Mediation isn’t just for family or business disputes. It can also be applied to tribal or international conflicts, and the organization called Mediators Beyond Borders was created to do just that.

One challenge frequently encountered in mediation, explains Camelia Patino, is a need to “level the playing field” among the participants

From the extinct California Grizzly to the omnipresent California ground squirrel, a carefully chosen 12 animal species are featured in the small, reflective and beautifully illustrated new book,  A California Bestiary.

Rebecca Solnit drew on both personal experience and background knowledge, focused field trips with illustrator Mona Caron, and some updated research to prepared for writing this book.

Two of the dozen species featured in the Bestiary, are insects—both butterflies. Solnit says she chose the Monarch and the Mission Blue as a minor study in contrasts.

The full list of animals included in A California Bestiary is as follows:

Acorn Woodpecker

Bluebelly Lizard

California Condor

California Grizzly

California Ground Squirrel

Chinook Salmon

Desert Tortise

Elephant Seal

Misson Blue Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly

Mountain Lion

Tule Elk

In the additional illustrations by Mona Caron shown below, note how the background includes the human-created obstacles that have become a part of the landscape for the native species.

Everything that’s in bloom right now was pollinated by a bee. That’s why we should care about the many threats these beneficial insects face.

California native bees are mostly small, but some are quite good sized. U.C. Davis entomology professor Robbin Thorp  explains he likes to use the familiar honey bee as a metaphorical “bread box” to compare the relative sizes of other bee species.

People who are concerned about boosting the bee populations so they can do their pollinating, can do several things to help them out, Dr. Thorp explains.

 The science salon on bees at the Bouverie Preserve will be Saturday afternoon, June 5, from 2:30 60 4 pm.  with  Ellen Zagory, Director of Horticulture at the UC Davis Arboretum, as one of the featured panelists.  Audubon Canyon Ranch Executive Director Scott Feirabend offers further details on what is intended to be the first in a series of educational events.

To see a previous Report on the conflict between beekeepers and mandarin growers in Central California, go here.

Late rains along the coast and low moisture in other parts of California portend a busy wildfire season in the months ahead.

It’s impossible to predict how much the state will need to pay for fire suppression costs in any give year, but CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant says we can be confident that, even in the most difficult budgetary years, the money is there.

The lion’s share of that funding goes to staffing the state fire agency, which Berlant explains is a combination of year-round positions augmented by seasonal hiring for the summer and early fall.