Over the past three decades, a great deal of research has been gathered on snags and their role in forest and wetland ecosystems. Snags, better known as dead trees or logs, play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity in a number of habitats including oak woodlands, pine forests and riparian zones. In California alone, snags are home to over 160 different species, which is why government land managers have designated them as “special habitat elements.”

Forest ecologist Jerry Franklin states, “A dead tree is more alive than a live tree.” Dead trees are a vital part of nutrient cycling within forests. Logs, in particular, contribute to the nutrient reserves and chemical and physical characteristics of forest soils or waterways.

According to Sally Duncan of the U.S....

In the natural world, once you start to see a thing, you cannot stop seeing it. I first realized this fact as a child, while learning to forage for chanterelles in the East Bay hills. At the time, I called it “mushroom eye,” referring to how anything bright orange in the woods would immediately snap my attention to it, even while traveling at 35 mph on country roads.

“Mushroom eye” is a positive attribute. Unfortunately, the same visual attribute can apply to invasive species, such as the ever-present yellow blooms of French broom or aggressive seedlings of Douglas fir. While zigzagging down country roads, I find my thoughts constantly distracted by invasive species.

At this point, you might be thinking Douglas fir trees are native, not invasive. True, they are native,...

Audubon Canyon Ranch has joined with other conservation organizations and public land managers to form the Sonoma Valley Fire and Vegetation Management Collaborative. Here's an overview of The Collaborative and the work we will undertake.

Who are we? We manage 18,000 acres of protected Sonoma Valley lands.

We are a group of six conservation organizations and land management agencies that began working together in the wake of the devastating Nuns Fire of October 2017. Collaborative members have agreed to coordinate fire and vegetation management with each other and with CAL FIRE’s Sonoma Lake Napa Unit (LNU) in the Sonoma Valley region.

Members of the Collaborative are Audubon Canyon Ranch, California State Parks, Sonoma County Ag + Open Space,...

We greatly regret to report that mountain lion P15 (called Jupiter) was shot February 9, 2019, four days after he was collared as part of Living with Lions, a CDFW-permitted study trying to understand the movement and behavior of these top carnivores of the North Bay region.

P15 was a 13-month-old male lion recently dispersed from his mom, who is most likely P4, a female big cat also being tracked by the study. On February 4, the uncollared cat attacked an unsecured goat in the Mt. Veeder area of Napa County. After connecting with CDFW, law enforcement and wildlife rescue organizations, the landowner contacted ACR to have the cat collared for research instead of killed under a depredation permit.