Sonoma Mountain Preservation

Speaking for Sonoma Mountain since 1993. Advocate for Open Space, recreation, and scenic preservation.
  • Home
  • The Mountain
    • History
    • Geography
    • Water
    • Mountain Maps
  • SMP Journal
  • Preservation
    • SMP History & Accomplishments
    • SDC Coalition
    • Protected Land
  • SoCo Design Guidelines
  • Contact Us!
  • Photos
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Book
  • The Mountain
  • SMP Journal
  • Preservation
  • Contact Us!
  • Photos
  • Home
Home » new board pic 2019

new board pic 2019

 

Previous Image Next Image


Events

  • Hikes and Cultural Events at Jack London Park on Sonoma Mountain
  • SSU, Center for Environmental Inquiry Events
  • Van Hoosear Wildflower Walks

Learn More

  • Annual SMP Journal
  • Connect on Facebook!
  • North Sonoma Mtn Regional Park
  • Read Our Newsletter

Sonoma Mountain – The Book!

Where the World Begins: Sonoma Mountain Stories and Images draws you into our inspiring natural treasure at the heart of southern Sonoma County. IPPY Award 2020, local bestseller, and rave reviews!  Two purchasing choices below:

Purchase Options

sonoma_mountain
Sonoma Mountain Preservation is excited to announc Sonoma Mountain Preservation is excited to announce our first-ever photo contest! It is open to all that enjoy Sonoma Mountain, and it’s easy to enter right here on Instagram (details below). The theme is “A Sense of Place,” interpreted in any way you wish, but all photos must be of Sonoma Mountain, or be taken on Sonoma Mountain. The first-place winner will receive a copy of our award-winning book, Where the World Begins: Sonoma Mountain Stories and Images (https://sonomamountain.org/book/), and two second-place winners will receive a Sonoma Mountain-themed mug. See our complete rules and instructions at https://sonomamountain.org/2022-sonoma-mountain-photo-contest/ or see the links in our bio @sonoma_mountain   The contest is running simultaneously on Facebook and Instagram. Each entrant is allowed three images in total, but you are welcome to post your entries on both platforms.   How to enter via Instagram: 1.    Log into the Instagram app 2.    Follow us @sonoma_mountain 3.    Create a post and upload your Sonoma Mountain photo(s) that best embody the theme, “A Sense of Place.” Limit: 3 entries. 4.    Add hashtags #sonomamountainphotocontest  #sonomamountain 5.    Tag us @sonoma_mountain #sonomaphotographer #sonomacounty #petaluma #rohnertpark #sonoma #santarosa #cotati
Check out these gorgeous images of Lafferty Ranch, Check out these gorgeous images of Lafferty Ranch, which sits atop Sonoma Mountain’s upper west slope, taken by Scott Hess. From the middle of Petaluma, if you look directly up E. Washington Street, you’re looking at Lafferty Ranch. Not many people have had the privilege to experience it firsthand, however, it is slowly becoming more accessible to the public.     The 270-acre Lafferty ranch contains the largest riparian oak woodland on the Petaluma side of the mountain and encompasses most of the headwaters of Adobe Creek. With this reliable source of water, Lafferty is a wildlife oasis in summer and fall. A large part of the property is also grassland, and a marsh that is home to threatened red-legged frogs.   The city of Petaluma obtained the parcel in 1959, but its efforts to make Lafferty into a public park have run into many obstacles. You can learn about the history, and legal battles, surrounding this property from the Friends of Lafferty Park at www.laffertyranch.org/bkgrnd.htm   Last weekend, @landpaths hosted 2022’s first guided hike in collaboration with @thecityofpetaluma and Friends of Lafferty. There will be future hikes, as well as docent trainings, but details have not yet been released. If you are interested in keeping up to date about Lafferty and all things Sonoma Mountain, sign up for our newsletter by clicking the link in our bio @sonoma_mountain or visiting our website at www.sonomamountain.org. Also, keep an eye on Landpath’s event page.   #Lafferty #sonomamountain #petaluma #sonomacountyparks #sonomacounty @sonomacountyparks
Historically, Sonoma County was Grizzly Territory, Historically, Sonoma County was Grizzly Territory, but the California Grizzly was wiped out by humans by the 1920s. Now, 100 years later, sightings of black bears are becoming more and more common.   There are no known resident bears on Sonoma Mountain, but the mountain’s location as a major link in the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor (and the larger Blue Ridge to Marin Coast Linkage) means that it isn’t too uncommon to see black bears on the move. They are likely traveling from the Mayacamas, where bears have taken up residence, towards south Sonoma and Marin Counties, where there have been a few bear sightings in recent years. At around two years old, young black bears will often leave their mother’s territory, searching for new land to explore and perhaps call their home range.   Many people are not excited about sharing the neighborhood with a 100 to 500-pound animal with long claws and pointy teeth, but if there is one thing the recent staggering loss of wildlife and ecosystems has taught us, we must find new ways to live with nature.   We hear about bears walking into people’s houses and helping themselves to the fridge in places like Lake Tahoe; luckily, some forward-thinking bear-lovers created North Bay Bear Collaborative to proactively support a healthy transition to the recolonization of bears in Sonoma County. Education dispels fear. If you would like to learn more about the local bear population and the extraordinary lives of black bears, check out the “Being with Bears video! @northbaybearcollaborative   Did you know that black bears use trees as babysitters? Or that they are fantastic seed dispersers? Or that they eat grass? Have you ever heard about their amazing Ancestral Trails? Watch the NBBC video then! Also, sign up for our monthly newsletter to learn more about Sonoma Mountain’s flora and fauna as well as events, and you can follow SMP’s work to protect this vital open space. Links in bio @sonoma_mountain   How we learn to be with wildlife and the natural world will be a defining characteristic of human culture in the 21st Century.   #blackbear #sonomavalleywildlifecorridor #petaluma #sonomamountain #sonomacounty #californiabears
Did you know that Sonoma Mountain Preservation pub Did you know that Sonoma Mountain Preservation published an award-winning book about Sonoma Mountain? Every lover of Sonoma Mountain needs one of these on their coffee table. We only have a few dozen of our first printing left, so grabs yours, or we will have the second edition out later this year! You can order on our website (www.sonomamountain.org, link in bio @sonoma_mountain) or call your local bookseller to see if there are any in stock.   “Where the World Begins: Sonoma Mountain Stories and Images invites you to explore our natural treasure at the heart of southern Sonoma County. Approaching the mountain as a living presence, a refuge for wildlife and natural systems, and a source of inspiration, the book weaves together diverse local voices. With a central text written by Arthur Dawson, this coffee-table-sized hardcover features 140 photographs, a dozen maps, and numerous quotes by people who know and love this inspiring mountain.”   #sonomamountain #wheretheworldbegins #sonomacounty #wildlifecorridors #petaluma #rohnertpark
Here’s a video from Van Hoosear Wildflower Prese Here’s a video from Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve, in the foothills of Sonoma Mountain. It was a real treat since this property is only open for tours 5-6 times a year! Thank you @sonomaecologycenter for sponsoring this walk! #wildflowers #vanhoosearwildflowerpreserve #sonomamountain #sonomacounty
Get out and see the blooms! Check out these wildfl Get out and see the blooms! Check out these wildflowers sighted at North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park this week.   1) Dwarf Checkermallow (Sidalcea malviflora) 2) False Babystars (Leptosiphon androsaceus) 3) Fernald’s Iris (Iris fernaldii) 4) Fernald’s/hybrid Iris 5) Red Larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule) 6) Striped Coralroot (Corallorhiza striata) 7) Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii) 8) Woodland Stars (Lithopragma affine) 9) Mediterranean Stork’s-bill (Erodium botrys) 10) Topped Lavender (Lavandula stoechas)   A big “thank you” to Stacie Charlebois, the photographer that caught these gorgeous images.   Sure, the last two images aren’t native to the area, but they do well in our NorCal Mediterranean climate and are not considered invasive. But did you know orchids grow on Sonoma Mountain? Striped Coralroot is just one of 18 native orchids found in Sonoma County.   The earliest bloomers are coming to a close, but more varieties pop up each day. We highly suggest you get out at least once this spring to see the flower grandeur that Sonoma Mountain has to offer. Unfortunately, as far as guided tours, the wildflower hikes at @jacklondonpark and Van Hoosier Wildflower Preserve #vanhoossearwildflowerpreserve are SOLD OUT. Still, there is a Natural History Hike at Center for Environmental Inquiry @ssu.cei on April 2nd, where you are sure to sight some colorful blooms. Our neighbors at @sugarloafpark offer regular wildflower hikes are well.   If you want to stay “in the know” about Sonoma Mountain events (like hikes!), politics, and other news (including the development at the SDC property), be sure to sign up for our newsletter and/or visit our website (click links in bio @sonoma_mountain ). Our newsletter is packed with information,stories, and upcoming events and it comes out approximately once a month.   These images were taken on the North Sonoma Mountain Ridge trail in #northsonomamountainregionalpark #sonomawildflowers #wildflowers #sonomamountain #sonomacounty
Golden Ear or Witches’ Butter? Can you tell whic Golden Ear or Witches’ Butter? Can you tell which is which? (Answers will be posted in the comments) Golden Ear (Tremella aurantia) is a jelly fungus that consists of clustered, convoluted folds (which look a little too much like clumps of human ears). Its surface is shiny, yellow to yellowish-orange, but it becomes a thick, hard crust when it is dry. It can be revived by periods of moisture. They grow on downed hardwoods along coastal forests and on our beloved Sonoma Mountain, but it isn't consuming the wood but rather a bracket fungus that itself has been feeding on the wood. Golden ear (Tremella aurantia) is often confused with witches' butter (Tremella mesenterica). Both species have convoluted yellowish-orange fruiting bodies, are similar in size, occur on hardwoods, and like all tremellas, are parasitic on other fungi.
 A primary difference between the two are their hosts. Golden Ear feeds on False Turkey Tail, Stereum hirsutum, while Witches' Butter (the less picky of the two) inhabits fungi of the Peniphora genus, which is generally flat and unnoticeable. Also, the lobes on the witches’ butter tend to be more shapeless, and usually smaller. Both are edible, though rather tasteless, and must be cooked. Golden Ear is used in soup, curries, and stews for color, texture, and added nutrition. Witches' butter is less commonly used. Also note that different regions use different common names for fungi. This is Sonoma County specific. According to an Eastern European superstition, when witches’ butter appears on the gate or door of one's home, that home had been targeted by the spell of a witch. The only remedy to remove the evil spell was to pierce the jelly fungus with something sharp until it died. For more posts like this, remember to follow us, or sign up for our monthly newsletter (link in bio, where you will also find a link to our annual journal!). #jellyfungus #sonomacounty #mycology #sonomamycology #sonomamountain #jacklondonstatepark #fungus
Can you identify this big, beautiful fungus? So fa Can you identify this big, beautiful fungus? So far, we haven’t determined the species, even with the help our app, iNaturalist, so we are bringing it to you, fellow fans of Sonoma Mountain. Rain should be coming this Wednesday and we are looking forward to the subsequent fungi bloom. Image by Heidi Eliot. (What a cool find!) #sonomamycology #mycology #sonomamountain #sonomacounty
Load More Follow on Instagram

sonoma mountain logo
Facebook RSS

sonoma mountain preservation logo

© 2021 Sonoma Mountain Preservation, PO Box 1772, Glen Ellen, CA 95442-9321

Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha