Published by Civil Eats

In California and across the drought-parched West, programs are springing up to help goats, sheep, and cattle eat down the plants that would otherwise become fuel for wildfires.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Scientists have given up hope on fully eradicating the invasive European green crabs that dominate the Seadrift Lagoon, after a research effort there went awry. They are now recommending keeping the population at a manageable threshold. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Farmers and ranchers are scrambling to adapt to what may prove to be the driest year in coastal Marin in the last century.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

The drought has caused a third of the tule elk that live in the fenced enclosure on Tomales Point to perish from malnutrition.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Water quality testing commissioned by two groups lobbying for the end of ranching in the Point Reyes National Seashore shows fecal contamination exceeding federal recreational standards in several waterways feeding the Pacific Ocean.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Saving the last monarch butterflies, which fell to historically low numbers in California this winter, is the focus of a new initiative launched by Marin public land managers.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Water will likely be rationed for Bolinas residents starting March 1.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

A new and efficient tool used to dig up clams is posing a threat to clam populations, state Fish and Wildlife scientists say.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Marin commercial crabbers won’t be able to set their traps in time for Thanksgiving this year.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

After opening the gate to the McClure Dairy last Sunday, more than 200 anti-ranching activists marched up the dusty road to stage a protest. Robert McClure, a fourth-generation rancher in the Point Reyes National Seashore, walked out to meet them.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

In its quest to meet California’s goal of bringing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, Marin considers its farmers and ranchers a key part of the solution. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Before he died in May, a sponge expert who worked with the Royal British Columbia Museum discovered a new species of sponge among samples collected from the depths of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary: Farrea cordelli.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

A forgotten fuel break along the border of Tomales Bay State Park will be revisited this fall, thanks to funding from the new countywide parcel tax dedicated to fire prevention. The fuel break, which was first established in 2006, was recommended following the 1995 Mount Vision Fire as a key way to protect the communities of Seahaven and Inverness. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

The California Coastal Commission will allow for the failing seawall used as a public walkway on Brighton Beach to be rebuilt by the owner, albeit much narrower.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Gabe Reyes, one of the primary field biologists researching native bat populations in Marin, can no longer handle bats under guidance handed down this month by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The fear is that Mr. Reyes and the state’s 50-some researchers permitted to handle the animals could introduce Covid-19 to North American bat populations.

Published by the Point Reyes Light

By 2030, the projected sea level combined with a particularly nasty storm event could flood nearly everything west of Highway 1 in Stinson Beach: 590 parcels, 430 buildings and several miles of road. By the middle of the century, every high tide will bring flooding, and the roadways will likely need to be altered to maintain access to the low-lying town. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

Dismally low numbers of adult coho salmon are returning to the Lagunitas Creek watershed this winter, despite adequate streamflows. Out of the nearly 8,000 smolts that migrated to sea in 2018, the Marin Municipal Water District estimates just one percent have returned to spawn. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

The three-day heat wave in early June cooked tens of thousands of mussels in their shells in the intertidal zones along the Marin and Sonoma coasts. 

Published by the Point Reyes Light

To address the drastic decline in bull kelp along the Northern California coast, the Greater Farallones Association released a recovery plan last month to inform future management decisions. Purple urchins play an important role in the plan: the species, booming since the die-off of sea stars on the Pacific coast, have decimated kelp forests.  

Published by Point Reyes Light

Hoping to lounge on Drakes Beach during a break in the weather? Think again. A group of elephant seals and their young invaded the most accessible part of the beach during the government shutdown last month, drawing international media attention.