Alastair Bland

Alastair Bland is a freelance writer based in Sebastopol, California. He reports on such issues as marine conservation, climate change, rivers and salmon, and agriculture.

Articles by Alastair Bland

Miles of drying mudflats as waterbirds, including phalaropes, fly over head.

Field Notes

The Great Salt Lake Is Too Big—and Too Important—to Fail

June 21, 2022 — Utah’s leaders and advocates are mobilizing to save the largest saline lake ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, a haven for people and migrating birds. Time and water are running out.

A recently built central tidal channel, and elevated marsh mounds along its length, will become habitat for birds, fish, and mammals. Luciane Coletti

Climate

A Struggling California Marsh Gets an Overhaul to Prepare for Rising Seas

December 17, 2020 — The restoration of the Sonoma Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area not only corrects problems of the past, but also looks to the future.

News

In California's Parched Central Valley, Habitat Restoration Lags Promises

October 1, 2020 — To mitigate water diversion projects, state agencies pledge to restore wetlands that birds and fish use. But these projects can take so long to come to fruition that they are sometimes 'double counted.'

Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Gadwalls recovering in an enclosed pool at the Bird Ally X botulism response field hospital. Courtesy of Bird Ally X

Climate

A Disease Outbreak in California Has Killed an Estimated 40,000 Birds

September 10, 2020 — Avian botulism is a regular issue at the sprawling wetlands of the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuges, but in a dry and hot year, it's gotten out of control.