- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Pandemic And Wildfire: California Is Preparing For A Crisis Within A Crisis
(CapRadio) Ezra David Romero, April 15
…To protect human health, prescribed burns are not allowed for the time being on Forest Service land. But Ryan Tompkins, a forest advisor with the UC Cooperative Extension for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties, says it's still early enough to prepare for wildfire with other tools like thinning and in some cases burning.
“It is really difficult because of the concerns about smoke and COVID, but sort of now is our chance to be...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Like flour, yeast, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, all over the country there's been a run on chicks, wrote Diana Williams in a article published by the Sacramento Bee. The author and her family adopted four chicks, and as they grew, so did her thirst for information on raising chickens at home.
"Imagine my delight in stumbling across a backyard chicken census online," Williams wrote.
The website, managed by UC Cooperative Extension epidemiology specialist and veterinarian Maurice Pitesky, offers...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension developed an online interactive map that allows Californians to see how close they live to citrus trees infected with huanglongbing disease, reported Jeanette Marantos in the Los Angeles Times. This information is critical for the more than 60% of Californians who are growing their own backyard orange, grapefruit, mandarin, lime and other citrus trees.
Huanglongbing is an exotic citrus disease that kills every tree it infects. An exotic insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, spreads the disease from tree to tree. If the disease makes its way into California's commercial citrus...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Coyote sightings are on the rise in San Francisco, even taking naps in patches of green spaces in the city, reported Uma Chrobak in Popular Science. However, it is unlikely they indicate a change in wildlife behavior, said UC Cooperative Extension human-wildlife interactions advisor Niamh Quinn.
Officials believe the increased sightings may have more to do with a change in human behavior. Many people are at home and bored, so they may staring out the window and going on more walks in their neighborhoods.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
"I'm a huge believer in garden therapy right now," famed chef Alice Waters told FastCompany.com reporter Aimee Rawlins. To find out how to dig in, Rawlins turned to the director of the UC Master Gardener Program Missy Gable.
"Start modestly and in a way that you can manage it,” Gable said. “If you've never done this before, don't transform a quarter acre.”
She recommends beginning by assessing space you have available for gardening - whether in the backyard, front yard or the corner of a balcony.
“Get...
