On the first day of summer, a thunderstorm crackled across much of California. Eight thousand lightning strikes ignited over 2,000 fires that burned more than 1.1 million acres by late July. California ecosystems have evolved with lightning-induced fires, but the … Read more
Aleta George
Greenbelt Alliance Turns 50
The Warm Springs Unit, like many other relatively small protected areas throughout the region, may not look like much compared to the towering peaks of Yosemite or the plunging cliffs of Big Sur. But it is part of the Bay … Read more
Marine Protected Areas
Seaflow would like to see vessel no-traffic zones and ocean noise pollution regulations included in the redesign of the state’s marine protected areas (MPAs), a process that is nearing completion for the North Central Coast region. While noise reduction is … Read more
Mole Crab Decline
On sandy beaches from Alaska to Baja, you’ve likely seen plovers, sanderlings, willets, and other shorebirds foraging for food in the swash zone, where waves perpetually cover and uncover the sand. One of the creatures the shorebirds are hunting is … Read more
Monterey Birding Festival
Summer in the Bay Area can last well into late September, but by then many birds that overwinter here have already arrived after migrating from the north. While walking through the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve at Natural Bridges State Beach … Read more
Ocean Noise Pollution
We hadn’t yet reached the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, but we were far enough outside the Golden Gate that Angel Island looked like an extension of the Marin Headlands, an optical illusion that kept early explorers from … Read more
Warm Springs Unit Expansion
With no April showers, the largest vernal pool in the Warm Springs Unit of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont was nothing more than a small mud puddle by the first week of May. Curly … Read more
Flocking to the Island of Angels
Cut off from land for thousands of years, the Bay’s largest island is a natural and cultural gem just a ferry ride or paddle away from city life.
2007-2008 Salmon Decline
During the 2004-2005 winter salmon spawning season in Redwood Creek, which passes through Muir Woods National Monument before reaching the ocean at Muir Beach, scientists and volunteers with the Coho and Steelhead Monitoring Program counted 93 coho salmon redds (nests) … Read more
Concord Naval Weapons Station Redevelopment
Driving east on Highway 4 toward Pittsburg, I notice the man-made dirt bunkers on the right that look like giant ground squirrel burrows. The bunkers and surrounding grasslands are part of the 5,100-acre upland portion of the Concord Naval Weapons … Read more