Urban creek restoration involves more than removing nonnative plants and substituting local ones. Add to that: volunteer management skills and detailed knowledge of bird, amphibian, fish, and mammal habitats; flood plain control; water quality; government ordinances; and the right size … Read more
Art & Design | Botany | Climate Change | El Niño | Fire | Fungi | Geology | History | The Bay | The Ocean | Urban Nature | Water | Weather | Wildlife
Getting Grounded
Long, long ago, in a time before time, the place where we now live was a deep sea. Beneath the waters, however, the earth stirred. A coast range was lifted up. Rains fell upon the bare slopes. Rivers and streams … Read more
Notes from Underground
It is often the smallest things that get overlooked, and life in the soil is probably the most neglected habitat of all. Tilling the soil or weeding the garden puts us in touch with a few members of the soil … Read more
Resources for Healthy Soil
General Information Sources and Websites Bio-Integral Resource Center www.birc.org (510)524-2567 Extensive information resources for least-toxic pest management. California Integrated Waste Management Board www.ciwmb.ca.gov/organics/gardening Information and resources for organic materials management and home gardening, including grasscycling, home composting, and worm composting. … Read more
Soil-Friendly Practices
Organic matter is the most important part of the soil because it is fodder for the many organisms that keep soil alive and elastic. And because it is consumed by these organisms, soil organic matter needs to be replenished. The … Read more
Taking Refuge
At this small, sandy National Wildlife Refuge on the industrial outskirts of Antioch, you’ll find great views of the San Joaquin River, and rare plants and insects that don’t exist anywhere else.
They Keep Coming Back
In the early 1970s, when the Army Corps of Engineers built a weir across Alameda Creek to stabilize a railroad crossing and the new BART tracks, they also blocked steelhead from swimming to upstream spawning grounds. Given the numerous dams … Read more
Ascending Franklin Ridge
Nearly 200 years of cattle ranching on the Franklin Ridge has left its mark in human history, altered vegetation, and now, the preservation of a critical open space corridor with sweeping views of the North Bay, Delta, and interior East Bay.
Book Review: Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers and Introduction to Shore Wildflowers
Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast, Revised Edition, by Philip A. Munz, edited by Dianne Lake and Phyllis M. Faber, University of California Press, 2004, 302 pages, $16.95 (www.ucpress.edu) Introduction to Shore Wildflowers of California, … Read more
Book Review: Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay
Hidden Treasures of San Francisco Bay, photographs by Dennis E. Anderson, text by Jerry George, Blue Water Pictures/Heyday Books, 2003, 192 pages, $29.95 (www.heydaybooks.com). “Such room of sea! Such room of sky! Such room to draw a soul-full breath!” … Read more