Bay Nature Local Heroes | Environmental Justice | Farming and Ranching | Health | Parks | Policy | Pollution | Stewardship

State Park Officials Release Closure List

May 13, 2011 •  by

In what’s become an annual crisis, the California Department of Parks and Recreation today released a list of 70 parks across the state slated to be closed. This time, though, it looks like it’s for real.

A Vision for Open Space

April 29, 2011 •  by

Bettina Ring is Executive Director of the Bay Area Open Space Council, a group of 60 organizations dedicated to protecting and maintaining the Bay Area’s network of open space lands, including its parks, trails and agricultural lands.

Solano Land Trust Aims to Buy 1500 Acres

April 19, 2011 •  by

The Bay Area may gain 1,500 acres of protected open space this year thanks to a pending acquisition by the Solano Land Trust of Rockville Trails Estates, northwest of Fairfield. The former ranch boasts rich biodiversity and impressive vistas that could become a public asset, if the trust can raise the funds by August 31.

Glean Team Clears the Field

April 6, 2011 •  by

It all started with some crooked zucchinis in Bolinas. They didn’t conform to the strict aesthetic standards of the market, so they were snipped from the vine and left to rot. The folks at Marin Organic recognized an opportunity and, and the group’s School Lunch and Gleaning Program was born.

“Seal the Deal!”

April 1, 2011 •  by

Dr. Marty Griffin has been working for decades to protect open spaces and wildlife along the Marin and Sonoma coasts. In January 2011, Bay Nature recognized him with our first-ever Local Hero award in conservation advocacy. His advice for getting things done? “Seal the deal!” And figure out how to pay for it later.

Big Plans for Wild Lands

April 1, 2011 •  by

When it comes to the challenge of preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change, population growth, and other pressures, you have to think big. A new regional plan does just that with a proposal for a comprehensive Conservation Lands Network whose implementation would help ensure the preservation of diverse habitats essential for the survival of healthy populations of native species.

Restoration at Redwood Park in Los Altos

April 1, 2011 •  by

Redwood Grove Park near downtown Los Altos has the fingerprints (and footprints) of volunteers all over it. Palo Alto-based nonprofit Acterra is leading restoration at this 5.9-acre park.

Putting Open Space on the Map

March 1, 2011 •  by

If you want to know something about getting around the Bay Area, ask Larry Orman, executive director of GreenInfo Network, board chair for Bay Nature, and the first director of Greenbelt Alliance.

Saving Land, From Hilltops to the Bay

February 1, 2011 •  by

For over 30 years, Lennie Roberts has been one of the Bay Area’s leading voices for open space protection and against sprawl. Roberts has played a key role in many critical open space battles on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. She also played a major role in the effort to create the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1972.

LEJ’s SF EcoCenter Wins EPA Environmental Justice Award

January 28, 2011 •  by

Nestled deep in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood among a tallow rendering plant, a wastewater treatment facility, a concrete plant, and one of the state’s largest Superfund sites, the EcoCenter built by Literacy for Environmental Justice may just be the Bay Area’s most innovative green building. And the federal EPA agrees.