Stay Calm and Mow

A clear day in April on hills that often burn. View to the west from Walker Ridge, Lake County, California.

It's smokey in the San Francisco Bay area this morning. Smoke is blowing in from wildfires in Napa and Solano Counties.  The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) now has these local wildfires 100% contained but wildfires are also moving in southern California.  With a nearly dry spring and an early increase in fire activity, the state is preparing for increased fire risk for the summer.

A Pile of Sawdust

Fresh sawdust chips on a trunk.

I noticed piles of fresh sawdust beneath a dying canyon live oak when I was chasing some cows out of The Pasture of Death last week. After unchaining the gate and opening it wide, I snuck through the forest to get behind the cattle and did a chicken dance to get those bossies moving into the proper pasture.  While waiting for the cattle to walk through the gate, I went back to look at the mysterious sign.

Hanging Laundry by Lantern Light

Another sign of summer - the first moonless night when the crickets are louder than the treefrogs.

Fade to Blue

A.M. - just enough fog to outlines the hills.

 Goodbye spring.

30 Years of Conservation

Bringing the outside inside.

Ok, office moved. Attitude shifted. Now I'm ready to start my third decade of land conservation.

Earth Day and Change

This way or that way? As a large mammal, mountain lions have choices on where they can go but they are still blocked by roads and human conversion of natural lands.

Happy Earth Day. I am spending Earth Day moving my office which could be boring but has me thinking about climate change.

Fat Does

Swelling doe 4/16/12

Who is going to see the first fawn this year?

Hanging Out with California Natives

Blue oaks (Quercus douglasii) have large gaps in their canopy through which you can see the stars. Growing only here, blue oaks are California natives.

I'm working on this idea that it takes a long time to know a place. So if you want to know California better, you better hang out with California natives, not just the native plants and animals but also the people who were raised in this state.