Santa Cruz County Environment Articles

Good Times reports on how the Monterey Bay preserve has brought environmental protection and scientific discovery. And the weekly also looks at another proposed marine sanctuary.

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

California’s drought shows no signs of easing as the state lost a full year of rainfall between 2019 and 2022, while residents actually increased their water use, ignoring Gov. Newsom’s pleas to cut back.

The 2022 California wildfire season looks like another dangerous one, with the state's historic drought showing no signs of letting up. Here's what to expect, and some measures the state is taking to slow down the flames.

We asked the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History to highlight the area’s most thrilling warm-weather attractions.

Contributors to a Mighty and Interconnected Family By Gale McCreary It is a student, crouched in the shamrock-like oxalis plants on the shady redwood forest floor, who first alerts me to the mutant. With careful steps I approach the young …

The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which will help pumas in the Santa Monica Mountains cross 10 lanes of Highway 101, will be the largest in the world.

World Oceans Day reminds us how much more there is to explore

California is creating wildlife crossings that can help animals get across dangerous highways without risk of death from vehicle strikes. Here are five of them.

Three California transportation leaders explain why Measure D will ultimately kill much-needed rail service and slow progress on the Santa Cruz Rail Trail.

Unless the governor and Legislature address flaws in the way the state plans for and develops public transit and rail projects, California’s ambitious climate-related goals cannot be realized.

California may soon shut down its last nuclear power plant, but Gov. Gavin Newsom who once championed the closure has had a change of heart. Federal funds may now keep the plant running.

Sometimes making the community better manifests as a better understanding of how nature works. Local birders lead the way.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Air Resources Board are boasting about California's shift to zero-emission vehicles but the reality of making it happen is daunting.

Saving water is more important than ever in California, due to the region’s worst drought conditions in 1,200 years. Here are some steps you can take to help.

Tips for creating wildlife-friendly habitat in Santa Cruz County, no matter where you live.

California can increase water savings in urban and suburban areas by 30 to 48 percent using nothing but existing technology, a new report from the Pacific Institute says.

By Larry Tierney Like many Department of Parks and Recreation employees, I spent part of my 35-year career up at Big Basin. It was my first State Parks job. I’m currently on the Board of Directors of the park’s cooperating …

Diane Porter Cooley, whose family history dates back to Santa Cruz County’s infancy, and whose conservation efforts of both farmland and forest helped build the underpinnings of the county’s environmental ideology—and reshape the way the nation viewed agricultural land protection—died …

WATSONVILLE—Should Watsonville expand outward in an effort to meet mounting housing and economic needs? Or will it continue to restrict its growth, and increase its housing density in favor of protecting every inch of the rich surrounding agricultural land? These …