Testing (Better) Tech for Mapping Soil Moisture

Posted on January 2, 2025

Using drones to capture high-resolution shallow soil moisture measurements in California’s oak woodlands. Soil moisture maps provide a critical level of detail to our understanding of landscape conditions. Soil moisture is a key component of the hydrological cycle. It paints a more accurate picture of how our landscape responds in real-time to climate conditions and […]

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Local business supports conservation: Retro Cellars

Posted on December 5, 2024

We are immensely grateful for the incredible support of local family-owned winery business, Retro Cellars. Retro is run by second-generation winemakers Kara and Mike Dunn, and they’re known for crafting limited-production Rhône varietals that honor the land and embody classic California farming. In 2024, Retro Cellars pledged 20% of all wine sales through the end […]

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Consulting with the Soil: Nature’s Oracle

Posted on November 23, 2024

Soil is the very foundation of our modern society, and it is a proverbial crystal ball for understanding the long-term patterns of our landscape.

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CDFW’s Bear Collaring Efforts at Pepperwood, Completed!

Posted on November 9, 2024

Pepperwood, Sonoma County Regional Parks, and Land Trust of Napa County are supporting a CDFW-led bear collaring project in our region. They’re using collaring methods to study black bear behaviors, movements, and habitat use as a population. Because of Pepperwood’s wildlife camera monitoring and black bear scat sampling (and associated DNA work), the Preserve is […]

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Nature is the Antidote

Posted on November 8, 2024

Teens of today are living in a world that can easily make them cynical. Their lives are peppered with digital stimuli and programming, and in the progress we’ve made as a society the cost can be our creativity – if we surrender it.

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Making Strides in Wildfire Detection & Response

Posted on November 1, 2024

Pepperwood deployed 20 air quality sensors across Northern Sonoma County and 5 “Fire First” air sensors in key wildfire risk areas. This work is part of a collaborative project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2024, Pepperwood began working with several local community service organizations to collect air quality data. We’re developing practical […]

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NSWO Banding at Pepperwood

Posted on October 20, 2024

Learning About Northern Saw-whet Owl Population Behaviors Master Bander Julie Woodruff recently started a northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) banding program at Pepperwood with help from both Pepperwood staff and volunteers. Northern saw-whet owls are a diminutive raptor who also have the distinction of being one of the most commonly banded avian species in North America […]

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Bear Collaring Initiated at Pepperwood

Posted on September 26, 2024

Pepperwood, Sonoma County Regional Parks, and Land Trust of Napa County are supporting a CDFW-led bear collaring project in our region to study black bear behaviors, movements, and habitat use as a population. Because of Pepperwood’s wildlife camera monitoring and black bear scat sampling (and associated DNA work), we understand the Preserve to be a […]

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The Next Step in Wildfire Detection, Response, and Resilience

Posted on September 23, 2024

Pepperwood was recently awarded an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded grant to work with several local community service organizations to collect air quality data and develop practical and effective solutions to disseminate this real-time information to the community. The implications of this are twofold. The first is we’ll build capacity for improving community health around […]

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Early Wildfire Detection & Air Quality in Alexander Valley

Posted on September 23, 2024

Visiting scholars at Pepperwood are analyzing the data of combining pile burning with invasive grass management and native plant restoration as a solution to the combined threat of invasive species spread and subsequent increased wildfire hazard.

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