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

By Alastair Bland
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.
Climate

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

By Alastair Bland
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

By Alastair Bland
October 01, 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.'
Climate

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

By Alastair Bland
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.
COVID-19

With Monitoring Limited, Someone Drove Through a Snowy Plover Nesting Site

By Alastair Bland
April 01, 2020 — Due to pandemic-related restrictions, vulnerable shorebirds may have to rely on the kindness of strangers this breeding season.
News

Birders Are Discovering a Secret to Better Big Days—the Bicycle

By Alastair Bland
April 18, 2019 — More people see the allure of pedal power in a car-centric world.