Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area
Every once in a while, a small and unremarkable animal makes a huge impact on a landscape. So it is with the salt marsh harvest mouse around the edges of the San Francisco Bay. The endangered species status of the harvest mouse, along with that of the California clapper rail, has been a prime mover…
Reptile expert Robert Stebbins calls the San Francisco garter snake “one of the most beautiful serpents in North America.” The snake’s dazzling patterns of color serve as camouflage in its native habitat: the open marshes, stream banks, grasslands, and vernal pools of the San Francisco Peninsula. But the best camouflage is little help if your…
Naturalist Katie Colbert introduces us to the amazing tarantulas that wander the interior hills of the Bay Area.
Environmental action often hinges on what not to do at home: don’t leave lights on, don’t bring home plastic bags, don’t use pesticides. But what about actively creating a wildlife habitat right outside your backdoor? San Franciscans will soon have help doing just that, from the nonprofit Nature in the City, which will offer backyard…
Ever since an epiphany with pickleweed in Oakland as a kid, Asha Setty has wanted to learn as much as possible about native plants. She started working for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy more than 12 years ago as an intern, and now she helps get the word out about projects happening at GGNRA.
Two weeks ago, Los Angeles supervisors voted to ban retailers from distributing single-use plastic bags in unincorporated parts of the county. Then on November 29, the governor argued for a statewide ban of plastic bags at a Sacramento press conference. Now San Jose becomes the nation’s largest city to ban plastic bags.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
