New Restoration Crew Tackles Broom
Restoration Program Manager Jason Mills has some announcements this month, not only about the work his team is doing but about the team itself, which is growing. “I wanted to officially welcome Ariana Lease and Garrett Gradillas to the Restoration team,” he said,...
SEC Seeks Input on Steelhead Habitat Project
The following letter is directed towards landowners with property located along upper Sonoma Creek from Madrone Road to Adobe Canyon. Going with the Flow: Seeking Community Input on Restoration for Steelhead Habitat in Upper Sonoma Creek Over the past century, our...
A Reflection on Sugarloaf’s History as State Park Turns 50
The true history of the land of steep hillsides, lush meadows and fertile valleys known today as Sugarloaf Ridge State Park begins at least 7,000 years ago, when Wappo Indians occupied the region and used Sugarloaf as their summertime home and hunting ground. The...
SEC in 2019: A Look Ahead
The new year is off to a glorious start in Sonoma Valley as storm after storm cycles through. And while the rain falls outside, we’re busy making plans for 2019, looking for new and better ways to achieve and sustain ecological health in this beautiful place we call...
The Value of Open Space
When evaluating the worth of our natural open spaces, we often think in subjective terms: beautiful, healthful, essential to our quality of life. But a sweeping new report gets down to brass tacks, demonstrating that open and working spaces are essential to our fiscal...
Join Us for the Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count is an incredible cultural success story and the largest citizen science annual event in the world. First held on Christmas Day in the year 1900 as an alternative to the devastating "Side Hunt" tradition, today this nationwide birdwatching...
The Sugarloaf Falls Are Running
How about a holiday hike to your local waterfall? Recent rains have the water flowing – and falling – at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. The trail to the falls is an easy two-mile loop, with some elevation gain. For directions ask at the...
Survey Results Offer Snapshot of Valley Priorities
Sustainable Sonoma was formed to take action on solutions to our community’s biggest challenges. First we have to know what the community’s top priorities are – and to that end a Valley-wide survey was conducted by Sustainable Sonoma over several months. Now the...
Oslo Event Puts Biochar in Spotlight
Sonoma Ecology Center’s Biochar Initiative is headed to Norway. Raymond Baltar, our biochar program manager, has been invited to join a panel discussion on greenhouse gas drawdown strategies at a climate conference in Oslo, Norway in early January. The panel is made...
Sorrowful, Determined, Thankful
For Sonoma Valley residents, the worst part about the latest round of California wildfires isn’t the smoke itself – smoke which, due to the fires in Butte County, has caused the longest stretch of days of bad air quality in the Bay Area in recorded history. But for...
Fogbow in the Hills
When there's fog in the Valley, the boundary where sun and fog meet often creates interesting tricks of light, like this fogbow seen up in the hills on Thursday morning. Fogbows are formed by the same light-scattering process as rainbows. But fog is made up of much...
New Rains, New Landscapes this October
This October is shaping up to be much nicer than last year’s! The month announced itself with a strong, warm rainstorm, bringing an unexpected 1.6 inches of rain to Sonoma Valley. That was enough to activate the seed bank, causing grasses to pop up and reducing...
Honoring the Heritage Maple of Sugarloaf
Hundreds of years ago, a bigleaf maple sprouted on the banks of Sonoma Creek in what is now Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Today, as this magnificent Heritage Maple enters its twilight years, we are inviting the public to join us for an informative walk, a fascinating...
Healing ‘Color of Emotion’ Art Performance Comes to Sonoma Valley
As part of our series of events commemorating the fires of October 2017, Sonoma Ecology Center invited international artists Anna Senno and Olga de la Iglesia to bring their unique and therapeutic art performance, “The Color of Emotion,” to Sonoma Valley – and two...
Film Screening, Art Performances and Fire Walks Mark Anniversary of Wildfires
On Oct. 8, 2017, several fires ignited around the North Bay including in Sonoma Valley. They spread quickly and uncontrollably, burning huge swaths of land and turning the lives of Valley residents upside-down. Exactly one year later, on Monday, Oct. 8, Sonoma Ecology...
How Wise Land Use Can Make Us Safer
The facts are depressing and disturbing: across California wildfires will be a part of our lives every summer, and floods every winter, for the foreseeable future. Overall they are expected to increase in frequency and severity and – for any specific location, such as...
County Seeks Input on Storm Water Resources Plan
Residents of Sonoma Valley now have a chance to weigh in on a plan to help us manage the coming rains – which bring with them the possibility of floods. Called the Storm Water Resources Plan, its intent is to manage flooding, recharge groundwater, reduce soil erosion,...
Summer Science Campers Spent Their Days Outside
Sonoma Ecology Center’s educators are wowed by the huge success of this year’s Summer Science Camps. An outpouring of positive feedback from campers and parents alike has confirmed for us that we are on the right track. “He had the most wonderful time at Creek Camp,”...
VIDEO: The Sugarloaf Bears Are Back
Our motion-activated cameras caught this beautiful black bear nosing its way around Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, not far from the Red Barn, in mid-July. This is the first bear seen in the park since the October 2017 wildfires, which burned more than 28 percent of...
Traveling the Electric Highway: Part III
Sonoma Ecology Center Executive Director Richard Dale and his family are enjoying a road trip to British Columbia – and they’re making the drive in their all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV. What follows is part three of Richard’s chronicle of the highs and lows of taking...