Insects have fascinating lives and behaviors most of us never notice. But if you spend even 15 minutes watching bees or butterflies, you’re sure to be drawn into their worlds and want to know more about them. Here are some … Read more
April and May are great months for getting to know native plants through native plant sales and garden tours held around the Bay Area. And not only gardeners benefit: The proceeds from these sales fund valuable conservation work all over the region.
One of the special rewards of a rainy season hike is the sight and sound of a trailside waterfall.
Cost-effective and quick to install, wind turbines seem to be a leader in the race to develop clean, renewable energy sources. But at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area east of Livermore, the country’s largest and oldest wind farm site … Read more
With increasing awareness and concern about climate change, the number of organizations and resources addressing this issue has increased dramatically over the past few years. The following resource list, then, is just the tip of the (melting) iceberg.
What do you get when you combine entrepreneurial spirit, construction and engineering expertise, and a commitment to the community and the planet? One answer is Solar RichmondBUILD, a job training, energy conservation, and community development program in Richmond that installs … Read more
by Bonnie J. Gisel with images by Stephen J. Joseph, Heyday Books, November 2008, 256 pages, $45.00 John Muir is best known as a mountaineer and wilderness advocate, but he was also a serious scientist who studied the geology, zoology, … Read more
Ranches & Rolling Hills: Art of West Marin–A Land in Trust, by Elisabeth Ptak and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Windgate Press, 2008, 160 pages, $50.00 The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), which preserves West Marin farmland, has created a … Read more
Hot days and a dry year mean major fire danger in the Bay Area. But many plants are adapted to fire, and some even need it to reproduce. Even so, there's a lot we don't know about the natural rhythms of fire.
The classic image of a redwood forest is one of stately tall trees, dense shade, and lots of green. The columnar trunks of the giant trees draw our gaze up to the high canopy, but if we follow them down to the forest floor instead, in summer months we may find unexpected points of brilliant color. These are the colorful fruits (mostly berries) of the smaller plants that live in the shelter of the big trees.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
