By James Webb Iris fernaldii. Photo courtesy of Dana Glei, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Volunteer About James (Jim) Webb: Jim began volunteering with Sugarlaof Ridge State Park last February 2023 as a trail patrol volunteer. His experience in previous work with USFS lends itself to very detailed trail reports. His reports of “What’s Blooming/Fruiting?” are a naturalist’s weekly treat, and his most recent efforts, concentrated on meticulous examination of data from our trails has led to improved data concerning ease of access descriptions of trails and areas in the park.  Bird’s Eye G ..read more

April’s Plant Sale Thank you to everyone who helped prepare and label plants, and beautify the Nursery last month for our semi-annual sale. We facilitated the planting of 250 California native plants in and around Sonoma County and netted $3000. Thank you especially to Kim P., Tom, and Jeanne for staffing the sale, assisting customers, making recommendations, handling sales, and transporting plants. Here are some of our 60 customers with their new plants. Animal visitors to the Nursery The pipevine swallowtail butterflies are back, as evidenced by their eggs and very young caterp ..read more

Sonoma Valley Collaborative Assistant Director Classification: Non-exempt, hourly Commitment: ~20 hours/week, potentially increasing to full time over several months Reports to: Sonoma Valley Collaborative Project Director Compensation: $33-$36 per hour ABOUT SONOMA VALLEY COLLABORATIVE (SVC)  SVC is a forum of community leaders from a wide range of sectors across Sonoma Valley, finding solutions and taking action to address our community’s biggest challenges. Please read about our values, members, and activities at https://sonomavalleycollaborative.org/, including a summary of accomplish ..read more

By James Webb Diplacus aurantiacus. Photo courtesy of Dana Glei, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Volunteer About James (Jim) Webb: Jim began volunteering with Sugarlaof Ridge State Park last February 2023 as a trail patrol volunteer. His experience in previous work with USFS lends itself to very detailed trail reports. His reports of “What’s Blooming/Fruiting?” are a naturalist’s weekly treat, and his most recent efforts, concentrated on meticulous examination of data from our trails has led to improved data concerning ease of access descriptions of trails and areas in the park. Striped Cora ..read more

Bruce Hall, a former Sugarloaf staff member and volunteer, who is a retired mechanical contractor, built a new accessible ramp at the park’s Community Science office. This ramp installation was funded by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). This Spring, we finished the installation of a new accessible ramp at the Community Science office at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, which our Senderos Naturales staff and volunteers use for their work. We were able to complete this ramp installation using a grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). This ramp in ..read more

By James Webb Sisyrinchium bellum. Photo courtesy of Maria Mauricio, our Sugarloaf Volunteer Coordinator. About James (Jim) Webb: Jim began volunteering with Sugarlaof Ridge State Park last February 2023 as a trail patrol volunteer. His experience in previous work with USFS lends itself to very detailed trail reports. His reports of “What’s Blooming/Fruiting?” are a naturalist’s weekly treat, and his most recent efforts, concentrated on meticulous examination of data from our trails has led to improved data concerning ease of access descriptions of trails and areas in the park. Collinsi ..read more

By James Webb Primula hendersonii Plant. Photo courtesy of Woody Woodbury, our Sugarloaf Campground Manager. About James (Jim) Webb: Jim began volunteering with Sugarlaof Ridge State Park last February 2023 as a trail patrol volunteer. His experience in previous work with USFS lends itself to very detailed trail reports. His reports of “What’s Blooming/Fruiting?” are a naturalist’s weekly treat, and his most recent efforts, concentrated on meticulous examination of data from our trails has led to improved data concerning ease of access descriptions of trails and areas in the park. C ..read more

Seasonal Park Aide at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Classification:                                                                 Reports to: Hourly, non-exempt                                 &nb ..read more

In our mission to bring high quality environmental education to all students in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Ecology Center hosted a UC California Naturalist for Teachers (UC CalNat) course last Fall to support our Valley’s educators in their environmental education programs. We are thrilled to have received funding from the California State Parks Foundation through their Wildfire Resiliency and Prevention Grant to offer this course at an accessible price point. Teachers are now sharing ways that they have been able to use the learnings from our course to improve their environmental instruction. M ..read more

Lower Bald Trails The Lower Bald Mountain Trail is actually a complex of trails connecting the main parking lot and White Barn Parking lot at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park with the Bald Mountain Trail, a road/trail that runs to the summit of Bald Mountain. I walked the segment of the trail from the White Barn Parking lot to the Bald Mountain Trail. The trail is a well-graded trail in good condition. Many species of flowers are in bloom along the trail, including wavy leaf ceanothus (Ceanothus foliosus-shown above), Calistoga ceanothus (Ceanothus divergens), Fremont’s death camus (toxicoscorion fr ..read more