It was July 28, 2021, I was sitting in my living room overlooking Lake Almanor in the Northern Sierra Nevada, having spent the morning raking fir needles and covering attic vents, I was hunched over the air purifier sucking in as much fresh air as I could get. It was 3 weeks into the Dixie Fire, and the sky, much like what the San Francisco Bay Area experienced in the fall of 2020, had looked an eerie orange for weeks from wildfire smoke with little relief. I was alone, having sent my family out of harm’s way the week before.
Science Categories: Climate-smart restoration
Point Blue Expands Work in Fire Ecology
We’re pleased to announce Point Blue’s first ever Fire Stewardship Ecologist position which has been filled (and co-created to a large extent) by former Sonoma-Marin Partner Biologist Taj Hittenberger. This is an exciting step for both Taj and Point Blue in the direction of further incorporating fire into our conservation efforts.
Celebrate Our 57th Birthday with Native Plants!
Give 10% and get 10% when you purchase CA native plants to celebrate Point Blue Conservation Science’s 57th birthday. March 18th, 1965 is the day that we were incorporated as a non-profit conservation organization and embarked on our journey to conserve birds, wildlife, and ecosystems through science, partnerships, and outreach. Planting native plants and creating
Ecological restoration works for urban birds in San Francisco’s Presidio
While cities and towns have not historically been considered priorities for ecological restoration projects, the UN Decade effort explicitly calls for urban restoration. The Presidio Trust, the National Park Service, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy were visionary in their pursuit of restoration in San Francisco’s Presidio, and since 2001 they have restored 78 acres.
Re-Balancing Act Making a Ranch Ecosystem More Resilient
Heather Bernikoff has been a changemaker in her community through the many roles she’s held—a volunteer leader on non-profit boards, a health educator, and an advocate for direct service programs, to name a few. Now on her ranch in the rolling foothills of the Central Sierra Nevada, she is effecting change on the land by
Sierra Meadows Partnership Poised to Meet 2030 Goal
Sierra meadows are a critically important component of the Sierra Nevada landscape. They provide multiple benefits. They contribute to carbon sequestration, groundwater recharge, flood attenuation, water quality improvements, and stream flow, improving the quality of life for downstream ecosystems and human communities. Meadows are also biodiversity hotspots that provide important habitat for birds, fish, amphibians,
Central Valley Science Super Stars!
Please join us in congratulating Tom Gardali, Point Blue’s Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group Director, and Dr. Kristen (Kristy) Dybala, Point Blue Principal Ecologist in the Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group, for being awarded the Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV) Science Excellence Award for their leadership roles in and contributions to the 2020
A New Planting Palette for Sierra Meadows
Point Blue Conservation Science is excited to share a new climate-smart resource for Sierra meadow restoration: the Sierra Meadow Planting Palette Tool and Tool User Guide . The purpose of this tool is to help restoration practitioners plan for climate change by identifying plant species that have traits that will increase the likelihood that they
Carving Out Support for Conservation
By Lishka Arata, Senior Communications Coordinator When Melinda Whipplesmith Plank reached out to Point Blue last spring to ask if we were interested in an artist collaboration that would support our conservation work, our immediate answer was an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Millie, as she prefers to be called, is a woodblock print artist based out of
A Climate-Smart Framework for Land Trusts
Point Blue Conservation Science is excited to share a new climate-smart guide for land trusts: Integrating Climate Adaptation into Land Conservation: A Climate-Smart Framework for Land Trusts. The purpose of this handbook is to provide land trusts and other land conservation practitioners with a guide to integrating climate change projections and climate adaptation approaches into
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