Help Protect Our Oaks: Join the Sudden Oak Death Bioblitz
Oak woodlands are a defining feature of Sonoma Mountain’s landscape and ecosystem. However, since the mid-1990s, these woodlands have faced a critical threat: Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen responsible for Sudden Oak Death (SOD). Fortunately, we can take action with citizen science. Sonoma Mountain Preservation and Sonoma State [...]
Time-Sensitive Need for Observations at SDC – iNaturalists!
Targeted observations we make right now on the former Sonoma Developmental Center lands can strongly affect land use decisions there. Intense residential and hotel development is proposed for the campus, and recreational uses and a CALFIRE facility are proposed for open space areas. There are over [...]
Keep the Valley Wild
For the puma and the pond turtle, the black-tailed deer and the black bear, Sonoma Mountain is an integral link in a vibrant wildlife corridor that stretches from the Pacific shoreline to the coastal ranges. At the base of the mountain, in Glen Ellen and Eldridge, that corridor narrows to a pinch point, where all creatures great and small are funneled into a narrow swath of oak woodland and savanna that offers safe passage to the far side of Sonoma Valley.
SMP Past and Future: A Talk with David Hansen
SMP Past and Future: A Talk with David Hansen We recently sat down with David Hansen, a founding board member still active at SMP, to discuss the organization's past, present, and future. From advocating for sustainable land use to inspiring public appreciation for the mountain, David's [...]
The David Hansen Trail
My curiosity about trails named for people usually works this way: I walk the trail first and ask questions after. Who was this person? What did they love about this place? In the case of the David Hansen Trail, though, the usual sequence was flipped. I have [...]
Mark Hannon, from his perch on Sonoma Mountain
The ruins of the Wolf House in Jack London Park are a special place for me. I have been a Jack London fan since reading The Call of the Wild in high school. Jack London was a pioneer in the preservation of Sonoma Mountain
Camp Via transferred to Jack London State Historic Park
Camp Via, tucked next to Jack London State Historic Park’s historic orchard on the forested east-facing slopes of Sonoma Mountain, has been folded into Sonoma Valley’s portfolio of public parkland.
Meet Anais Morris, one of our newest board members.
This is part of a series of interviews we are conducting with the Sonoma Mountain Preservation (SMP) board members. Anais uses her background in sustainable development policy and ethnomusicology to build bridges and increase capacity in communities and ecosystems.
Court Rejects the environmental study for the Sonoma Developmental Center land
We won! In January 2023, SMP joined a coalition of community groups in a legal challenge against the County of Sonoma, which had just approved a massive redevelopment plan for the 180-acre campus of the Sonoma Developmental Center — a plan that threatened the viability of the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor, the integrity of the open space surrounding the campus, and the safety of people living in the wildland-urban interface at the foot of Sonoma Mountain.
Penciling Out Redevelopment at the SDC
On March 10, Sonoma Mountain Preservation (SMP) joined about 250 community members to protest plans for intensive, out-of-scale redevelopment of the former Sonoma Developmental Center campus. SMP's vice chair, Tracy Salcedo, was the keynote speaker and delivered a heartfelt and informative speech, posted below: I want to [...]
The Gifts of Slow Walking
*Originally published in Kenwood Press I was walking so slowly I felt tipsy. But that was the point. Not the tipsy part, the slow part. As part of my California Naturalist training, I was being introduced to forest bathing, which invites you to walk so slowly that [...]
The promise kept: SDC open space becomes state parkland
The promise kept: SDC open space becomes state parkland By Tracy SalcedoOriginally published in Kenwood Press, January 15, 2024 It's been a long time coming, but the promise has been kept. The exquisite natural landscapes surrounding the core campus of the former Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) are [...]
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. Local Bestseller, IPPY Award 2020. Two purchasing choices below:
