open three days a week -- Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

While we understand the current budgetary constraints that California State Parks is operating under, Fort Ross Conservancy believes that the park should be open seven days a week, particularly during our bicenntennial year. Please show your support by visiting us this spring season. 

• Fort Ross Compound & VC will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, as well as holidays, from April 14 - September 3.
• Salt Point's Woodside Campground will be open starting April 13, and on Reserve America reservations May through September 3.
• Gerstle Day Use restrooms - open weekends until May 25, open daily May 26 - September 3.
• Reef Day Use opens June 1 (first day of Fort Ross ab season) through September 3.

The following areas are still closed:

• Reef Campground is closed.
• Fisk Mill and Stump Beach Day Use areas are closed.

Service reductions are subject to change. Please call 707-865-2391 if you have questions.
 
To learn the story behind park closures and the budget crisis, listen to KQED-FM/California Report's On The Rocks. 

Hats off to our dedicated group of volunteers and staff for a productive Costumes Seminar this past weekend!

In preparation for our July event, this seminar brought together both the cast members that are in the new scenarios and the volunteers that participate in various activities within the fort compound. We had over 60 people join in. FRC thanks the Renova Fort Ross Foundation for underwriting this important (and fun!) project that will surely bring life to our events for many years to come. 

Renova Fort Ross Foundation has underwritten a new entrance sign at Fort Ross State Historic Park, and it's definitely an attention-getter! Most importantly, it lists the historic eras that make this place special: Former Russian Settlement, Early California Ranch, and Kashaya Territory. Now drivers passing by will know we're not just another fort along the California coastline. 

Photo (c) Paul C. Miller

Thanks to a generous grant by the Renova Fort Ross Foundation, we hosted the 2nd annual SURF group to Fort Ross, with 50 students from the Stanford US Russia Forum coming for an overnight trip to Fort Ross. The weather was fantastic, wildlife abundant, and the day nothing short of memorable. The students helped out with several community service projects and learned about 19th century Russian America. FRC also thanks our local community for their invaluable expertise.

This year's weekend-long celebration will bring together artists & performers from around the world covering the breadth of historic Settlement Ross's multicultural community. Stay tuned while we confirm participation of several international headliners. In the interim, here are a few highlights:

• Watch a delegation from Sakha Republic (Yakutsk, Russia) construct a Yakutsk totem,
• Enjoy Saturday-only highlights of Aleksey Rybnikov Theater performing from "Juno and Avos," 
• Witness costumed actors bringing day-to-day Colony Ross to life,
• Join song & dance performances by Bay Area groups Kedry, and the Slavianka Choir, 
• Learn how to weave a basket, work tin, make a rope,
• Enjoy performances by St. Innocent's Academy, a youth group from Kodiak, Alaska.

More details available on Visitor Information page, or call 707/847-3437.

To inquire about booking a seat for a one-day bus excursion from San Francisco to Fort Ross to attend either Saturday or Sunday, contact Russian Connections Travel, or send mail to info@gettorussia.com.

Abalone season at Fort Ross State Historic Park will open on June 1st, 2012.

For information on the delayed Fort Ross ab season opening, see the Deparment of Fish and Game site, and associated map. 

From the February 2 Press Democrat: "The abalone season will open as normal on April 1 in most of Sonoma County following a Fish and Game Commission vote Thursday to curtail an emergency ban.  The state commission imposed the closure last fall after tens of thousands of abalones and other invertebrates washed up dead around Labor Day, the apparent victims of a Red Tide algae bloom.

The die-off only added to Fish and Game concerns about over-fishing of abalone particularly at Fort Ross, the most popular site for the sport on the North Coast and the epicenter of the devastation."