Hunter Halkovich, pictured above with dog Moxy, is this year’s David Bouverie Scholarship recipient. Hunter has been an active Juniper Junior Naturalist since fifth grade and participated in many newt counts, helped build owl and bat boxes, and mentored younger Junipers. During the pandemic, he presented his work on silk (Polyphemus) moths at a virtual insect extravaganza.

Hunter was selected by the scholarship committee because of his contributions to the Bouverie Preserve as a Junior Naturalist (...

In April, the ACR Board selected Brakeley Search as a partner to undertake the recruitment of ACR's next executive director. Based in the Bay Area since 2008, Brakeley Search specializes in delivering high quality executive search services to non-profits. The firm was selected following a thorough competitive proposal process and vetting by a Search Committee of six senior staff and board members. In particular, the Search Committee was impressed with Brakeley's commitment to personalized service, understanding of ACR's needs at this organizational stage, proven ability to match organizational culture and leadership needs, and follow-up support.

The search itself will involve four phases:

1. Discovery and planning during which Brakeley will work with the Search...

Tracking the movements of mountain lions using GPS collars is integral to understanding the population and ecology of such an elusive yet charismatic cat living amongst us here in the Valley of the Moon. The Living with Lions project had an exciting beginning to 2021, capturing and collaring five lions that will allow us to further monitor the fascinating behavior of Sonoma County’s lions, while also helping to reduce deadly run-ins between lions and local pets and livestock.

I often receive phone calls after residents’ sheep and goats are killed, which recently led to the capture of large male mountain lions P24 and P25 in the Healdsburg and Cazadero area, as well as an interesting female in the Bennett Valley/ Penngrove...

Tracking the movements of mountain lions using GPS collars is just one part of ACR’s Living with Lions project but it is essential to understanding the lion population as a whole. When a collaring opportunity arises, we have a short window for success. Recently we received three calls in rapid succession from residents who suspected mountain lions were responsible for deer and livestock kills on their property.

On February 22 Quinton Martins received a call about a dead deer found partially buried in leaf matter (called ‘caching’) in the front garden of a Sonoma Valley property. Upon investigation it was clear a mountain lion had made the kill, so with the landowner’s permission, Quinton set a trap to capture and collar this animal.

That night, the lion returned to...