In the article entitled “Bad Weed” from the North Coast Journal, you’d think it would be about Humboldt County’s famous cash crop, marijuana, but it’s not.  It’s really about European Dune Grass and the on-going debate about its benefits for humans and their communities and its negative impact on native coastal habitat and wildlife.

Read the entire article on the North Coast Journal’s website.

According to a recent study along the California Coast from Monterey Bay to Bodega Bay, biologists have found only 219 adult great white sharks.  The scientists were able to identify each shark by the unique fin shape and markings.

Read the entire article and view photos on the San Francisco Chronicles website.

Gary Griggs, a UCSC professor, recently gave a presentation on the effects of global climate change on the coast of California and, specifically, Monterey Bay.   The potential impact would have drastic effects on coastal developments like Pajaro Dunes.

Read the entire article on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

304 sea otters were found dead along the California central coast from Half Moon Bay to Santa Barbara this past year according to a USGS survey.    This number is an increase of 72 deaths from the previous year and is disturbing since a higher percentage of the deaths were either female or otter pups.

Read the complete article on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

This article appeared in the SF Chronicle back in August of 2008, but is still very relevant as it describes the fragile ecosystems of the world’s coastal zones, specifically Monterey Bay.   An oxygen-deprived “dead zone” appears annually in the Elkhorn Slough inland waters.  Even the “last mile” is not immune.   Every summer, algal blooms are caused by fertilizer runoff from the adjacent farmlands.   Native plants help restore the proper balance.

Read the entire article at the SF Chronicle website.

According to the Endangered Species Coalition, the Sacramento River Delta and the Sierra Mountain Range are two of the top 10 ecosystems where endangered species could become extinct in the not to distant future due to global warming.   Could California’s coastal habitats be far behind?

Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle website.

Salt water intrusion has been a problem in Pajaro Valley for years.   The Pajaro Valley Water Management District and a UCSC professor are studying the possibilities of “recharging” the valleys’s underground aquifer with runoff water from Harkins Slough.

Read more on the Register Pajaronian’s website.

A California state appeals court has upheld a $1 million damage verdict awarded to Jacobs Farm Del Cabo, a Santa Cruz County organic grower, for the destruction of a 2007 crop of sage, rosemary and dill wiped out by pesticides that drifted from neighboring farms.

Read more online at the San Francisco Chronicle’s website.

A joint project of the Amah Mutsun tribe and the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum is trying to collect and cultivate  more than 100 native plants for medicinal use.

Read the article on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

Even though this red fox lives far away from Pajaro Dunes in the Sierra mountains, this story is a reminder that species of both plant and animal that we once thought were lost forever may still return if we protect and preserve their habitat.

Read the article on the San Francisco Chronicle’s website.