Initially, it appears the fires played an ecological role for open spaces and undeveloped lands.
Fire
North Bay Open Space Managers Wait To Survey Losses
October 12, 2017 •
What remains of Sonoma and Napa’s natural landscapes is still unknown as open space personnel attend to human losses.
The Burning Question in the East Bay Hills: Eucalyptus Is Flammable Compared to What?
October 18, 2016 •
Twenty-five years after the Oakland Hills fire, people still disagree about whether blue gum eucalyptus is a fire threat in the East Bay Hills
Letter from the Publisher: Rethinking Eucalyptus
October 18, 2016 •
Twenty-five years after the Tunnel Fire, Bay Nature Publisher David Loeb assesses California’s wildfire regime and eucalyptus trees.
Letter from the Publisher: Of Volcanoes, Headlands, and Mountains
October 1, 2015 •
David Loeb’s October 2015 Bayview column
Harvest of Fire
September 30, 2015 •
A journalist spends two years documenting the dramatic changes that the Morgan Fire brought to Mount Diablo.
Chasing the Fire Followers
May 22, 2014 •
Botanist Heath Bartosh, co-founder of Nomad Ecology, gained an early appreciation for the rich botanical wealth of the Golden State.
Naturalist’s Notebook: One Year After a Fire on San Bruno Mountain
October 1, 2009 •
A year after fire burned through San Bruno Mountain, artist Jack Laws visited to see the recovery of Buckeye and Owl canyons.
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Coe’s Fire Followers
October 1, 2009 •
The 2007 Lick Fire was a firestorm that consumed 47,000 acres, most of it in Henry W. Coe State Park, east of Gilroy. Just days after the fire, park volunteers were on the scene. Two years later the “fire followers” of Coe Park are still at it, and even in the face of park budget cuts, they hope to keep their research going for years to come.
Forged by Fire
October 1, 2009 •
We know that wildfire is a key part of the ecology of the Bay Area and has played a major role in shaping our landscapes. Yet it’s simply not possible to let fires burn naturally in an urban region such as ours. But just to the south, the 240,000-acre Ventana Wilderness near Big Sur is large and remote enough to allow for the return of a natural fire regime. That’s what has happened over the past 30 years as a series of lightning-ignited wildfires has helped shape both a living laboratory of fire ecology and an increasingly diverse landscape.