- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A new episode of the periodic PBS series "Strange Days on Planet Earth" tonight focuses on the global implications of overfishing. It features the work of UC Berkeley assistant professor of ecosystem sciences Justin Brashares.
Says host Edward Norton in the program's online preview, "Follow a fish, and you can end up in unexpected places." Check your local listings for the show's broadcast time in your area. In the Bay Area, it will air at 9 p.m. on KQED; in the Central Valley, it will air at 9 p.m. on KVPT.
Speaking of strange days on...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In honor of Earth Day, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension veterinary specialist, John Maas, sent a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle asking the public to remember the "original environmentalists," cattle ranchers.
"California's ranchers manage more than 20 million acres of private land. They pay taxes, raise cattle, and protect wildlife in a sustainable manner. These are the green hills and mountain meadows you drive by on your travels," Maas wrote.
Maas...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A new land-use ordinance under consideration in Monterey County would regulate roosters, which apparently annoy homeowners who are roused at the crack of dawn by the the birds' crowing, according to an op-ed piece in the Salinas Californian over the weekend. The column, by the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau Bob Perkins, admonishes county staff to seek input from its own agencies, including UC Cooperative Extension, before proposing such restrictions.
Perkins wrote that residents who complained about noisy roosters are actually upset because they believe...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The San Francisco Chronicle today ran a lengthy story about the trend in California vineyards toward more sustainable farming practices.
Freelance reporter Deborah Grossman noted that, decades ago, "entomologists at several UC campuses recognized a pending crisis from excessive chemical usage, which increased risks to worker health, pest outbreaks and pesticide resistance." Researchers introduced the concept of Integrated Pest Management in...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Just a few weeks after garden writer Anne Raver of the New York Times interviewed a UC Cooperative Extension advisor about blueberries (as reported in this blog entry), she looked westward again for more insight on home gardening. Raver contacted UC Cooperative Extension horticulture and 4-H advisor Rose Hayden-Smith to get a historical perspective on gardening for today's column.
Raver reported on what must have seemed a preposterous...
