The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently reclassified the Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi, or SKR) from the direst classification under the Endangered Species Act of Endangered to the lesser category of Threatened. Although one might think that an organization called the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) might lament such a decision or charge that it is political, our kangaroo rat ...

The air in my apartment is sluggish and still; the electricity cut out hours ago and won’t return for many more. The windows and doors sealed, guarding our lungs from the toxic air outside, which swirls with particulates from the various wildfires raging across much of California’s Bay Area. I live in Santa Clara County, which not only has a ...

*This piece was a collaborative effort between CBI and SDMMP, with coordination by CBI and main text prepared by SDMMP. Few people have contributed more to plant conservation in San Diego County than Patricia Gordon-Reedy. A native Californian, she has been a quiet and respected leader in the San Diego environmental community for over 30 years. We are honored to ...

Back in the late 1970s, Dr. Reg Barrett at the University of California Berkeley told the US Forest Service that their biggest looming conservation problem in the Sierra Nevada was going to be a large weasel called the fisher. Dr. Barrett saw the fisher's dependence on large, old trees and dense canopy forest as a source of conflict with ...

Coyote Valley endures as one of the last flat, undeveloped landscapes remaining in Santa Clara County, California. Located within one of the world’s top 25 most essential biodiversity hotspots (the California Floristic Province), Coyote Valley resides on the south side of San Jose, California, nested between the Santa Cruz and Diablo Mountain Ranges.    In addition to providing recreation, flood ...