By Linda Hunter A vibrant mix of Bay Area foodies, oyster lovers and environmentalists came together last Thursday to celebrate our local terroir at The Watershed Project's second annual celebration of the humble oyster, Bubbles & Bivalves. Guests enjoyed scrumptious fare from some of the City's finest restaurants, local wineries, breweries and chocolatiers. We were proud to host James Beard Award-winning author Rowan Jacobsen who, literally, wrote the book on oysters. Rowan's A Geography of Oysters, his website and blog are considered de rigueur for restaurants and bivalve aficionados …
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Albatross, Abalone and Condors, Oh My! | Endangered Species Day May 20th
By Dr. Mark Rockwell, Endangered Species Coalition May 20th is the 6th annual Endangered Species Day in America. The U.S. Senate is working on a resolution to mark the day nationally, and the S.F. Bay Area will be having several events throughout the weekend (see info below). The Endangered Species Coalition started this special day six years ago to recognize the need to protect species on the verge of extinction, as well as to bring attention to the importance of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and its responsibility to protect threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants. The …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Fierce American Coot
By Eden Gallanter Have you enjoyed biking or strolling along the Bay Trail? Chances are you've seen a pudgy, black-hooded and dusky-colored water bird known as the American Coot. Coots are typically a little over a foot long with a two-foot wingspan, are dark-gray in color, and have a white bill and yellowish, lobed feet. They lay large clutches of 8-12 eggs, can both swim and dive, and make a variety of clucking noises, sometimes punctuated by a thin cry. The coot is a common sight around shallow bodies of fresh and salt water, like ponds, lakes, marshes, and streams, especially those …
Celebrate Our Local Terroir | Famed Oyster Author to Speak at Bubbles & Bivalves
The Watershed Project welcomes James Beard Award-winning author Rowan Jacobsen to our second annual event, Bubbles & Bivalves, a celebration of native oyster restoration. To give you a taste of Rowan's inimitable style, we've excerpted some of our favorites passages from his books. From The Living Shore by Rowan Jacobsen: "When the full moon hauls back the waters, they emerge, a glittering band along the shore, like doubloons washed up from the wreck of a Spanish galleon. They close their shells tight and, for a few hours, become land. Bears slip out of the cedary woods and trundle over them, …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Captivating Common Raven
By Femke Oldham -- When here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore... Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-- Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." Edgar Allen Poe may have been on to something when he composed his eerie homage to this …
Are Creeks Dangerous? | Tragic Loss Raises Concerns About Channelization
By Caitlin Bell On Saturday, February 19, 2011, Gavin Powell and Matthew Miller climbed aboard an inflatable raft and set off down Walnut Creek, unaware that the flooded and fast-moving channelized river would prove to be too dangerous to handle. As the city of Walnut Creek mourns the loss of two vibrant, happy teenagers, residents look to the source of the tragedy: the channelization of the creek. Bill Kier, a resident of Walnut Creek for more than 60 years, wrote a poignant letter in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Our hearts go out to the families" he wrote. "My heart aches, too, for the …
By Land and By Shore | Hundreds of Volunteers United for National Day of Service
By Chris Lim & Matt Freiberg On an unseasonably warm January 17th, The Watershed Project celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service by hosting volunteers from around the Bay Area at the Richmond Greenway and Shimada Friendship Park. At the Greenway, The Watershed Project joined forces with a myriad of other Richmond-based community groups, including Friends of the Richmond Greenway, Urban Tilth, Groundworks Richmond, Gompers High School, and CURME. The event drew nearly 400 volunteers, who spread out across eight different projects. Volunteers at The Watershed Project's …
An Underwater Vision for San Francisco Bay | Subtidal Goals Project Report Released
By Linda Hunter When you look at our beautiful San Francisco Bay, what do you see? Sailboats, wind surfers, a raft of surf scoters and cormorants diving for herring? Ever wonder what's going on under the water? Many people have made that curiosity their life's work. Fresh off the presses, the Subtidal Goals Project released a report that outlines a vision for the ecosystems underneath our San Francisco Bay waters for the next 50 years. A mammoth project that stemmed from a unique partnership between the California Coastal Commission and Ocean Protection Council, NOAA National Marine …
