Free lecture and book signing with Beth Pratt-Bergstrom

Co-Sponsored by Solvang Library.
Wednesday, Sept. 20, 7:00 p.m.
Legion Wing, Veterans Memorial Hall.
1745 Mission Drive, Solvang.

Featured photo of Mountain Lion cubs in the Santa Monica Mountains, courtesy of National Park Service.

In a rapidly urbanizing state with nearly 40 million residents, how do we create wildlife friendly spaces and practices in our neighborhoods, rural lands, and along the wildland boundaries? This lecture will explore the many ways that Californians are learning to co-exist with—and often to protect—the wild animals that are all around us. Whether it is the mountain lions roaming Los Angeles, the kit foxes in Bakersfield, or the black bears in Yosemite Valley, each place presents its own challenges as humans interact with wild creatures. The good news for wildlife and animal lovers is that years of research, citizen activism, and evolving management practices are  producing results that help preserve wildlife and their native habitat.

Beth Pratt-Bergstrom has spent more than 25 years in environmental leadership, and has worked in
both Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks. She is the California Executive Director for the National
Wildlife Federation and is currently leading the #SaveLACougars campaign to raise money for a wildlife
crossing that will span the 101 freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains. Her new book, “When Mountain
Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working it out in California” has been praised as a publication
in which “Natural history, science, politics, and the storyteller’s art interweave.”