Eco News

New Indigenous-Led Initiatives and Trail Access at the Historic Filoli Estate

Spring Creek, namesake of the Spring Creek Trail. Photo: Mike James/Filoli.

The new Lamchin Interpretive Center, sharing the story of the original inhabitants of this land, and the Spring Creek Trail open at Filoli.

Exhibit: The National Monument on Santa Cruz’s North Coast

The coastal terraces of Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument. Museum photo.

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History presents ‘Cotoni-Coast Dairies: Monumental Steps,’ celebrating a unique piece of land and the folks who protected it.

A Wildlife Crossing for the Southern Santa Cruz Mountains

Looking west from the edge of Rocks Ranch down at Highway 101. Easy for cars, deadly for wildlife. Photo by Mike Kahn.

“The Santa Cruz Mountains are almost like an island,” Bryan Largay, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County’s Conservation Director, explains. “And islands are where extinctions happen.” But there is hope being generated in places like Rocks Ranch.

Tips on Ticks for Lyme Disease Awareness Month

From left: blacklegged tick larva, nymph, adult female and adult male. Photo courtesy California Department of Public Health.

Partly due to global warming and the proliferation of ticks, Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the US. Here’s how to protect yourself.

Peak Whale Watching in Northern California Can Be Now

Humpbacks are very active at the water’s surface. Photo by Manuel Balesteri, Shutterstock.

Humpback whales return to our waters just in time for Earth Day and WhaleFest in Pacifica, while whale watchers in Monterey Bay are seeing cetaceans in droves.

Press Release: Hilltromper Launches BloomTracker Interactive Resource to Help People Find Local Wildflowers

BloomTracker by Hilltromper. Photo: Mike Kahn.

BloomTracker shows where and when to see wildflowers throughout the season in public parks and open space preserves in San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.

Science Spotlight: Banana Slug Slime

A banana slug shows off its slime in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Photo by Sarah McQuate.

Spiky proteins called mucins allow banana slugs to crawl over all kinds of ground cover.

Reimagining Big Basin Incorporates Public Input

Touching a charred but living old-growth redwood with a new shoot rising up at Big Basin. Credit: Mike Kahn.

San Jose photographer Andrew P. Hill and Carrie Stevens Walter from the San Jose Woman’s Club were instrumental in the original protection of Big Basin at the turn of the previous century, and it became California's first State Park in 1902.

Santa Cruz Celebrates Mushroom Bloom at Historic Fungus Fair

Highly poisonous Amanita muscaria (aka, fly agaric mushroom, smurf mushroom, Super Mario mushroom) ten feet from the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. Photo by Bridget Lyons.

The Fungus Fair celebrates its 50th, this year at the London Nelson Center in Downtown Santa Cruz, as mushrooms seem to pop up everywhere.

TikTok Nature Trends Pros and Cons: From 'Hot Girl Walks' to Pink Ponds

@dandeliondystopia shares a #HotGirlHike in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park on TikTok.

TikTok has evolved beyond dance challenges and lip-syncs to embrace a new genre: nature exploration, including silent walks, forest bathing, and "Hot Girl Walks." But how do these trends fit with conservation?

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