Golden State Naturalist

Are you making New Year's resolutions this year? Mine are a little unconventional. Find out what they are and get to know two incredible advocates for public land, Anders Reynolds and Bill Hodge of The Wild Idea Podcast, on this special bonus episode.

And of course remember to check out The Wild Idea Podcast as soon as you're done listening here.

Happy New Year, friends!

We need every single species of native tree here in California, but our 20+ varieties of native oaks are the most crucial of all. In this episode, join me and my guest, Zarah Wyly, on a walk through a relatively new oak woodland in Folsom dotted with two ancient, magnificent oak trees. Learn the story of how this unusual woodland came to be, find out why oaks are my all-time favorite trees, and explore such questions as: What kinds of life are supported by oak trees? If I plant one, will it wreck my house? What do you have to do to acorns to make them edible? Why does it look like some oak trees are growing apples? How do oaks spread such heavy seeds? What kinds of variety is there among different oak species? What does any of this have to do with the Declaration of Independence?
And here's a handy list of the other podcasts participating in Critical Mast!
Future Ecologies
Jumpstart Nature
Nature's Archive
Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast
Outside/In

Ok, get ready for a lot of links. Here you goooooo! 
The Declaration of Independence and the Hand of Time 
The Nature of Oaks, by Douglas Tallamy 
National Resources Conservation Service Resource on Grazing
Secrets of the Oak Woodlands, by Kate Marianchild 
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
City Nature Challenge 
Sacramento Tree Foundation 
Calscape (to help with planting natives!) 
Daniel Airola's research on bird diversity in urban forests 
The theme song is called "i dunno" by grapes, and it can be found here. 
Follow me on Instagram @goldenstatenaturalist
My website is www.goldenstatenaturalist.com 
You can find me on Patreon here. 
Episode photo by Bendp

Can cities be good for wildlife? Or at least not so bad? What changes would we need to make to welcome more life into our cities? How would those changes impact humans? What are other cities already trying?
Come with me and Kat Superfisky to the largest city in California, where we discuss all of this and so much more.

Note: This interview was recorded in September of 2024, so any references to the Federal government are references to the government during the Biden Administration.

Helpful Links: 
Kat’s website 
Content Creation for Nature
Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month. 
Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠. 
My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠. 
Get podcast Merch. 
The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

California is one of only 36 Global Biodiversity Hotspots. This means that we have incredible species richness with at least 1,500 endemic vascular plant species. But here's the bummer. In order to be considered a Global Biodiversity hotspot, a place must also be threatened. So threatened, in fact, that it must have only 30% or less of its original natural vegetation remaining.
Oof.
Thankfully, Californians are not sitting idly by waiting for the rest of our biodiversity to disappear. Across the state, conservation leaders, on both small and large scales, are pulling together and protecting the places that matter to us most.
In this special episode, come with me behind the scenes of this year's 30x30 Partnership Summit to talk with those leaders, hear about some of today's most inspiring conservation success stories, and discover how you can be part of the movement to protect California for generations to come.

Helpful Links:
30x30 Official Website
Valérie Courtois's TED Talk
Carr Lake in Salinas
Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month. 
Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠. 
My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠. 
Get podcast Merch. 
The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.
Otter photo by Kedar Gadge on Unsplash.

Descend with me and LA's first ever urban ecologist into the concrete channel of the Los Angeles River as we discuss novel ecosystems, eminent domain, Greased Lightnin', flood prevention, Ice Cube, soft bottoms, emerald necklaces, and why the LA River is the perfect microcosm of everything LA was, is, and one day could be. 

Helpful Links: 
Kat’s website 
Jason Wise's website
Juan Crespi’s journal
CalMatters LAPD Helicopters article
Grease Filming Locations 
Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month. 
Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠. 
My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠. 
Get podcast Merch. 
The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.