When the 19^th amendment was adopted 88 years ago, giving American women the right to vote, rural Californians played a pivotal role in the outcome.

  Visit the National Women's History Project website here .

This year, the National Women's History Project and the YWCA of Sonoma County host an event for on this important day.  Details are  here.

Palm Oil

First the ethanol boom created a surge in corn prices; now bio-diesel made from palm oil is threatening tropical rain forests.

To view a continually growing list of products that use palm oil, click here.

To see the website for the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign, click here.

Plastic shopping bags have been banned in cities as big as San Francisco and as small as Healdsburg, but Marin county attorney Stephen Joseph says they’re getting a bum rap.

Tiburon Attorney Stephen Joseph has created the SaveThePlasticBag.org website.

His campaign was also recently profiled in TIME magazine.

Below, Joseph talks about the few photos that purport to show wildlife being harmed by plastic bags in their natural environment.

Plastic bags should be reused whenever possible, and those not being used can be recycled.

To view the website that contains this map of the Bay Area Ridge Trail as well other useful information, click here.

There's a second trail project around San Francisco Bay, but running as close to the water as possible. Learn about the San Francisco Bay Trail here.

This unusual view of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen as the Bay Trail crosses under the northern approach. There are sectional maps of this trail here.

For a list of upcomiong hikes on trails within the Sonoma County Open Space District, go here.