Tuleyome Book Recommendations 2023

Nate Lillge • January 19, 2023

See Tuleyome's Book Recommendations for 2022

December 2023

Adventures in nature;: Selections from the outdoor writings of Edwin Way Teale


Join America's foremost naturalist-writer in his adventures out-of-doors. Travel with him in 31 adventures ranging from the Maine Woods to the California coast.

November 2023

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, by Timothy Egan.


The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan, is a fascinating look at two intertwined stories – that of the largest wildfire in U.S. history (the Big Burn of 1910) and the founding and early struggles of the U.S. Forest Service. The book is packed with both physical action on the fire line and political action in Washington, brought to life through the perspectives of larger-than-life characters such as Ed Pulaski, Gifford Pinchot, and Teddy Roosevelt.

October 2023

Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park by Kathleen Scavone

September 2023

A Year in the Woods by Torbjorn Ekelund


How does the same location look throughout the year? What changes with the seasons? What remains constant? The author returned to the same spot throughout the year, taking note of changes, small and large.

What It's Like to be a Bird


by David Allen Sibley


More than two hundred species of the most commonly seen birds are discussed and with beautiful pictures.

August 2023

The Sting of the Wild


by Justin O. Schmidt


Ever wonder it feels like to stung by various insects? Justin Schmidt does the research for you and compares them to "everyday" occurrences!

July 2023

Sounds Wild and Broken


by David George Haskell


David Haskell investigates the songs, calls, and sounds found in nature - deep in the oceans, rainforests, swamps, and urban environments. How have these sounds evolved with nature and how are they adapting to new environments? Haskell describes how human sounds and music have evolved - ivory flutes from Paleolithic caves to listening to music on earbuds.

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter


by Ben Goldfarb

June 2023

California Foraging


by Judith Larner Lowry


May 2023

The Outdoor World of the Sacramento Region


by The American River Natural History Association

Wildflower Wonders


by Bob Gibbons


April 2023

Braiding Sweetgrass


By Robin Lee Kimmerer


March 2023

Who Stole the Bees' Wings?


By Jeff Falyn

Bringing Nature Home


by Douglas W. Tallamy


February 2023

The Ministry for the Future


by Kim Stanley Robinson


January 2023

RECENT ARTICLES

By Geoff Benn June 4, 2026
A beaver at Conaway Ranch We’ve got new footage from our game cameras at Conaway Ranch! This camera site was chosen by 4 th graders from Dingle Elementary during a recent field trip to Conaway. The camera is near the otter slide we’ve previously filmed, but is a few feet away from the entrance to the slide, allowing us to film the animals as they approach. We saw beaver, otter, a fox, a raccoon, and more! Click here to watch the video . Tuleyome works with Conaway Preservation Group to offer educational programs at Conaway Ranch, including programs for K-12 groups and the general public. If you have any questions about the game camera footage or our programs at Conaway, please reach out to Education Associate Geoff Benn at gbenn@tuleyome.org.
June 4, 2026
The current administration has released its proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. It proposes drastic cuts to our public land management agencies. The proposed budget would significantly reduce funding for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including a 34% cut to its total budget, a 27% staff cut, a 76% cut to the National Conservation Lands, which encompass 38 million acres of protected public lands, a 61% cut to recreation management (including campsites and trails), and total elimination of funding for cultural resources and wilderness management. It also would shift priorities towards extractive uses of public lands instead of conservation and clean energy. The administration’s budget would also drastically cut funding to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), eliminate several offices, state and federal research stations (six in California) and transfer all fire fighting to BLM. Notably, in the face of all these cuts, the budget would increase funding for extractive industries; funding for timber sales would increase 450%. The reductions and policy changes would impair these agencies’ abilities to protect public lands, cultural resources, fresh water sources, and wildlife, while also impairing access to them and recreation on them. The President’s budget is now in Congress, where committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are amending and voting on the bills in preparation for full House and Senate votes. Now is the time to take action for our public lands and the environment by urging Congress to reject the proposed budget and maintain funding for BLM, USFS, and programs that protect and steward our public lands. Let your representatives know that you oppose the cuts to BLM and USFS and the rollbacks to our public land protections. And let them know why these special places are important to them. You can voice your opinions to Congress in multiple ways. You can: Call their offices Send a letter to Congress - we’ve pulled together a template for you to use, but don’t forget to let them know why public lands are important to you – download sample letter here Contact them on social media Meet with a representative in their District offices. Don’t know how to reach them, go to Congress.gov and find their phone numbers, addresses, district offices, websites and so much more if you’re interested. Now is the time to speak up for our public lands! Mary Lamborn (Communications Intern) and Sandra Schubert (Executive Director)
By Kristie Ehrhardt June 4, 2026
You betcha! Wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, is a common site within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. With its straight and sturdy stalk, bright green, frilly leaves and white, flat-topped flower clusters, it is identifiable even from the limited viewing scope of a traveling car. Queen Anne’s Lace ( Daucus carota ) belongs to the Apiaceae (carrot) family. All members of this family display flower clusters arranged in an upside-down umbrella shape called an umbel. It is native to Europe and is the plant that tasty cultivated carrots originated from. It was brought to North America for its medicinal purposes and has since naturalized across the continent in disturbed and natural areas in mountains, valleys and coastal areas. It can be so prolific that it outcompetes native plants and can also be mildly toxic to livestock. Queen Anne’s Lace is an herbaceous biennial (it doesn’t flower until its second year and then dies) that can reach up to four feet tall in optimum conditions. The stem of the plant is bright green, straight and sturdy and is covered in short, coarse hairs which is a very helpful identifier. I recently learned a clever and helpful quip that I will never forget: Queen Anne has hairy legs (referring to the hair along the stems of the plant)! The tiny, white flowers all originate from the same point and splay out in an airy, flat topped cluster (umbel). Another identifying feature is that oftentimes (but not always) the flower umbels often have a single dark purple flower in the center of the cluster. This purple flower is not always present but when it is it can be used to positively identify the plant as Queen Anne’s lace. The leaves are finely divided which gives them a lacy appearance and look almost identical to our cultivated carrot plants. Although wild carrots are edible, the whitish tap root isn’t as robust or flavorful as the cultivated carrots we are used to. Warning! There are plants such as poison hemlock that are incredibly similar looking so eating things in nature is never advised unless you can absolutely identify them! Poison hemlock has basically the same growth pattern as wild carrot however the stem of poison hemlock lacks the tiny hairs and mature plants have very definite purple splotches up and down the stems. All parts of poison hemlock are toxic but it is particularly potent in the seeds and roots. Poison hemlock is notoriously known as the poison that killed the Greek philosopher Socrates. Edible cousins of wild carrot include plants such as caraway, celery, parsley and parsnips. Although the root of the wild carrot plant is edible, contact with the sap may produce an allergic reaction in some individuals that are sensitive to it. Native pollinators such as butterflies and bees appreciate the abundance of flowers for their nectar. Wild carrot is currently blooming in all its glory so keep an eye out for it on your next trip to our favorite monument!