Baykeeper's Monthly Column

Baykeeper publishes a monthly column on San Francisco Bay cultural, environmental, and maritime issues.
(February 2024) "Thank you for suing us." The first time I heard those words from a defendant in a Baykeeper case many years ago, I was surprised and thought it was meant sarcastically. Then I heard it again a couple of years later from another defendant, and by the fifth or sixth time a defendant expressed their gratitude for our legal action, I began to realize that the Bay Area’s polluters are...
(January 2024) Guess what?! This year marks Baykeeper’s 35th anniversary defending San Francisco Bay from polluters and government agencies—and thanks to your generous year-end support, our team is off to a running start! We just won a court decision that says the Supreme Court’s awful Sackett decision doesn’t apply to the South Bay’s tributary creeks and rivers, so these waters will remain...
(December 2023) It’s the holiday season, and I’m grateful we can reflect on the past year with a smile. Your support has enabled Baykeeper to keep an eye on the Bay and defend it from the biggest threats. And that means you’ve helped make the Bay Area healthier for wildlife and safer for people. Thank you! You kept our boat on the water to identify a rare algae overgrowth in the Bay – for a...
(November 2023) It’s the season of giving thanks, and Friendsgiving celebrations are the highlight of my calendar. These opportunities to gather with close friends are a Thanksgiving tradition my husband and I adopted when we first moved to the Bay Area—when our family was far away, our friends were here for us. In a trifecta of appreciation this week, we’ll be celebrating the season with a...
(October 2023) When I was little and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my immediate answer was “a dancer!” I loved to dance and took ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance classes for many years, aspiring to one day dance backup for Janet Jackson. And even though I danced through college—adding swing and salsa to my repertoire—I realized that was one dream that wouldn’t come true...
(August 2023) As the plane rose into the sky, I looked out my window eagerly anticipating the beautiful sparkling Bay views. But instead, the water was murky and reddish-brown. It was the end of July, and Baykeeper had just received the summer's first hotline reports of a suspected algae bloom along the East Bay shoreline. But flying out of SFO, I could also see discolored water along the Bay's...
(July 2023) This July has registered as the hottest month on Earth, ever. That statistic has appeared in the news a lot lately. It gives me chills every time I hear it, which is somewhat ironic given the triple-digit temperatures we’ve been experiencing here in the East Bay.  Other parts of the country are being hit even harder by recent heat waves. Thermometers in New Orleans topped 115 degrees...
(June 2023) Two Idaho property owners were dumping sand and gravel into wetlands—just 300 feet from a lake—when the EPA told them they had to apply for a permit before filling and building on wetlands. Instead of complying, a right-wing think tank stepped in to support the owners, and they sued all the way to the Supreme Court. Real estate developers and polluters across the country cheered them...
(April 2023) While we celebrated Earth Day around the Bay Area this past weekend, there was a sad backdrop to the festivities: State authorities shut down the Chinook salmon fishing season this year because there aren’t enough salmon in the ocean to support California’s legendary fishery. The Baykeeper team was lucky enough to see wild salmon a few years ago. We were rafting on the Yuba River,...
(April 2023) Last month’s train derailment that sent train cars carrying a million pounds of hazardous chemicals flying off the track was a horrific environmental disaster. Cancer-causing vinyl chloride spilled into the soil and two local creeks killing thousands of fish. Regulators evacuated thousands of people and then unleashed a toxic black cloud over the town to avoid an explosion. And...

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