The western pond turtle is the only native freshwater turtle species in northern California. It has declined throughout 75% of its range and continues to be threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive predators, and a number of other human-induced mechanisms. Marin County Parks and Open Space District has multiple preserve locations where populations of…

North American beavers (Castor canadensis) have been gradually re-establishing populations in Sonoma County after historic extirpation. Beavers have been recognized in recent decades as “ecosystem engineers” that increase biodiversity and riparian system function through their dam building and wetland creation. Although beavers and their dams benefit both natural and human communities, they can also pose…

In 2016, PCI was approached by a group of homeowners along a local creek with a resource protection challenge. The homeowners shared a private driveway in western Sebastopol; a small tributary to Redwood Creek flowed through a steel culvert beneath their collective access route. The culvert had plugged numerous times, and in the summer of…

The Sonoma Developmental Center is a 900-acre state-owned facility in Glen Ellen, California proposed for redevelopment. The site has provided valued services to the developmentally disabled for a century, is beloved by the local community for recreation, hosts a key pinch point in a regional wildlife corridor, and is located in an area of highly…