Hearst Castle. Photo by CAHairyBear/Flickr.

Hearst Castle, a meteor and SF parks app

by Alison Hawkes

October 22, 2012

Time for Monday’s nature news digest!

Hearst Castle waived more than $600,000 in private event entry fees to select groups and the politically connected as state parks crushed with budget shortfalls. [California Watch]
California medical pot growers are largely unregulated, creating so much environmental damage that the state is doing aerial surveys to assess the scale of the problem. [Sacramento Bee]
Backlash against San Jose plan to place fees on developers for projects affecting endangered species. [Peninsula Press]
Work begins on Dry Creek restoration project in Sonoma County to rebuild habitat for coho salmon. [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
“Boom-badda-boom.” A rock from last weekend’s meteor showers slams into Novato home. [Marin Independent Journal]
The San Francisco parks department has launched its first smartphone app, making it possible to rent picnic tables, find park info with a swipe of fingers . [San Francisco Examiner]

About the Author

Alison Hawkes was a Bay Nature editor from 2011-2017. Before Bay Nature she worked in journalism for more than a decade as a former newspaper reporter turned radio producer turned web editor with each rendition bringing her closer to her dream of covering environmental issues. She co-founded Way Out West, a site dedicated to covering Bay Area environmental news.