The Nature Conservancy in California

Our Science and Stewardship teams at the Las Piletas Ranch Preserve have witnessed an incredible sight: Two pronghorn fawns!

These two adorable fawns have been seen with a group of four does and one buck in the site’s Pronghorn pasture.

Once abundant in number, local pronghorn populations were driven to extinction due to overhunting, habitat loss, development and human intervention. Reintroduced by our partners at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife starting in the late 1980s – 182 in the Carrizo Plain region and 333 across San Luis Obispo County – the population has struggled to sustain its numbers, currently totaling about 60 individuals.

To address these issues, TNC and partners from across the region, including California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), CDFW and the Bureau of Land Management, are testing whether greater access to water and food throughout the year and a reduction in movement barriers – including through the removal or retrofitting of barbed wire fencing to be wildlife-friendly and use of virtual fencing – can help sustain and then recover this last and largest population of pronghorn in southern California.

Las Piletas Ranch Preserve – with its 13,500 acres of rolling foothills, grasslands and oak woodlands – serves as stronghold for sensitive species like pronghorn. It’s also a critical piece of the San Andreas Corridor, one of California’s most valuable under protected wildlife linkages that TNC has been working to build for more than 30 years.

The sight of fawns on this landscape is a hopeful sign that TNC and partners’ efforts to connect habitats and protect vulnerable wildlife species in this region is working.

Today is World Fish Migration Day, a global, biennial celebration that brings together scientists, artists, educators and communities to protect migratory fish and their habitats. The day is an important reminder of the ecological importance of migratory fish and the need to protect the rivers, streams and habitats they depend on.

This year’s theme is We Are River People. Everybody has a connection to rivers, whether through gathering food, enjoying recreational activities or growing up next a beautiful free flowing river. We all share a connection to the rivers and the fish that live in them.

Reflecting this year’s theme, the TNC team recently led a tour of our coho salmon restoration projects in the Ten Mile River in northern California.

Joined by staff from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the group was able to see firsthand the work TNC and its partners have been doing to reconnect floodplains and enhance instream habitat to help salmon survive as they migrate from river to ocean and back again.

During another tour, the group even spotted adult coho migrating up through one of TNC’s most recent restoration sites! This stream channel and the high-quality habitat that it provides did not exist just a few months before this video was captured.

Learn more about how you can celebrate migratory fish and free-flowing rivers, today and every day, here: https://nature.ly/4wBypbP



Photo: The TNC and CDFW teams posing with the World Fish Migration Day “happy fish.” Courtesy of Jon Mann, California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

We want to recognize all those connected to Santa Rosa Island / wima - from the tiniest ant to the towering Torrey pines.

From all of us on Santa Cruz Island / limuw, we are thinking of our nearby island family and sending our support to everyone involved in the wildfire response efforts. Thank you for the long hours, coordination, and care being put into protecting the island.

Moments like this remind us of the vast community that comes together - on all the best and worst of days - to support these one-of-a-kind places.

Thank you for all that you do. ❤️

For updates on the Santa Rosa Island fire, please visit Channel Islands Park Foundation.

Nature as the classroom 🍃🐾

At our Randall Preserve, students from the Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools spent a few action-packed days learning about the carnivores that call California home in a field course titled “Big History of Wolves (and Other Carnivores) in California.”

Students toured the preserve and learned from our resident experts about how conservation biologists monitor carnivore activity in the field. Working with our team, students also set camera traps to capture mountain lion photos, tracked a bobcat using radio telemetry and identified wildlife species from tracks and s**t.

Thanks to the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology and The Webb Schools for visiting and learning with us! We love helping students connect classroom learning with the real-world science and conservation.

📸 Maria Viteri / TNC

For the first time in three years, California is allowing commercial and increased recreational salmon fishing to resume.

While this is welcome news, it would be a mistake to see this rebound as a return to normal. Turning this moment into a durable recovery will require sustained focus and a commitment to actionable, science-backed solutions.

In an op-ed for The Sacramento Bee, Chuck Bonham, our Executive Director in California, outlines a path forward for our state’s salmon runs – one grounded around a shared vision of healthy rivers and sustainable economies.

Read the full op-ed here: https://nature.ly/4ukSSQF

Today is Endangered Species Day!

First introduced by the National Wildlife Federation, Endangered Species Day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends.

In California, we’re working across more than half a million acres of land to ensure that imperiled species have habitat to thrive.

Scroll through to learn more about some of the endangered species we’re helping to protect across California 💚

Recently, viewers watching the Santa Cruz Island bald eagle nest livestream noticed something was amiss – one of the young eaglet chicks had fallen out of the nest!

Viewers were quick to alert the team at the Institute for Wildlife Studies, the non-profit that monitors the bald eagle populations on the Channel Islands. Immediately, Erin Weiner, bald eagle project lead at the institute, headed to the Fraser Point nest, joined by TNC’s Santa Cruz Island Preserve Coordinator, Lauren Tillotson.

Once the chick – named Ryder – was located outside the nest and deemed free of injury, Lauren held a ladder steady and helped Erin to reach the top of the nest, where she gently reunited the bird with his family.

Thanks to the eagle-eyed 🦅 viewers who noticed Ryder’s tumble, as well as Erin and the team at the Institute for Wildlife Studies for their speedy search and rescue mission!

Want to see what these amazing birds are up to? Check out the live wildlife camera here: https://nature.ly/4dv1uOH

Images: Institute for Wildlife Studies Fraser Point Bald Eagle Nest 2 Livecam, hosted by Explore.org

Don't forget!

Join us next Wednesday, May 13 for "Reimagining a Lost Desert," a webinar focused on how TNC is working with local and state partners to tackle the challenge of limited water and ensure both nature and communities continue to thrive in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Register to attend here: https://nature.ly/4sPEMFs

The San Joaquin Valley – an agricultural powerhouse in California for decades – is now tackling the challenge of limited water. In a time of transition, how can we ensure both nature and communities continue to thrive in this critical region?

Join us for our upcoming webinar, “Reimagining a Lost Desert,” to hear how TNC is working with local and state partners to create new opportunities for nature and people in the San Joaquin Valley.

From siting renewable energy to restoring rare desert habitat to recovering native species like the kangaroo rat or San Joaquin kit fox, we’re part of a complex and essential transition into a more sustainable California.

This webinar will take place Wednesday, May 13, and feature conversations with experts from our Water and Climate teams.

Register to attend here: https://nature.ly/4sPEMFs