Coming in the July-September 2008 issue

With the arrival of summer sun—or fog, depending on where you are—we'll bring you stories of snakes and steelhead, islands and beaches. Kathleen Wong will give us a glimpse into the surprisingly rich world of the East Bay's snakes, from endangered whipsnakes to rattlesnakes that, it turns out, don't take well to frightened humans' removing them from their clearly defined home ranges.

We'll also hear from author Sarah Sweedler about a very different ecosystem on the Peninsula, in the Pilarcitos Creek watershed. Well over a century ago, it became the first watershed that the city of San Francisco tapped outside its own limits. Today, after a long period of restricted access, the upper parts of the watershed are free of many invasive species, and rare wildlife like marbled murrelets are doing well.

For our On the Trail outing, we'll head over to Angel Island with Aleta George, to hear about this famous island's natural history. We'll also feature stories on the Pacific leatherback turtle and summer's stinging insects, along with an essay on "the beach as office."

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