Life in a Burn Scar
Five years after the Dixie Fire, a writer takes stock of her community and the forest around it.
Mapping All the Trees in California
Astonishingly detailed new LiDAR maps are meant to help us prepare for wildfires.
Fall 2026 Almanac: Phase Change
Life in fall shifts, as wildlife moves and rains arrive.
Ohlone Fire Returns to the East Bay Hills
The founders of Cafe Ohlone are reviving Indigenous stewardship on ancestral lands.
Bay Nature Events
LATEST STORIES
The Light and Dark of Bioluminescence in the San Francisco Bay Area
Paddling amid the sparkling blue glow of dinoflagellates
Smoke Aside, the Angel Island Fire Was a Win for the Island’s Wild Landscapes
The island needs fire. It’s also a nearly impossible place to burn safely.
EPA Touts $82M for SF Bay Water Grants, While Trump Administration Proposes Scuttling the Program
But Congress funds the program directly, so Congress will have the final say.
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In the Name of Eelgrass
To protect the eelgrass meadows in San Francisco’s Richardson Bay, the anchor-out era near Sausalito is coming to a close.
COMMUNITY VOICES
Articles written by our readers from the San Francisco Bay nature community.
Vote No on Prop 45 to Protect California’s Environment
An op-ed by Green Foothills, a longtime grassroots South Bay environmental organization.
Remembering Jerry Kent, a Champion of East Bay Parks
Kent served the East Bay Regional Park District for more than 50 years. He died July 14, 2026.
IN SEASON IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Where to Watch Birds Migrate in the North Bay This Fall
Longtime birder David Wimpfheimer has intel for us.
Naturalist’s Notebook: How Pelicans and Humpbacks Stretch For Their Food
Pelicans don’t, as you may have heard, stick their spines out of their mouths. They do, however, do some pretty crazy yawn-stretching. From John Muir Laws.
Burrowing Owls Return to César Chávez Park
Editor’s note On a Saturday evening in late October, my boyfriend and I were walking around César Chávez Park in Berkeley when we came across a man with a camera and tripod near the Burrowing Owl Sanctuary. I asked him if he’d seen any owls. He had. Two Western burrowing…
Staff picks
Dorothea Lange, Water Prophet
New performances of Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange in fall of 2026.
Why Do Ants Enter My House When It’s Warm or Raining?
Why do ants do what they do, and what makes them leave? Naturalist Michael Ellis explains.
A Better Way to Forage Matsutake Mushrooms
“Xayviish has far more personality than any grocery-store mushroom,” writes Sara Calvosa Olson, a Karuk tribal member. “It’s a meaty but delicate time machine, whisking your spirit back to your gathering place.”
An Enduring Oak Mystery: Synchronized Acorn Booms
How do the trees synchronize their reproductive efforts? Oaks, the dominant tree genus throughout much of low- and mid-elevation, temperate California, are full of mysteries.
