ScienceDaily reported
A new species of manzanita — a native California shrub famous for its twisted branches and wildfire resilience — has been discovered on the central coast, but its survival is already threatened by urban development that could destroy much of its fragile population.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250225201232.htm
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Manzanita
BirdLife International reported
Commission proposes ban on lead ammunition and fishing weights, but loopholes remain
Read on www.birdlife.org/news/2025/02/27/press-release-europe-moves-towards-ending-lead-poisoning/
Posted in Birds | Tags: Lead Poisoning of Birds
The New York Times reported
With Mercury joining the show, all seven of Earth’s celestial neighbors will be present at dusk this week.
Read on www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/science/astronomy-planets-stargazing.html
Posted in Astronomy | Tags: planets align
|
||
|
Posted in Park | Tags: Los Padres National Forest
an ai summary of the San Francisco Chronicle article:
The Presidio Trust, managing the Presidio national park in San Francisco, has generated $350 million in net income since 2013, reinvesting it into the park. This financial independence, achieved through rental income and private funding, has allowed the Trust to maintain and improve the park, despite criticism from some tenants. President Trump’s executive order to eliminate the Trust’s functions is seen as a political move targeting Speaker Pelosi.
Read full article at Presidio Trust, under fire from Trump, details profits at park
Posted in Park | Tags: Presidio National Park, Presidio Trus
from Goldenn Gate National Parks Conservancy
We’re standing up for national parks and our partners at the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust this week as they face an uncertain future. The Parks Conservancy’s vision of Parks for All Forever has never been more vital, and we hope you’ll stand with us. Download our toolkit to spread the word, hear our President & CEO Christine Lehnertz on KQED Forum, and find ideas on how to help »
| Take action |
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: National Parks
Monga Bay reports
See photos and read more at Elusive wildlife shows up for photographer’s camera traps in Congo
Posted in Animals, Photography | Tags: Camera Traps, Wildlife Photography
Desert Sun reported
The vibrant wildflowers and poppies that bloom across Southern California state parks in spring are expected to be “limited” this season, California State Parks announced on Monday.
The reason behind the forecast is below-average rainfall this winter, according to California State Parks. The stunning views of flowers in bloom in Southern California typically attract visitors eager to catch a glimpse or snap a photo, sometimes to the flowers’ detriment.
Read more California wildflower, poppy blooms will be ‘limited’ this spring
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: 2025 S. Calif. Wildflower Prediction
NPR reports
Peeing together could be a way of syncing up individuals’ internal states, which could facilitate group behaviors, like keeping watch for predators. Or it could be a form of social bonding, forging specific connections between chimps. In the wild, whizzing as a group could be a predator-avoidance strategy, says Onishi. “By keeping urination localized, the group can reduce the risk of predators tracking them through the scattered urine scents in their territory.”
Read article at Peeing is contagious in chimpanzees, study suggests : NPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: Chimpanzee Behaviors
The New York Times reported
The bay looked “like it was boiling,” said a boat captain with a whale-watching company in Monterey Bay, Calif. He captured video of thousands of dolphins swimming off the coast.
Read more and see video at Boat Crew Spots Thousands of Dolphins in a California Bay ‘Superpod’
See upcoming events for the Eastern Sierra Land Trust at Eastern Sierra Land Trust Events
Posted in Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Upcoming Events from Eastern Sierra Land Trust Events
The Cool Down reported
Great news has emerged from Victoria, Australia, as a once-extinct fish, the olive perchlet, has been released back into the wild for the first time since the species’ last sighting in 1929.
Read more at Officials release once-extinct species back into the wild: ‘Back from the brink of extinction’
Posted in Animals | Tags: olive perchlets
See the East Bay Regional Parks March and April activity guide at https://www.ebparks.org/sites/default/files/RIN-Mar-Apr-2025.pdf
Posted in Park, Walks & Hikes | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Activities
Theodore Payne Foundation inspires and educates Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plant landscapes.We are located on 22 acres of canyon land in the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley. Our full-service native plant nursery, seed room, book store, art gallery, demonstration gardens, and hiking trails are open to the public year round. We offer garden tours and classes for adults and families, as well as field trips to TPF and in-classroom programs for children. Friendly on-leash dogs are welcome and there is no admission charge!
See upcoming events at Theodore Payne Foundation Events – 20 Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite
Posted in Class/Workshop | Tags: Theodore Payne Foundation Upcoming Events
The Guardian reported
The annual competition draws thousands of entries from across the world and brings together images from below the water’s surface that show the diversity and challenges of subaquatic life
See the photos at Seals, sharks and spiny squat lobsters: Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian
Posted in Uncategorized
SF Gate reported
A striking sight unfurled thousands of feet over the steep granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Saturday — and it wasn’t the annual firefall.
A group of six demonstrators rigged ropes and rappelled down to hang and secure four corners of an inverted American flag over the 7,500-foot cliff. As many as hundreds of unsuspecting spectators were gathered below to take in the last weekend of the sunset spectacle that transforms the waters of Horsetail Falls into a glowing bright orange hue.
Read more ‘A desperate plea’: Bold display pops up at Yosemite National Park
Posted in Park | Tags: Yosemite National Park
A series of photos I took walking around my neighborhood of plants in front of houses.
Posted in Photos (Sandy's)
SF Gate reported
Biologists who monitor wildlife year-round at San Francisco’s remote Farallon Islands will be leaving their posts for the first time in nearly six decades due to federal budget cuts. Despite its timing, the news is not related to President Donald Trump’s funding freeze that recently impacted Yosemite National Park and the Presidio Trust, among other places. Nevertheless, it raises concerns over the loss of continuous data collection on cherished California species that researchers are calling an “unprecedented disruption.”
Read more Year-round biologists to leave SF islands for first time in decades
Posted in Park | Tags: Farallon Islands
See upcoming class, talks and activities at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park at https://nativeplants.org/
Posted in Class/Workshop, Talks, Uncategorized | Tags: Regional Parks Botanic Garden Upcoming Events
The UK Natural History Museum reported
Birds-of-paradise can emit green, yellow and pale blue light from their bodies.
It’s believed this ability – known as biofluorescence – helps the birds to stand out or hide in their tropical forest habitats.
For some of the world’s most decorative birds, the phrase ‘positively glowing’ has taken on a different meaning.
Read more : Birds-of-paradise ‘glow’ with their skin and feathers | Natural History Museum
Posted in Uncategorized
from Golden Gate National Parks Conservanc
It may seem like the future is uncertain for the Presidio and other beloved national park sites across the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the country. Just in the last week, we’ve seen executive orders and federal policy updates impacting our partners at the National Park Service and Presidio Trust, raising concerns about potential staffing and funding losses. Without friendly park rangers, or staff maintaining trails and visitor facilities, the parks won’t be the same.
We know you love these national parks and their place in our region, now and into the future.
Here’s what you can do right now to help:
The news is still unfolding, and we’re closely tracking items like the executive order directing changes at the Presidio Trust, which has made extraordinary progress in park-building and operations since the Presidio Trust Act passed with bipartisan support in 1996. The Presidio remains open and welcome to all, and we’re proud to support this vibrant national park site where nature, history, and community come together.
Posted in Park | Tags: How you can stand up for national parks
from the Xerces Society
Spring is just around the corner! While you may already be flipping through seed catalogs and dreaming of warm days, now is also the time to brainstorm strategies for managing pests and attracting beneficial insects. Set yourself up for success by considering integrated pest and pollinator management (IPPM) as a strategy for both enhancing the health of your food plants and fostering an abundant population of beneficial insects.
Integrated pest and pollinator management (IPPM) is a similar strategy to integrated pest management (IPM), but, as the name suggests, IPPM puts more of an emphasis on conservation and creating a resilient partnership between agriculture and the local ecosystem.
Read more How To Control Garden Pests While Supporting Pollinators | Xerces Society
Posted in Garden | Tags: integrated integrated pest and pollinator management, Pest control, pollinators
NBC Bay Area reported
Yosemite National Park employees who recently were fired by the U.S. government worry cuts will affect the experience of visitors and the welfare of wildlife.
Read on www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/fired-employees-fear-yosemite-national-park-luster/3799657/
Posted in Park | Tags: Yosemite National Park
See the events calendar for the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden at Garden Events
Posted in Class/Workshop, Garden | Tags: UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Events
SF Chronicle reported
Visitors who drive to Golden Gate Park may soon have to pay at a kiosk — up to $3 an hour to stow their cars on streets that are currently free — under a measure that city officials might implement next year.
The proposed parking fees are among a slew of funding initiatives that the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission approved on Thursday, hoping to stave off a deficit that would balloon to $15 million in 2027.
Posted in Park | Tags: Golden Gate Park Parking
NPR reported
“I learned that polar bears are invisible in infrared cameras, meaning their fur has the same temperature as the surroundings,” says Holst, of the University of Bergen in Norway. She also knew that polar bears jump into frigid water when they hunt, coming back onto land to eat their prey. Most mammalian hair can freeze when it gets wet in cold temperatures — think human beards on a frosty winter day. But, Holst noticed, polar bear fur did not freeze after getting wet.
Read morea at: The chemical cocktail behind why polar bear fur doesn’t freeze : NPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: Polar Bears
The Guardian reported
In oceans and on land, from the north to the south pole, records were smashed for the monthly average temperature
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change, Global warming
SF Gate reported
President Donald Trump can do very little to dismantle the Presidio Trust, experts told the Chronicle. And any moves Trump does make to shrink or interfere with the trust would run contrary to one of his primary goals: saving the federal government money.
The Presidio is one of the most efficiently run agencies in the federal government, and is entirely self-sufficient in its operations and finances.
Read more What Trump’s Presidio order ignores: It’s a model of efficiency
Posted in Park | Tags: Government Cutbacks, Presidio
America’s beloved national parks face a problem that could, in a matter of weeks, grow into a full-blown crisis.
The number of people visiting areas managed by the National Park Service — which includes national parks, monuments, and other sites — is way up. In 2023, the most recent year for national data, parks had more than 325 million visits. That’s about a 16 percent bump relative to 2010. At least in some parks, visitation rates have continued to rise.
Meanwhile, staffing at the National Park Service is down, having dropped about 13 percent over that same period, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group. Staffing specifically in parks has fallen even further in that time, the group said, as the agency’s budget has failed to keep pace with rising personnel costs. That means there are fewer employees to oversee more visitors and mitigate their impact on our public lands and ecosystems.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: National Parks In Crisis
University of Plymouth reported
Scientists have called for the designation of a new United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) with the aim to conserve and sustainably use Earth’s orbit, and prevent the accumulation of space junk.There are currently 17 SDGs, adopted by UN members in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet for future generations, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
Read more A Sustainable Development Goal for space? – University of Plymouth
Posted in Astronomy
Natural History Wanderings 