Out of the more than 1,800 known cactus species, about 1/3 of them are considered endangered. One of those species is named for the city it’s found in: the Bakersfield cactus.
Five little-known nature preserves not far from L A texarkanagazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from texarkanagazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop 1 billion of us from streaming into the country’s national parks in 2020. In fact, it increased our desire to take refuge in the outdoors, leading to complaints about overrun trails and picnic spots in some of California’s most popular places. One alternative to the big-park experience: nature preserves, which provide an intimate way to experience nature without the crowds.
Preserves throughout the West are often run by private conservancies. They can be large or small but share a common goal of protecting particular landscapes.
“Often they’re in place to protect certain plants or animals or ecosystems types or special features; sometimes it’s historical or archeological features,” said Nature Conservancy biologist Sophie Parker. As an example, for 50 years, her organization has worked to protect the remote Amargosa River in the Mojave Desert and the native pupfish and Amargosa toads that live nowhere else.
✨ No wildflowers this year? Catch a different sort of flower field in Paso Robles
The “Field of Light” in Paso Robles is back this time with a sister exhibition called “
Light Towers,” recently captured by Times photographer Francine Orr.
I was dazzled when I first visited the “
Field of Light” in 2019, a lifetime ago. The 58,800-plus lights, gently oscillating from green to purple to orange and back again, felt like a hidden treasure and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Dhaval Patel, another Angeleno visiting the exhibition, told me that his friend asked him not to tell anyone about the “Field of Light” for fear of word getting out.
My suggestion for Earth Day: Go outdoors and seek new places that expand your understanding of what it is to be a good steward of the Earth. Put nature preserves in California on your list. When you visit, pay close attention to the landscape and think of it the way you would when considering remodeling a room. What would you do to restore the site to the way it once looked?
That’s why preserves exist: to manage lands thoughtfully and purposefully with endangered species and/or cultural treasures in mind. A few weeks ago, I explored a handful of nature preserves in Southern California. Many have short, easy trails and are good places to be