Burrowing Owls Return to César Chávez Park
Editor’s note On a Saturday evening in late October, my boyfriend and I were walking around César Chávez Park in Berkeley when we came across a man with a camera...
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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.
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.
The Best Worst Commute in the Bay Area
I thought State Route 37 was awful, until I looked up.
Fish Kill at Clear Lake Reveals a Seven-Foot Sturgeon Surprise
A problem lake was doing pretty well this year. Then came a series of unfortunate water-quality events.
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.
A Land Back Success for the Amah Mutsun Within Its Historical Territory
The tribe has been landless for more than 200 years.
How Spiders Fly
Darwin saw them ballooning. Without any wind. Eventually some scientists figured out their electric secret.
Yellowjackets—Bane of the Picnic, Builder of Hidden Kingdoms
These bold insects live in complex underground matriarchies that are seriously metal.
Malcolm Margolin and the Birth of Bay Nature
"When I heard the news last week that Malcolm Margolin had died, it stirred up a flood of memories of the intense and ultimately fruitful partnership that led to the...
