After the Lightning Fires in the East Bay Parks
The SCU Lightning Complex fires burned 6,000 acres of East Bay Regional Park District land last year. And already, green ground cover, reptiles, and raptors are returning in Morgan Territory.
Author Archives: Joan Hamilton
Joan Hamilton is producer of Audible Mount Diablo, a podcast for people who love the outdoors and want to know more about the plants, animals, and history of the Bay Area. Her interest in fires was sparked by the 2013 Morgan Fire in Mount Diablo State Park. She wrote two articles and numerous web posts for Bay Nature about nature's recovery from that conflagration, and has been a fire follower ever since. Most recently, she's been working on Diablo Range Revealed, a series that explores life in the inland coast range after the SCU Lightning Complex fire. You can find evidence at savemountdiablo.org/learn/diablo-range-revealed/.
What’s Next for the Redwoods?
A bold new design for the redwood forests of the 21st century is forged in the Santa Cruz Mountains
In the Third Spring After the Morgan Fire, Just Add Water to Mount Diablo for Flowers
With 38 inches of rain at the top of the mountain since last summer, the bloom has been great all over Mount Diablo.
Harvest of Fire
A journalist spends two years documenting the dramatic changes that the Morgan Fire brought to Mount Diablo.
Two Years in Photos: From “Scorched Earth” to “It’s a Jungle” on Mount Diablo
Spring has brought new plants, and new cover, to the fire recovery zone on Mount Diablo.
A Landscape Shaped By Fear on Mount Diablo
What causes the strip of bare dirt between chaparral and grassland? A researcher tests the idea of a "scurry zone" on Mount Diablo.
Time — and Late Fall Rain — Revitalize Mount Diablo
On the last day of 2014, Joan Hamilton walked around Green Ranch Road on Mount Diablo to see what a full year, and some long-awaited rain, had done to the...
Stalking the Elusive, Scientists Carry on Bowerman’s Mount Diablo Legacy
The 3,100-acre Morgan Fire provided opportunities for scientists. One of the main goals: to learn how plant and animal communities rebuild themselves after a major disturbance.
Wild Pigs, Increasing in Numbers on Mount Diablo, Expand Into New Turf
Wild pigs are uprooting unusual new areas of Mount Diablo this year.
