Watershed & Wildlife
Explore the Watershed: New Wildlife Video and Trail Camera Gallery
We've added a western pond turtle video and an expanded trail camera gallery to the Watershed Wildlife page — 47 candid photos and videos of the animals that share this landscape.
The Yuba watershed supports a remarkable range of wildlife, and we've been quietly building a dedicated space to share what our cameras and field biologists have been seeing. Today we're excited to announce two new additions to the Watershed Wildlife page.
Western Pond Turtle Video
Field biologist Jeff Alvarez walks through what a western pond turtle's shell can reveal — its sex, approximate age, and the history of injuries and recoveries written into the scutes. Western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) are a California Species of Special Concern, and the populations in the lower Yuba watershed have long been a focus of informal monitoring by local naturalists.
The video is a short, accessible introduction to reading these animals in the field — worth watching whether you're a seasoned naturalist or just curious about what lives along our creeks and rivers.
Trail Camera Gallery: 47 Species Portraits
Our trail cameras are placed throughout the watershed at known wildlife travel corridors, meadow edges, and riparian areas. Since we started running them, they've documented an impressive cross-section of the animals that move through this landscape when people aren't around.
The newly expanded gallery includes 47 images and videos spanning mammals, birds, and reptiles:
- Large mammals: black bear (adults, subadult, and cubs), mountain lion and cubs, bobcat, gray fox
- Medium mammals: ringtail, raccoon, Virginia opossum, American mink, striped skunk, dusky-footed woodrat
- Small mammals: northern flying squirrel, Douglas squirrel, western gray squirrel, black-tailed jackrabbit, mouse
- Birds: pileated woodpecker, northern saw-whet owl, band-tailed pigeon, common raven, dark-eyed junco, hermit thrush, hairy woodpecker, spotted towhee
- Reptiles and amphibians: California toad, and more
Each image is captioned with the species name. Click any thumbnail to open the full-size photo in a lightbox.
More from YWI
Two RFPs Open: Fuels Reduction Contractors for Round Mountain and South Yuba Rim
YWI has released two Requests for Proposals for fuels reduction contractor services — about 152 acres of ridgetop shaded fuel break on BLM land at Round Mountain, and about 232 acres of fuel breaks across 31 private parcels on San Juan Ridge for the South Yuba Rim project. Both are due October 2, 2026, with non-mandatory field meetings on September 14 and 18.
Request for Proposals: Round Mountain 2026 Timber Operations
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Town Hall Aug. 27: Hard Choices in the Woods — Forests, Fire, and Herbicide
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