Latest Project Updates

Community members across the North Bay are learning the intricacies of “good fire” as part of Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward fellowship program. Fellows grow their controlled burning leadership knowledge over the course of one year and 300 hours of training. Supported by their employers, the 15 fellows receive one-on-one mentoring, classroom and field-based courses, and experience working on prescribed burns.

Summer Stewardship

Removing and burning plants may seem antithetical to land stewardship, but this is just what ACR’s land stewards and resource ecologists are up to this summer. The varied stewardship strategies employed across the preserves share the same goal: increasing the diversity of species for thriving ecosystems.

Teens across U.S. inspired to become conservation scientists and create community

16-year-old Maggie hoped to gain confidence from her week-long online exploration of conservation science through a feminine perspective with ACR's Conservation Science Intensive (CSI). She emerged with a new community of mentors and peers, and a sense of hopefulness that “there is no need to stress about it because there are so many ways to gain a career…there is really hope in our generation for the future.”

Lucas Morthole awarded 2022 David Bouverie Scholarship

Beginning in the fifth grade, Lucas joined Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Juniper Junior Naturalist program, which welcomes and encourages young learners who are curious about nature and conservation science. As a Juniper, Lucas participated in habitat stewardship, helped guide nature walks and conduct newt counts, and served as a mentor to the younger Junipers.

Boston girl pens winning essay about loss and renewal for Last House Writing Contest

More than 70 entries for the Third Annual Last House Writing Contest were received from writers around the globe. The winning essays focused on themes of renewal, reemergence, rebirth. The grand prize essay, “Heartfelt,” was written by nine-year-old Boston resident Annika (Ani) Thakarar.

First prescribed burn in 50 years at Modini Preserve

The grassland site targeted for prescribed fire treatment at Modini Preserve is most threatened by medusahead grass. Burning medusahead in late spring—when mature seeds are still retained in seed heads—is an effective treatment method. This method has the benefit of killing seeds and removing thatch which should benefit the native, fire-adapted species (Kyser et al., 2014).