The competition between farmers and fish for precious water in California is intensifying in wine country, say biologists at the University of California, Berkeley.

A recently published study links higher death rates for threatened juvenile steelhead trout with low water levels in the summer and the amount of vineyard acreage upstream. Like salmon, steelhead trout migrate from freshwater streams to the ocean before returning to their birthplace to spawn. Steelhead trout in Southern California and the upper Columbia River are endangered, and several other populations, including those in Northern California, are...

Ranchers, environmentalists, researchers, and regulators will meet at UC Davis January 19-20 for the Range Research Symposium and California Rangeland Conservation Coalition Summit to explore new research and share varied interests and their common commitment to preserving California’s rangeland.

“We’ll be looking at the latest rangeland science, practices, and collaborations that support the many public benefits we receive from rangelands,” said UC Cooperative Extension Watershed Specialist Ken Tate with the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, a key organizer of the event.  “Participants will see why diverse interests have agreed on the importance of working rangelands and the...

As it turns out, the farmer and the cowman should be friends, as the classic “Oklahoma!” song suggests. According to a just-published UC Berkeley study, wild bee species pollinate California crops to the tune of $937 million to $2.4 billion per year. That amounts to more than one-third of all pollination “services” to the state’s crops.

Many of those crop-pollinating wild bees live in rangelands – chiefly ranches that graze cattle.

“This means that preserving rangelands has significant economic value, not only to the ranchers who graze their cattle there, but also to farmers who need the pollinators,” said Claire Kremen, UC Berkeley associate professor of environmental science, policy and management,...

The University of California’s newly launched California Naturalist program is a way for the institution to spread research-based knowledge about environmental stewardship and nature preservation. Rather than simply educating students, the program engages citizens of all ages through discovery and action in the science of conservation.

After completing the program, California Naturalists will become a committed corps of citizen scientists trained and ready for involvement in natural resources education and restoration.

“To ensure the sustainability of natural resources in California, we need citizens who participate in natural resource conservation, understand the...