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Read about parks, Bay Area wildlife, hiking, and other natural attractions near you. Take some time to browse through our recent articles or use the search function to find a specific topic or place. You can also use our interactive map to find articles by location.
Photo by Rachel Gulbraa.
By Rachel Gumbraa
Working off historical records of rare plant locations, plant "hunters" on Mount Tamalpais are scouring the mountain in search of the illusive Mason’s ceanothus shrub and other botanical novelties. The goal: update the location and numbers of California rare plants in the California Natural Diversity Database.
Published May 16, 2012
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© 2012 Roger Hall, InkArt.com.
Signs of the Season
by Joe Eaton
What’s the cutest fish in the sea? To some biologists, it’s the bat ray, which cruises along the floor of local bays and estuaries, chomping on clams and other creatures. Maybe it’s time to make bottom-feeder a term of endearment! Springtime is breeding time for these friendly fish.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published May 15, 2012
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Web Special
Interview by Paul Epstein
Jessie Raeder was an energetic high school student when a bitter dispute erupted over the use of chemicals to eradicate pike in Lake Davis in favor of native trout. Nowadays she's director of Paddle to the Sea, a month long "paddle-a-thon" that begins in June and runs the 241-mile length the Tuolumne River from the Sierras to the San Francisco Bay. The goal: raise awareness and money for the river's benefactor, the Tuolumne River Trust.
Published May 14, 2012
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Photo by Rainey Shuler.
Web Special
By Alison Hawkes
Humans may be the only animals who celebrate Mother's Day. But there's no doubt that babies of other species are just as attached to their mamas, at least until they grow up. I like to think they also get a warm, fuzzy feeling when they think of the female who risked life and limb to bring them into the world and raise them fit enough to prosper. Happy Mother's Day to California mamas of all feathers and fur, fins and ... yes, even those with exoskeletons.
Published May 11, 2012
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Mother keeps tabs on trail users. Photo by Jen Joynt.
Web Special
By Jen Joynt
Over the course of two short months, great horned owls hatched and raised an owlet on a trail in Claremont Canyon in Berkeley. A "bird's eye" view of the nest made it possible for passersby to get an intimate look at the owlet's transformation from hatchling to fledgling. But as the popularity of the nesting owls grew, so did the ethical questions. How can so many people enjoy nature without doing it harm?
Published May 10, 2012
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Photo courtesy East Bay Regional Park District.
Ear to the Ground
by Aleta George
The Bay Area lost a giant of park-building with the passing of Hulet Hornbeck, who presided over the creation of 49,000 acres of parkland at the East Bay Regional Park District.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published May 09, 2012
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Photo by Kevin O'Connor, Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods.
On the Trail
by Michele Luna and Joyce Bacci
Looking for something out of the way, but with great wildflowers? Head to Armstrong Redwoods and Austin Creek state parks just north of the Russian River.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published May 08, 2012
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Photo by Kelly Hackett.
Web Special
By Kelly Hackett
How do you develop a booming Oakland when there’s a big creek in your way? Bury it underground, cement it over, channel it with culverts, and turn it into a gravel quarry. Sounds like a plan, right? Sausal Creek has undoubtedly taken a lot of abuse. But one thing must be said: Oakland owes much of its economy to the roughly 3-mile creek that meanders from its headwaters in the Oakland Hills to the San Francisco Bay.
Published May 07, 2012
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Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ear to the Ground
by Aleta George
The imperiled Lange’s metalmark butterfly lives only on a small stretch of remnant dunes near Antioch. Managers of the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge hope to create precious new habitat, while a captive-breeding program keeps the butterflies just short of extinction.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published May 03, 2012
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Photo by Alison Hawkes
Web Special
By Alison Hawkes
On a typical spring day in early May at the Gill Tract, UC Berkeley agriculture researchers would be busy preparing for the summer research season. But this year, in a fenced-off field that usually grows experimental crops, a temporary encampment has sprung up. A group of students and others associated with the Occupy movement have rototilled the soil and planted their own vision of the future of farming.
Published May 02, 2012
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Photo by Joan Hamilton.
Web Special
By Joan Hamilton
For the past 35 years, Valley of the Moon Natural History Association has been helping greet and educate visitors at the Jack London State Historic Park in Sonoma County. As of May 1, however, it’s taken charge of the whole park: 1,400 acres, 10,000 artifacts, and more than a dozen historic buildings. It’s an unusual situation, born of California’s budget woes. The state says it no longer has the money to keep Jack London open, but the surrounding community sees the park as a vital public asset. So locals are investing their own time and money to create something new -- what Valley of the Moon board president Greg Hayes calls “a community-operated state park.”
Published May 02, 2012
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Photo by Melati Kaye.
Conservation in Action
by Melati Kaye
Thanks to the nonprofit Kids for the Bay, each year a few thousand kids learn firsthand why those “Drains to Bay” stencils on storm grates are so important -- and why eating fish from San Francisco Bay may not always be a good idea.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published May 01, 2012
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Photo by Dan Hill.
On the Trail
by Ann Sieck
Tired of crowded trails? Get a permit from the East Bay Municipal Utility District and you’ll get access to miles and miles of little-used trails. We feature a hike around Briones Reservoir that’s especially delightful.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published April 30, 2012
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Brown pelican by Jain Martin.
Web Special
By Alison Hawkes
It’s easy to get depressed about the loss of biodiversity when every day, it seems, some new species pops up on a watch list like a death toll. But there are success stories that offer rays of hope in a world beset by climate change and habitat destruction. A new art exhibit opening on May 1 at the Tilden environmental education center in Berkeley showcases species that have made it back from the brink of extinction.
Published April 27, 2012
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Web Special
Interview by Paul Epstein
Originally working in packaged design, Robyn Hodess became a landscape painter after a cross country plane ride sparked her imagination. Her landscapes look like they exist, somewhere, but are actually all from her head. She's come to see nature differently: "Before, I was looking at it very closely, 'Oh, look at the bud.' ... Now I'm saying, 'What are the textures in the world? What are the colors in the world?'"
Published April 26, 2012
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Photo by Christine Sculati.
Web Special
By Christine Sculati
Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in southeast San Francisco is California's first urban state park, and offers city-dwellers a slice of nature along the Bay. State budget cuts landed it on the list of park closures, even though a massive redevelopment project next door promises to deliver $50 million to Candlestick.
Published April 25, 2012
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© Kathleen Goodwin, kathleengoodwin.net.
Climate Change: Distpatches from the Home Front
by Jacoba Charles
A project in West Marin shows how ranchers, and a whole lot of compost, can help mitigate climate change.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published April 24, 2012
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Photo by Michael Chasse / National Park Service.
Web Special
By Alison Hawkes
The last remaining specimen of Franciscan manzanita is happily basking in the sun in an undisclosed location in the Presidio, apparently unaware that conservative talk radio has it out for its survival. Fanning the flames on government spending, shock-jocks are calling its 2010 rescue the "untold story of the year."
Published April 20, 2012
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Photo by Chris Torres
By Chris Torres
Over 150 volunteers crammed onto a ferry that set sail from Tiburon in honor of upcoming Earth Day this Sunday. Their destination? The hiker’s paradise of Angel Island. With a backdrop of clear skies and a light breeze, the crew on Saturday joined the California State Parks Foundation’s (CSPF) effort to clean up and restore 17 of the state’s neglected parks.
Published April 19, 2012
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Photo by Ed Callaert.
Special Section
by Joan Hamilton
For residents and businesses in the Anderson Valley, 845-acre Hendy Woods State Park has an importance far beyond its size. It’s one of few public open spaces in this mostly rural region, and now residents are doing their best to make a plan to keep the park open.
From the Apr-Jun 2012 issue
Published April 19, 2012
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Botanical sleuths scour Mount Tamalpais
Paddling to the sea, An interview with the paddle-a-thon's director