Human settlement in the San Francisco Bay Area dates back 10,000 years to early Native American settlements. Today, the region is a teeming metropolis of 7 million people that collectively challenge the health of the region's ecosystems. How it got this way is a story that prompts a deeper understanding of our place in the landscape.

Bay Area Nature 100 Years Ago, Through the Eyes of Painter William Keith

October 17, 2011 •  by

The Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art is honoring California landscape painter William Keith a century after his death with 150 paintings from the college’s permanent collection. “The Comprehensive Keith: A Centennial Tribute,” on view through December 18, 2011, includes dozens of Bay Area views, from Pacheco Pass to San Anselmo. Some are startlingly familiar. Others are lost to roads and subdivisions. All will help you see local nature with new eyes.

Artist Finds Graphic History at the Farallones

August 15, 2011 •  by

Artist Eva Chrysanthe has always been intrigued by the Farallon Islands, those distant humps on the western horizon. But when she discovered a trove of old letters about the islands, she discovered a dramatic story that’s taking shape as a new graphic novel about the Farallon Egg Wars. She’ll talk about the project this Thursday in San Francisco.

New Exhibit Explores Muir’s Living Legacy

August 10, 2011 •  by

On August 6, the Oakland Museum of California opened “A Walk in the Wild,” an exhibit highlighting the life of naturalist John Muir. Open through January 2012, the show aims to portray Muir’s life in a way that captures the attention of a diverse audience, to reawaken the “spirit of Muir” in the general public.

Jeff Miller, Man on a Mission

June 23, 2011 •  by

Jeff Miller is a man on a mission: He is dedicated to being an effective voice for endangered species and preserving the Northern California habitats they depend on for survival. He currently pursues this mission as founding director of the Alameda Creek Alliance and as a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Bird Rescue Volunteer Finds an Old Friend

June 16, 2011 •  by

Seeing a snowy egret along the Bay shore is certainly not news. But bird rescue volunteer Cindy Margulis watches them anyway, and a few weeks ago she noticed one with a band whose number she could read. Suddenly, an anonymous egret revealed itself to be a bird she’d helped rehab and rescue a year ago.

SF Premiere of San Bruno Mt. Film “Butterflies & Bulldozers”

March 2, 2011 •  by

Many people living in the Bay Area know very little about San Bruno Mountain — the massive, bald hill just south of San Francisco.The surprising story of this largest undeveloped landmass in the urban U.S. is told in the documentary Butterflies & Bulldozers, showing this week at the first San Francisco Green Film Festival.

Bluebelly

January 1, 2011 •  by

Greg Sarris, currently Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, grew up in Santa Rosa, left for many years, and has now resettled on Sonoma Mountain. The bluebellies were there in his childhood and are still there now, woven into the landscape and the history of Sarris’s people.

“Never Give Up!”

January 1, 2011 •  by

Before Harold Gilliam began his weekly newspaper column in 1960, the category of environmental journalism simply did not exist. For the next 35 years, Gilliam pioneered and perfected the craft of environmental reporting. We talk to him about his career, biggest stories, and how things are different for today’s environmental journalists.