Whispers in the Water
By a quiet picnic area in the Presidio, water gurgles out of the hillside, spills over brick walls, and disappears underground on its way north to Crissy Field and the...
History
A Hardy Californian
Lester Rowntree (1879-1979) was a self-taught botanist and independent spirit who spent half her life trekking up and down California observing, gathering, and photographing the state’s native flora. Born in...
Book Review: California’s Frontier Naturalists
California’s Frontier Naturalists, by Richard G. Beidleman, UC Press, 2006, 484 pages, $39.95 www.ucpress.edu If you’ve ever taken a moment to imagine California’s landscape in its youth, you might have...
Recalling the Wild
Walk a few miles in Jack London's boots to see the landscape he declared more beautiful than any he'd seen in all his travels.
Carquinez Breakthrough
The open hills along the Carquinez Strait are home to working ranches and open space preserves that are meeting places for native species from both the coast and the Central...
Betting on Point Molate
With stunning views of the Bay and Marin, Richmond’s Point Molate has seen a lot of changes: It’s been a shrimp camp, a huge winery, and a Navy fuel depot....
Don’t Call Them Bugs
Edward Ross has visited every continent except Antarctica in pursuit of his passion for studying, collecting, dissecting, classifying, naming, photographing, and deeply appreciating insects. In between his globe-trotting adventures, the...
Left to Burn
At the turn of the 20th Century, the California Academy of Sciences was the oldest scientific society in the western United States. From its humble beginnings in 1853 as California’s...
Legacy of Karl Linn
”Karl Linn spent his lifetime bringing people together in community, in an urban setting, in nature,” says Carole Bennett-Simmons, project coordinator for the Peralta Community Gardens, one of five Berkeley...
Ubiquitous Eucalyptus
Some folks love their scent and shade; others resent them for crowding out natives; most of us know they came from Australia and found a niche here. But few know...
