The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association are holding a series of lectures and trips highlighting the Sanctuary from April through June.  The series begins with a lecture on life in the intertidal zone on April 12 at the Point Montara LIghthouse. and includes a tidepool trip at the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve, Kayaking at Tomales Bay Estuary, and a day on the sanctuary aboard the Fulmar Reaserch Vessel.

Click below for details.

The Coastal Watershed Council is holding its eighth annual Snapshot Day event Saturday, May 5. They’re looking for volunteers to monitor the water quality in streams flowing into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which includes coastal San Mateo County.

Spanning more than 300 miles  of coast from Pacifica  in the north to Morro   Bay in the south, Snapshot Day volunteers monitor water quality and collect samples to assessthe health of over 100 bodies of water.

Training for San Mateo County residents will be Sunday, April 15 12:30 to 3:30pm, at the San Gregorio General Store (Hwy 84 & Stage Rd). Click below for locations further south.

San Mateo County Blue Circle, "A community forum to share ideas, information, and resources for the goal of natural resource management, education, and stewardship" is holding its next event Tuesday April 3, 2007, 3:30 to 5:30 pm at Elkus Ranch south of Half Moon Bay. The Blue Circle meetings are sponsored by the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District.

"Neighbors: Public & Private Lands" will feature panelists Audrey Rust (Peninsula Open Space Trust), Bob Marsh (San Mateo County Farm Bureau, farmer & rancher), David Sanguinetti- (Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District), Sue Gardner (Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy) Vince Fontana (rancher), and a residential neighbor of open space to be announced. The speakers will be followed by a social.

Elkus Ranch is on Verde Road, four and a half miles south of the Highway 92 and Highway 1 intersection. Go to http://cesanmateo.ucdavis.edu/ Custom%5FProgram/ for map and directions.

UPDATE: RSVP required. Call 650.712.7765 or email [email protected]

Three stables in the Montara and Moss Beach are under voluntary quarantine due to an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus [link to UC Davis, plus more info from the state], according to the county Farm Bureau.

Based on history, clinical signs, and the number of horses affected. A presumptive diagnosis of Equine Herpes Virus was made, and the horse referred to the UC-Davis Large Animal Clinic. The diagnosis was confirmed the afternoon of March 12 based on a positive nasal swab, blood, and spinal tap. Two other horses at the boarding facility have also tested positive, with one other pending. Two of the affected horses were subsequently euthanized at UC-Davis after failing to respond to treatment. Currently, three stables in the Moss Beach/Montara area are under voluntary quarantine to help stop the spread of the virus.

Karen Harwell, co-author of the Exploring a Sense of Place guidebook, will be at Moon News in Half Moon Bay on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at 7pm. Karen will give a talk on how you can incorporate Sense of Place ideals into your own life, and begin a process of discovery and reconnection with the natural world where you live. The Exploring a Sense of Place guidebook is designed to help people with this process. It contains inspiration and all the practical tools needed to design, develop, organize and produce an Exploring a Sense of Place program for any bioregion.