Santa Cruz County Local News: Environment

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County acquired 14 acres of core habitat critical to the recovery of the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander.

Beavers create unburned islands where plants and animals can shelter from megafires, research has confirmed. A movement is afoot to reintroduce the rodents to the state's waterways.

As kelp forests in some parts of the state transform into barren seafloor, California Department of Fish and Wildlife leaders are set to consider a petition that aims to protect kelp with new no-fishing zones that include Pleasure Point and offshore of Natural Bridges State Beach.

With the donation of a conservation easement from private landowners to Sempervirens Fund, California’s first land trust, 120 acres in the Upper Zayante watershed will be protected in perpetuity.

UCSC professor Karen Holl has spent years monitoring ecosystems around the world, and she dug into that well of knowledge during a presentation titled, “Can We Save the World by Planting Trees?” in the Felton Branch Library’s community room.

More than 250 people celebrated World Wetlands Day on Feb. 3, part of the restoration of Struve Slough. Watsonville Wetlands Watch co-hosted the event with a widespread planting project.

The 120-foot colossal coastal redwood tree next to Santa Cruz High is slated to be cut down after the Santa Cruz City Council on Jan. 23 rejected an appeal by local resident Keelan Franzen.