Suzanne Guldimann

Suzanne Guldimann is an author, artist, and musician who lives in Malibu and loves the Santa Monica Mountains. She has worked as a journalist reporting on local news and issues for more than a decade, and is the author of nine books of music for the harp. Suzanne's newest book, "Life in Malibu", explores local history and nature. She can be reached at suzanne@messengermountainnews.com

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Malibu Creek State Park

Nearly half of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) was damaged by the Woolsey Fire, leaving many parks closed and limiting options for hikers, bikers, and equestrians. The damage assessment…

Zinke Resigns Under a Cloud of Scandal

An estimated 88 percent of the National Park Service’s parkland and nearly half of the SMMNRA were burned in the Woolsey fire. After two years as Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke resigned under…

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Nature Recovers Quickly

The mountains in the Woolsey Fire burn scar area may look as desolate as the dark side of the moon, but beneath the ashes new life is already stirring. The National Park…

Malibu Creek State Park Reopened

Above, the view from the old bridge looking towards Goat Buttes in the heart of Malibu Creek State Park reveals burned areas but also untouched oak trees. Photo by Suzanne Guldimann Malibu…

The True Message of the Season

Every Christmas, for at least a decade and maybe more, someone has decorated the roadside pine tree at the top of Kanan Dume Road. Santa Ana winds have blown down the decorations,…

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Sandbagging the Lake at Seminole Springs

Following a series of rainstorms, neighbors and volunteers sandbag the banks of the debris-filled lake owned by the Seminole Springs Mobile Home Park to deter flooding parts of the neighborhood that didn’t…

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NPS Park Closures

Nearly half of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was burned during the Woolsey Fire, and many parks in the patchwork of open space remained closed due to extensive damage. That…

A Message from the Twilight Zone

I have a hundred stories of the Woolsey Fires, but this one is the strangest. Our house on Point Dume in Malibu survived the Woolsey Fire—thanks to neighbors who stayed behind and…

A Light in Dark Places

Holiday spirit has been muted this year in the Santa Monica Mountains by the Woolsey Fire and its aftermath. Because of the fire, we missed Hanukkah this year, and half the Christmas…

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The Woolsey Wildfire

Nature will recover in her own time. Humans will be wise to follow her lead. It took an army of fire fighters more than two weeks to fully contain the Woolsey Fire.…