American Badgers, tenacious, rarely seen creatures, have found friends in Petaluma. For the past 12 years members of the non-profit Paula Lane Action Network have sought to protect an 11-acre plot of land on West Petaluma’s Paula Lane. This spring they got the help they needed, a matching grant from the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to purchase the land and dedicate it as a natural preserve.

Badgers are important predators, hunting rats, moles, gophers and California ground squirrels. Their burrows (see below) also provide homes for other animals such as the California tiger salamander, red-legged frogs, burrowing owls and foxes. However their habitat, generally hilly grasslands, has been dramatically impacted by development and their populations are declining.

Possibly because of their rare and elusive nature, badgers aren’t often in the public mind. The political will to protect them is thin to nonexistent, says Susan Kirks of the Paula Lane Action Network. The new preserve in Petaluma will, Kirks hopes, help school kids and the public learn to love their hardy, little-seen neighbors.

Images: 1) Danielle Venton for KRCB; 2) Courtesy of Andy LaCasse, taken near Skillman Lane in Petaluma.

Between now and Aug. 12 the Sonoma County Fairgrounds are loaded with prize livestock, quilts, flowers and, of course, lots of food – from steamed artichokes to chocolate dipped cheesecake. KRCB’s Danielle Venton and Anne O’Donnell, a nutrition professor at Santa Rosa Junior College, brought their hunger and thirst to the fair to check out the menu. Image courtesy of Greg Fischer/KRCB.

What's a good way to promote local organic and sustainably grown foods in school lunches? How about a cross-continental bicycle ride?

Adam WilliamsThe Food Cyclists will be met by a celebration in their honor at 6 o'clock on the evening of August first at the Redwood Café in Cotati. You can find out more about their journey on their website or by reading their blog. A map of their route across the country is posted here. 

As they have cycled across the United States, Adam Williams and Leah Heyman have stopped to visit dozens of schools along the way, even adjusting their route to create additional opportunities to talk with students and see their school gardens. For Williams, that has been a deeply fulfilling part of the journey.

Dirt is ancient, alive, and essential to agriculture. But it is not necessarily eternal. And that can be a big problem.
 

Deborah Koons GarciaCalifornia's soil--and the people who study and work with it--plays a large part in Symphony of the Soil, but filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia says that's not just because the Golden State is her home.

Half a century ago, the innovations of technology and chemistry that enabled big jumps in agricultural productivity were lauded as the "green revolution." Now, however, says Garcia, the consequences of some of those practices are seen as unfortunately detrimental, especially as used by big agribusinesses, and small-scale methodologies are re-emerging as more cost-effective and sustainable alternatives.

 Symphony of the Soil will get a premiere screening Monday evening, July 30 at 7 pm in Sonoma State University's Person Theater, as part of the US Biochar conference.