Published by Civil Eats

The National Park Service is working with a local tribe to determine how to safeguard the tule elk, which compete with cattle for forage in the dry season. A recent proposal to remove a fence has ranchers and dairy owners up in arms.

Published by Civil Eats

Agrivoltaics—or on-farm solar arrays—are still rare in California, but experts say the shade they provide could be a game-changer in a state where many farms are struggling to plan for a future with limited groundwater.

Published by Civil Eats

Four people with an up-close view of food insecurity talk about how the recent cuts to food assistance and current food prices have impacted them and their communities.

Published by Civil Eats

Published by Civil Eats

From new parents failing drug tests in the maternity ward to people overdosing after drinking poppy-seed tea, contamination is a problem that science groups and advocates are urging the FDA to fix.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

While waiting in line at the grocery store, clients of chiropractor Gabriella Cole likely have one thing on their minds: their feet. It’s her starting place for supporting not only better alignment, but also deeper body awareness.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

For Zoe Crowhurst, the pandemic was a catalyst to meet one of her life’s aspirations: opening her own preschool. Since September, a small cohort of youngsters has been participating in her entirely outdoor education program, Little Sparrows, in downtown Point Reyes Station.  

Published by the Point Reyes Light

A new eatery will open later this month at the corner of Levee Road and Highway 1: The Point Reyes Roadhouse. It’s a project of Marisol Salgado, who grew up on the Point Reyes peninsula and has co-owned the Whale of a Deli for the past 19 years. Ms. Salgado is developing a California-style menu with a splash of Mexican plates to honor her heritage. She has already made her mark on the building: a fire-engine red paint job. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

A lamb will be born on the rolling hills of Stemple Creek Ranch nearly every day through Valentine’s Day. Although the births rarely require assistance from fourth-generation Tomales rancher Loren Poncia and his crew, raising lambs on open, organic pastures involves vigilance, problem solving and care. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

West Marin is sheltered in many ways, but it was not immune to the upheavals of 2020: the social and economic impacts of the pandemic, the consequences of climate change, and the political turmoil that swept the nation.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

The Point Reyes National Seashore has a new superintendent. 

Come January, Craig Kenkel, who grew up on a farm in Iowa and has spent his career working for the National Park Service, will take up the reins. Mr. Kenkel currently serves as the superintendent of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, one of a small handful of units in the country where the park leases land for farming.   

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Fine places to eat abound in Tomales. Downtown eateries, including several thriving under new ownership, have strengthened their commitment to purchasing food from the surrounding area. 

Published by Point Reyes Light

In high school, Amy Schliftman played basketball, volleyball and softball, and ran track and field—and she was good. But then the thought struck her: What would life look like if she lost her physical prowess? That question changed the course of her life. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

What role can the home gardener play in restoring the native California ecosystem? The answer to that question is limitless for Judith Larner Lowry, who has grown native plants on an acre-and-a-half lot on the Bolinas Mesa for nearly four decades through her business, Larner Seeds.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

The light is restored. After a $5.7 million, 13-month rehabilitation project, the Point Reyes National Seashore last Friday re-opened the lighthouse that has marked the rocky edge of the Point Reyes peninsula since 1870. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

After 22 years running the Garden of Eden Apothecary in Point Reyes Station, the shop’s proprietor, Eden Clearbrook, is ready to pass the torch.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Odysseus, homeward bound, told his men to seal their ears with beeswax so they wouldn’t be lured to their deaths as they passed the island of sirens. Yet he bound himself to the mast of his ship so he could hear the irresistible song of half-women, half-birds. Residents of West Marin have an opportunity to reenact his story with an artist who sees the Greek legend as fodder for a radical experience of self-care. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

What goes on among coyotes in the seashore when no one is watching? What is the bobcat’s favorite trail, the rhythm of otter play, the strategy of the red fox that arrived during the drought? Richard Vacha, a Point Reyes Station resident with more than 30 years of local tracking experience, knows. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

On the treacherous frontlines of the Tubbs Fire that roared through Santa Rosa two years ago, many firefighters left behind the gear that shields them from the harmful chemicals associated with urban fires: the blaze burned so hot and fast, they had to move quicker than the weight would allow.