The ecosystem consists of alternating sandy beaches and rocky shoreline, with a marine terrace extending above the entire extent with an upland California coastal prairie habitat.

This marine terrace is elevated approximately 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) above mean sea level, which results in a steep bluff directly above the littoral zone.

The active San Andreas Fault runs roughly parallel and near to the coastline of Sonoma Coast State Park.

The littoral beach environment has fewer organisms than more southerly zones, because of the colder temperatures; however, there are tidepools which are abundant with marine flora and fauna.

A variety of birds and mammals thrive on the coastal prairie including numerous California Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus californicus.

The adjacent Ocean Song preserve expands the protected area for wildlife and natural vegetation to include ridge-top habitats of the California Coast Ranges.

[2] Some of the oldest natural history of this area related to mammals are a blueschist rock formation about one mile (1.6 km) south of the Russian River.

There is found a sea stack formation with prominent rubbing marks about two to four meters in elevation, a height too high to have been caused by modern bovids.

Bill's mother was a descendant of the Donner Party and his father's parents were early California winemakers in the upper Napa Valley.

After spending his youth on a Petaluma poultry and dairy farm, Bill studied veterinary medicine at Santa Rosa Junior College and the University of California, Davis.