ACR is extremely delighted to welcome ten prescribed fire community members to the first class of Fire Forward Fellows. Over the past couple of years as volunteer fire-lighters, these Fellows have engaged in prescribed burns, land stewardship, community building and some have even taken on wildfire assignments. Now they look to build leadership skills under the guidance of our Fire Forward team and in partnership with their employer organizations.

Each Fellow has arrived with basic wildland firefighter training and some on-the-ground experience. During the one-year fellowship, these ten will each engage in more than 300 hours of professional development focused on planning and implementing ecologically-driven prescribed fire and supporting their qualifications as Squad Boss and...

ACR is excited to collaborate with Cal State East Bay professor Tony Marks-Block and UC Berkeley assistant professor, Coast Miwok, and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria citizen Peter Nelson, on a prescribed fire research project that aims to learn more about the effects of prescribed fire on acorn pests, acorn phenology (the study of the timing of life cycle events), and acorn gathering efficiency.

“Indigenous peoples across California have used fire to reduce acorn pest infestations, thus Indigenous ecological knowledge is guiding the development of research objectives and methods,” explained Marks-Block.

The study will compare acorns collected in prescriptively burned oak woodlands on Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen and adjacent woodlands on Sonoma Land Trust’s Glen...

In April, the ACR Board selected Brakeley Search as a partner to undertake the recruitment of ACR's next chief executive officer. Based in the Bay Area since 2008, Brakeley Search specializes in delivering high quality executive search services to non-profits.

We are delighted to announce that the search is now underway. Please review complete position description and appliction process.

The Opportunity:

Audubon Canyon Ranch engages and affects the community through its mission of “connecting nature, people, and science in a rapidly changing world,” its ecologically-significant properties and preserves, and its varied stewardship, research, and...

Hunter Halkovich, pictured above with dog Moxy, is this year’s David Bouverie Scholarship recipient. Hunter has been an active Juniper Junior Naturalist since fifth grade and participated in many newt counts, helped build owl and bat boxes, and mentored younger Junipers. During the pandemic, he presented his work on silk (Polyphemus) moths at a virtual insect extravaganza.

Hunter was selected by the scholarship committee because of his contributions to the Bouverie Preserve as a Junior Naturalist (...