| May 2, 2008 |
| Reserving the Redwoods |
| San Francisco Chronicle |
| The 145-year era of Pacific Lumber may be eking slowly and painfully toward a close, but the fate of more than 200,000 acres of Douglas fir and redwood forests in Humboldt County remains uncertain. A conservation easement would preserve this forest's beauty and majesty for generations to come - and it needn't have negative impacts on shareholders' bottom lines, either. The Nature Conservancy is eager to work with the new owners to buy an easement at fair market rates, making the idea a win-win for everyone. |
| |
 |
|
| January 29, 2008 |
| The Preservation Predicament |
| The New York Times |
| Conservation organizations that work to preserve biologically rich landscapes are confronting a painful realization: In an era of climate change, many of their efforts may be insufficient or beside the point....And everywhere, ecologists and conservation biologists wonder how landscapes already under preservation will change with the climate. |
| |
|
|
| January 20, 2008 |
| Massive Ranch Will Be Protected |
| San Jose Mercury News |
| San Felipe Ranch, the largest privately owned property in Santa Clara County and a rustic, personal retreat for Silicon Valley pioneers Bill Hewlett and David Packard for more than four decades, will forever be protected from development under a landmark deal to be announced Monday (January 21, 2008). |
| |
|
|
| January 20, 2008 |
| Nature Conservancy Buys Desert Acreage |
| San Diego Union Tribune |
| The Nature Conservancy has bought more than 1000 acres of desert in the southeastern corner of San Diego County, with plans to use the the property to expand Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. |
| |
|
|
| January 16, 2008 |
| Nature Conservancy Proposes Plan to Save Troubled Pacific Lumber |
| San Francisco Chronicle |
| Three weeks after the founders of the Gap said they would invest $200 million in a plan to buy the Pacific Lumber Co. out of bankruptcy, a coalition of environmental groups led by the Nature Conservancy is today announcing a rival plan to take the redwood logging firm away from its current owner, Houston financier Charles Hurwitz and his Maxxam Corp. |
| |
|
| |
| January 10, 2008 |
| Deal OK'D on Violini Ranch |
| Monterey County The Herald |
| The Big Sur Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy announced the acquisition of a conservation easement on most of the Violini Ranch west of Gonzales, which the groups said will preserve 3,200 acres of oak- and grass-covered hills that straddle the Carmel and Salinas valleys. |
| |
|
| |
| November 7, 2007 |
| Private Efforts to Preserve the Coast |
| The New York Times |
| On the last Friday in October, Ed Ewing, who has spent four decades fishing out of Morro Bay in California, took his newly leased boat, the South Bay, for a trial run.
|
|
| |
| October 29, 2007 |
| Tapped to Test the Waters |
| San Luis Obispo Tribune |
| A year after The Nature Conservancy purchased Morro Bay's entire trawl fishing fleet, the group is allowing a fisherman to use one of its permits to test new trawl gear designs that are less damaging to the ocean floor and catch less unwanted marine life.
|
|
| |
| October 13, 2007 |
| Purchase Preserves Meadow as Habitat |
| Sacramento Bee |
| A spectacular mountain meadow just south of Lassen Volcanic National Park will continue its historic use as summer pasture and riparian habitat following its purchase by the Nature Conservancy.
|
|
| |
| September 30, 2007 |
| Santa Cruz Island's Ecological Rebirth |
| Ventura County Star |
| Roaring and bucking like an arthritic rodeo bull, the Toyota Land Cruiser lurches in low gear up a road that appears to have been carved into the side of a cliff by acrobats with garden trowels. To describe the rocky dirt track as steep, narrow, rough and uneven would hardly do justice to its rudimentary nature.
|
|
| |
| July 12, 2007 |
| Perilous Passage |
| Monterey County Weekly (full article available) |
Why did the mountain lion, tule elk, kit fox and tiger salamander cross the road? For the same reason the chicken did: to get to the other side.
Even if they make it across intact, wandering fauna face obstacles navigating around Monterey County. In an effort to help them out, local nonprofits and public agencies are collaborating to identify and protect wildlife corridors, which boost species' chances for survival by connecting habitats fragmented by roads, farms and developments.
|
|
| |
| July 10, 2007 |
| $23M Will Help San Diego County Conserve Habitat |
| North County Times |
| San Diego County's groundbreaking Multiple Species Conservation Plan, which the Conservancy helped develop, has received $23 million in federal funding -- the largest single grant ever made through the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund.
|
|
| |
| June 22, 2007 |
| Sale Protects Truckee Corridor |
| Sacramento Bee |
| A $2 million purchase by The Nature Conservancy and the state will link hundreds of thousands of acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to the Tahoe National Forest.
|
|
| |
| April 1, 2007 |
| Crossing Paths with Cats |
| The Orange County Register |
| The need for connectivity between preserved lands in urbanized areas is highlighted in an article recounting the findings of a study on radio-collared bobcats in the Irvine area.
|
|
| |
| March 20, 2007 |
| Precious Lands |
| Humans, plants, animals thrive in and destroy 'Med' habitats. |
| Monterey Herald |
| Monterey Bay is a part of the coastal California "Mediterranean" environment, one of five such areas in the world that comprise only 2.2 percent of the earth's landmass but that hold 20 percent of the planet's plant species, according to Rebecca Shaw, an environmental scientist with the Nature Conservancy and coordinator of a weeklong conference of colleagues that opened Monday in Monterey.
|
|
| |
| February 11, 2007 |
| How to Get Wall Street to Hug a Tree |
| Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine |
| The Natural Capital Project - a new 10-year partnership among The Nature Conservancy, WWF and Stanford University - is highlighted in a Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine lead story regarding efforts to use economic measures to assess ecosystem services.
|
|
| |
| January 12, 2007 |
| Study Identifies Worthy Properties |
| LA Daily News (full article available) |
| A conservation plan unveiled by The Nature Conservancy last fall urges protection of several areas in the Upper Santa Clara River watershed that are threatened by urban sprawl, invasion of nonnative species and fire suppression.
|
|
| |
| November 27, 2006 |
| Along the Sacramento, Songbirds Flourish Again |
| Scientist credit the restoration of thousands of acres of habitat with resurgence of wildlife population. |
| San Francisco Chronicle |
| The Nature Conservancy and its partners have worked since the 1980s to protect and restore the river's many natural resources.
|
|
| |
| October 10, 2006 |
| Proposition 84: Bond Would Preserve, Restore State's Waterways |
| San Francisco Chronicle |
| The Nature Conservancy's California Executive Director, Mark Burget, is quoted on the benefits of Proposition 84 to Californians. Prop. 84 will ensure the availability of safe drinking water and provide crucial funding to protect California's natural landscapes.
|
|
| |
| August 20, 2006 |
| Project Shows How to Link Habitats for Wild Animals |
| Ventura County Star |
| A massive project to figure out a way to link habitats in Southern California was completed by South Coast Wildlands. The Nature Conservancy will use the report to determine "where land may be purchased or put into conservation easements" based on science from the project.
|
|
| |
| July 7, 2006 |
| Historic Ranch Will Be Preserved |
| San Jose Mercury News |
| The Nature Conservancy has purchase the 2,899-acre South Valley Ranch in eastern Santa Clara County. The Ranch is known for its herd of tule elk that regularly grazes on the property.
|
|
| |
| June 30, 2006 |
| Last Golden Eagles Leave Santa Cruz Island |
| Los Angeles Times |
| The last golden eagle has left Santa Cruz Island. A total of forty-four golden eagles have now been moved from the northern Channel Islands to the mainland, and none has returned.
|
|
| |
| June 28, 2006 |
| Buyout Means More Fish, Fewer Boats in the Sea |
| Los Angeles Times (full article available) |
| The plan calls for the sale of licenses and trawlers as part of an effort to protect ocean life and aid fishermen.
|
|
| |
| June 24, 2006 |
| Trail Lets Hikers Coexist with Cows and Experience Nature |
| Sacramento Bee |
| A new 7-mile walking trail on Howard Ranch offers visitors a chance "to recreate alongside grazing cows" and vernal pools. The trail was created in a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and SMUD.
|
|
| |
| May 21, 2006 |
| Nature Conservancy has Preserved Big Chunks of County's Natural Habitats |
| The San Diego Union Tribune (full article available) |
It can be disheartening to see how fragile San Diego County's breathtaking web of natural habitats has become. Tracts of hillside housing erupt where nature reigned before. Drivers are too rushed to stop and smell the salt air and sage. Big-box stores consume acres of open land in a single gulp.
Yet, it is still possible to find swaths of natural San Diego - from the coast and canyons to the desert and mountains - where native plants and animals manage to hang onto glorious life as they've known it for centuries.
|
|
| |
| April 25, 2006 |
| Pinnacles Ranch Protected Forever |
| Hollister Free Lance (full article available) |
| The Nature Conservancy announced the transfer of the 1,967-acre Pinnacles Ranch to the National Park Service for incorporation into Pinnacles National Monument.
|
|
| |
| April 14, 2006 |
| A Rare Bald Eagle Hatches |
| Los Angeles Times |
| A bald eagle chick has hatched on Santa Cruz Island for the first time in more than 50 years. The hatching is considered "a key element in the restoration of the Channel Islands."
|
|
| |
| March 9, 2006 |
| Adventure of the Week: Spring Busts Out in the Pools and on the Prairie |
| Sacramento Bee |
| Docents have begun leading weekend tours of the vernal pools on Jepson Prairie Preserve.
|
|
| |
| |
