What turned California forests into a tinderbox? Fire suppression, paradoxically

Valerie Trouet — THE GUARDIAN – US EDITION It’s time to embrace ‘good fires’ and end the misguided policy of total suppression of all wildfires ‘We have a lot to learn from indigenous people, who have centuries of “good fire” expertise.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Mon 14 Sep 2020 12.50 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 15 […]

CSERC’s 2020 Fall Newsletter is Here!

In this newsletter, we highlight some plans or project proposals that have potential to affect key areas or broad portions of the region. Learn more about why CSERC supports the SERAL Project, and read about local regional updates. CSERC continues to work on a wide range of conservation issues – prioritizing protection for water, wildlife, […]

Introducing CSERC’s New Program Director, Sara Husby

I am a total city girl at heart, as I was born and raised in Chicago.  Growing up in the city, my outdoor experiences are very different than those who grew up surrounded by the beautiful landscapes that I now protect. The closest thing to mountains were the downtown skyscrapers. To see a cactus, I […]

MORE TIPS ON WHETHER TO VISIT YOSEMITE THIS SUMMER

CSERC’s latest Director’s Report explains that Yosemite Park is now being managed with a Day-Use Reservation system that aims to keep visitation to roughly 50% of normal in order to reduce crowding and the spread of COVID-19. What does that mean for you if you reserve your online day-use pass and want to choose where […]

Latest update: USFWS proposes to “list” the Sierra Nevada red fox

After years of scientific studies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January formally proposed to list the Sierra Nevada “Distinct Population Segment” of the Sierra Nevada red fox (SNRF) as threatened or endangered.  For CSERC, that is very good news. Put most simply, the Sierra Nevada population of the rare fox is on the […]

Barred Owls Invade the Sierra Nevada

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Conservation:       60-Second Science Barred Owls Invade the Sierra Nevada (link here for article at Scientific American) By Christopher Intagliata on January 24, 2020   Christopher Intagliata reports: By listening to the sounds of the forest, biologists were able to identify an invasion of barred owls in spotted owl habitat. Full Transcript The barred […]

Will wolves return to the Northern Yosemite region?

It’s been roughly a century since wolves were intentionally exterminated in California after decades of being persecuted by hunting, trapping, and poisoning. Seen as a threat to livestock and to game species favored by hunters, wolves in California and across the rest of the nation were systematically killed. But in recent decades, federal management programs […]

CSERC’s Fall 2019 Newsletter

Click here to view CSERC’s Fall 2019 Newsletter. Learn about fens, Yosemite planning updates, a new development at Calaveras Big Trees, protections gained for the Pacific fisher, biomass treatments in the Rim Fire, and more!