Latest Project Updates

ACR awarded $2M for prescribed fire workforce development

The four-year grant received from CAL FIRE will launch a workforce development program, the Fire Forward Intensive, which will train five new full-time prescribed burn leaders each year. “We are thrilled to be able to offer additional pathways to professional fire and forest stewardship careers in communities threatened by the impacts of climate change and century-long lack of stewardship,” said program director Sasha Berleman.

Young male lion crosses the Russian River: why tracking young lions is vital

Within hours, the mountain lion was collared and entered into the tracking system as P37: a young, 18- to 24-month-old lion. En route he was recorded as having spent 137 hours eating a deer he had caught in a vineyard. He continued walking north until the Russian River, where he paced the river area for several days.

Teaming up to protect Tomales Bay wetlands

Since 2001, ACR has collaborated with the Invasive Spartina Project (ISP) to monitor and remove the non-native, invasive cordgrass, Spartina densiflora, from Tomales Bay. A lesser-known invasive Spartina that impacts San Francisco Bay and the nearby coast, S. densiflora, grows in expanding clumps that threaten wetlands by eliminating open areas used for foraging, particularly by birds.

For the health of society: Why Bob Hasenick & Eric Fessenden chose nature

When asked why they opt to choose nature each day, both Hasenick and Fessenden offer reasons that resonate with the ethos at Audubon Canyon Ranch. The two also share a love of the outdoors and the calming effect of being in nature.

Removing depredating mountain lions from the landscape does not offer protection for unprotected domestic animals

In early 2021, Living with Lions principal investigator Dr. Quinton Martins collared four male mountain lions in Sonoma County after each was implicated in the killing of a sheep or goat. In each case, the landowner invited Martins to conduct the capture to aid in a better understanding of mountain lion behavior and ecology.

Why Thea Maria Carlson Chose Nature

Farmer. Facilitator. Leader. Earth Steward. Thea is also part of an intergenerational intentional community called Monan’s Rill, which resides on Wappo land in Eastern Sonoma County. Back in the summer of 2019, the Fire Forward team partnered with residents and other volunteers on a six-acre prescribed burn of understory vegetation in mixed Douglas fir and tan oak woodland.