Jan-Mar 2012
In this issue, you'll find out how volunteers are helping save state parks, from Jack London to Henry Coe. You can take a trip through the new fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel for a once-in-a-lifetime view of East Bay geology. Then head over to Hidden Villa for lessons in farming, education, and social justice. And more! Cover photo: Jeff Swanson, interfacingnature.com.
Issue Contents
Not all print articles and images appear online immediately.
Feature
by Joan Hamilton
In spring 2011, the bad news about California's state parks hit: 70 parks were slated for closure by July 2012, including 18 in the Bay Area. Since then, volunteers, nonprofits, and public agencies have mobilized to contain the damage. At Henry Coe State Park, donations will keep the park running with existing staff. In Sonoma, closure loomed for five parks and groups have joined forces to create new models of park operation.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 01, 2012
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East Bay Parks Feature
by Horst Rademacher
Workers digging the new fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel are getting a once-in-a-lifetime view of one of the defining features of the East Bay: the range of hills that runs from San Pablo Bay south to Fremont. By visiting just a few accessible sites aboveground, you can find clues that tell the story of how these hills rose from their humble origins as deep ocean sediments and volcanic flows to the iconic fault-riddled hillsides of today.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 06, 2012
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On the Trail
by Lisa M. Krieger
Whether you're looking for lessons in seed saving or hikes in nature, you'll find them in the hills above Los Altos at Hidden Villa, which was home to the region's first youth hostel and interracial summer camp.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published February 21, 2012
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On the Trail
by Ron Horii
At the eastern edge of the Silicon Valley, the Sunnyvale Baylands is a sprawling refuge that varies from the neatly manicured lawns and creative landscaping of Sunnyvale Baylands Park to a former landfill's manmade hills and the treatment ponds of the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant. Amid all these constructed features you'll find some of the Bay Area's best bird-watching.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published March 29, 2012
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On the Trail
by Richard Karevoll
Head to Rush Creek west of Petaluma for a quick escape from hustle and bustle in favor of birds and wetlands.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published February 15, 2012
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On the Trail
by Ann Sieck
The loop trail around Richmond’s former landfill is an unlikely spot, but worth the trip for birding and Bay views surviving alongside heavy industry.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 01, 2012
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Photo by Charles Kennard.
Climate Change: Distpatches from the Home Front
by Ariel Rubissow Okamoto
To launch our new series on climate change in the Bay Area, we follow a group of researchers as they scan the bottom, poke the mud, and gauge the tides at Marin's Corte Madera Marsh, in the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary effort to understand how the Bay Area's tidal wetlands will respond to rising sea levels.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 12, 2012
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Photo courtesy USGS.
Climate Change: Distpatches from the Home Front
by Juliet Grable
New artificial islands at Oakland’s Arrowhead Marsh provide some welcome refuge for endangered clapper rails. But can they be expanded into enough other habitats to keep the birds safe from rising sea levels?
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published February 16, 2012
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Photo by Charles Kennard.
Signs of the Season
by Jake Sigg
What's cool as a cucumber, bitter as the biblical waters of Marah, and so well-rooted in the Bay Area that pulling it up is futile?
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published February 06, 2012
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Conservation in Action
by Sue Rosenthal
A project out of UC Berkeley recruits citizen scientists to help track the spread of sudden oak death. They do it every spring, and the more people take part, the better the chance we can protect precious oaks from a deadly pathogen.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published March 08, 2012
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First Person
by Jean Rusmore
Jean Rusmore first visited Hidden Villa as a college student in 1942, and she’s been going ever since.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 01, 2012
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Photo by Robin Meadows.
Families Afield
by Robin Meadows
Next time you and your kids head outdoors, you can combine fun, games, and learning to make that hike into a kid-centric adventure! We give it a try in San Francisco.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 18, 2012
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Naturalist's Notebook
by Jack Laws
Artist Jack Laws headed out for some great birdwatching among the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley -- and you can too!
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 02, 2012
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Ask the Naturalist
by Michael Ellis
Q: When I see bees and hummingbirds feasting on even tiny flowers, I wonder if each flower replenishes the nectar supply, or is it a one-time offering?
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 01, 2012
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Photo by Alba Medrano Cuevas.
by Aleta George
Saving salmon with rice fields, protecting oracle oaks in Solano County, facing the end of the Coastal Conservancy's Bay Area program, investigating algae off the Sonoma Coast, and more...
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Letter from the Publisher
by David Loeb
As I write this on Thanksgiving weekend, I have many things to be grateful for. For example: On Thanksgiving morning, I watched a huge raft of cormorants take off from the surface of the Bay in front of Angel Island. But behind such moments and places of great beauty, several dark clouds are gathering.
From the Jan-Mar 2012 issue
Published January 01, 2012
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