Over the past century, lots of Bay Area natural spaces have been acquired and protected from development. Now we need to care for these spaces, and it isn’t excessively glamorous work: say, clearing invasive species or wildfire fuel, planting, rebuilding wetlands. But in this new age of stewardship, everyone will need to chip in however they can.

In spring 2024, here are four ways to get started:

Get your hands dirty

The best all-round good place to get started: Bay Nature’s community events calendar. (Try searching “stewardship” or “volunteer.”) Or read some Bay Nature’s past round-ups of stewardship opportunities here, here, here, and here.

Some other places to start:

Stewardship careers or mentorship for young people: 

Get politically informed (and vote!)

In 2024, stewardship-minded voters should get up to speed on the climate bond that could land on November 2024 ballots (state lawmakers have untill June to decide). The $15B bond environmentalists were pushing for has been downsized to a more modest $6B. Water agencies want it to pay for flood and drought protection; environmental groups want the money for nature-based solutions and land conservation, as Ezra David Romero has reported for KQED.

Give money

People seem to get that acquiring land takes big bucks, and have been willing to shell out to protect important natural places. But stewardship has been a harder sell—and yet it’s just as important to fund. We’re journalists, so we’re not going to tell you where to spend your money. But you might consider identifying the organizations that are caring for the places that you care about, and support them—especially in a continuing fashion, since stewardship isn’t a one-and-done cost but an ongoing need.

Support Bay Nature

Bay Nature’s reporters have been covering stewardship, conservation, and all the issues facing our local natural spaces for nearly a quarter-century. You can support that work by becoming a member.