Stories that delighted us, enraged us, got us outside, got us thinking.
Conservation
Science and Nature
With Dams Removed, Spawning Salmon Are Heading Up Alameda Creek
These chinooks are likely hatchery strays. But they are still an ecosystem boon—and flaming-bright symbols of restoration at work.
Biodiversity
Some Birds in the Bay Are Doing OK
The first update to a local State of the Birds report in 14 years shows restoration working—and some puzzling declines.
Conservation
Split Verdict Over State of the Estuary
This piece was originally published in KneeDeep Times, a digital magazine featuring stories from the frontlines of climate resilience in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The 2025 State of Our Estuary assessment, released this fall at a regional conference, takes the … Read more
Biodiversity
Invasive Golden Mussels Upend Life in the Delta
One year after the discovery that golden mussels had invaded the Delta, thick colonies coat boats and piers and threaten water supplies for cities and farms. Yet the state has no specific funding or plans to tackle harms in the heart of the invasion.
Parks
New California Law Aims to Encourage Private Campgrounds
The camping shortage is brutal, and the latest federal lands chaos doesn’t help. Streamlined permitting could help more Californians go camping—and rural landowners to care for their properties.
Conservation
In Search of the East Bay Mystery Snake
The Alameda whipsnake is a true local. Yet it remains a stranger to us—which makes protecting it trickier.
Climate Change
What to Do When Your Highway Is Slipping Into the Sea
Picture a giant Rubik’s cube that costs $6–11 billion to solve. That’s State Route 37.
Fall Issue 2025
In These Gardens, New Home Lands Grow
On the blended ecologies that first-generation immigrants tend.
