Aleta George

Writer Aleta George trained as a Jepson Prairie docent in 2009. In addition to writing Bay Nature's Ear to the Ground column, she has written for Smithsonian, High Country News, and the Los Angeles Times.

Yerba Buena Island Habitat Restoration

April 1, 2009 •  by

In a scorching Indian summer day in 1886, three to four thousand people climbed the steep goat trails to the summit of Yerba Buena Island, the 100-acre natural island between San Francisco and the East Bay. A San Francisco newspaperman … Read more

A Good Big Year

January 1, 2009 •  by

December 31, 2008, marked the end of the 2008 Endangered Species Big Year in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The yearlong event was a call to action for people to observe, and do something to preserve, each of … Read more

Geography of Hope

January 1, 2009 •  by

Family farmer David Mas Masumoto likes to start shaping his 3,000 peach and nectarine trees in the fall when the trees still have their leaves. It helps him envision the trees in summer when they are full of fruit and … Read more

Jenner Headlands Preserved

January 1, 2009 •  by

I’m told that on a clear day you can see as far as Point Reyes and Mount Diablo from Jenner Headlands, a 5,630-acre coastal ranch north of the town of Jenner on the Sonoma coast. After four years of negotiations … Read more

Kayaks and Breeding Birds at Alcatraz

January 1, 2009 •  by

The nearly vertical cliffs on the western side of Alcatraz Island serve as a nursery for several species of seabirds. These cliffs are the Bay’s only breeding site for Brandt’s and pelagic cormorants. In 1991, when PRBO Conservation Science began … Read more

Bay Area Environment on the November Ballot

October 1, 2008 •  by

You can also support our open spaces and natural resources when you vote this November. Residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are being asked to approve Measure WW, an extension of a 1988 bond issue that has funded regional … Read more

License Plates to Support Bay Area Open Space

October 1, 2008 •  by

Now there’s a new way to support wildlife habitat, farmland, and public recreation in the Bay Area. The Nature Within Reach license plate will generate funds for Bay Area open space, just as whale-tail plates raise money for statewide coastal … Read more

MALT’s Dolcini Ranch Purchase

October 1, 2008 •  by

In West Marin, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has purchased an agricultural conservation easement on the 585-acre Dolcini Ranch, a property the land trust has been seeking to protect for over a decade. Located eight miles south of Petaluma, … Read more

Mindego Ranch Hikes

October 1, 2008 •  by

On the Ridge Trail at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve near La Honda, face east and you can see from Mount Hamilton to Mount Diablo. Face west and the most prominent feature amid thousands of acres of grasslands and woodlands … Read more

Point Reyes Mycoblitz

October 1, 2008 •  by

Scientists and fire ecologists will be studying the cause and effects of these fires for years, and that includes taking a close look at fungi in the soil. As reported in Bay Nature‘s July-September 2005 issue, UC Berkeley microbiologist Tom … Read more