To add a link to our list of favorites, send us an e-mail message with your name, address, and telephone number. Provide the full URL address, along with a description of the site. We'd also appreciate hearing if you can't access any of the following links:

• California Academy of Sciences Herpetology Department: http://www.calacademy.org/research/herpetology
• California Dragonflies and Damselflies: http://www.sonic.net/dragonfly/
• East Bay Watershed Center at Merritt College: http://www.merritt.edu/~envst

"The Merritt College Environmental Center (Self-Reliant House) is located in the Oakland Hills between two wildland watershed open spaces. Courses offered cover an array of subjects including: Energy, Ecology, Ecological Restoration, Forests, Wetlands, Food and Water Resources, Air Quality, Recycling, Pollution, Wildlife, Population, Transportation and Green Building. For more information, contact: Merritt College Environmental Programs at 510-434-3840."

• Friends of Five Creeks: http://www.fivecreeks.org
• Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed: http://www.pinolecreek.org

"Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed is a community organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing Pinole Creek and its watershed and to improving the health of San Pablo Bay."

• Friends of San Leandro Creek: http://www.fslc.org
• Friends of Sausal Creek: http://www.sausalcreek.org/sausal/
• Mycological Society of San Francisco: http://www.mssf.org
• Mushrooms, Fungi, Mycology: http://www.mykoweb.com

"Estimates vary, but upwards of 1,500 to 2,000 species of fleshy fungi occur in the Bay Area. If you consider only the common species¾those you can find almost every year¾the number drops to between 300 and 400 Bay Area species. These species aren't restricted to the Bay Area. In our experience, most of these fungi also grow througout much of central California. In fact, many of the locally common species are found throughout the northern hemisphere in temperate climates."

• National Park Service. Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance: http://www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca
• National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org
• Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org
• Oakland Museum. Creek Mapping Project: http://www.museumca.org/creeks/crkmap.html
• Oakland Museum. West Contra Costa Watersheds Map: http://www.museumca.org/creeks/AA-WestCoCo.html
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: http://www.railtrails.org
• Richard, Christopher M., & Janet M. Sowers. The Urban Dweller's Guide to Watersheds (reprinted from California Coast & Ocean): http://www.museumca.org/creeks/umbrella.html

"Wherever you are on earth, you are in a watershed. . . . The best tool for discovering your local watershed, and your place in it, is the umbrella. On a rainy day, start on your front steps, follow the rainwater down across the sidewalk and into the gutter. . . . With skill, and some luck, you will find the point where the storm drain spills into a creek."

• San Pedro Creek Watershed: http://www.pedrocreek.org
• Sierra Club. Wetlands Policy: http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/wetlands.asp
• Trust for Public Land: http://www.tpl.org
• US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water. Ecological Restoration: A Tool to Manage Stream Quality: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/Ecology/chap6wil.html

"Besides shading stream channels to prevent the growth of unwanted vegetation, a restored riparian zone can benefit aquatic habitats in many ways, including:

Roots of trees, grasses, and shrubs stabilize the stream bank by binding soil particles and providing resistance to the erosive forces of flowing water;

Stems and leaves of riparian vegetation provide shade that lowers water temperatures;

Leaves, stems, cones, fruit, and other plant parts that fall into the stream provide food for microbes, insects, and fish; and

Large woody debris that falls into a stream provides for the formation of pools and other habitat types."

• Urban Creeks Council: http://www.urbancreeks.org
• Watershed Organizations: http://www.museumca.org/creeks/resc.html
• The Watershed Project: http://www.thewatershedproject.org

"The Watershed Project's mission is to promote understanding and appreciation of the natural resources of the San Francisco Bay area; increase awareness of the human impacts upon these resources; and inspire community involvement and action that will protect and restore the Estuary and the watershed that surrounds it."