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A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California
Issue 363 - 12/23/08 - SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITION
THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- No News.bytes next week - website maintenance
- Not for educators only:
- Wildlife trivia question of the week
- Rudolph ... or Rudolphinia?
- Preserving history in the desert
- Renewable energy
- Headlines and highlights: Salmon overlook, arsenic cleanup, graverobber arrest, more
- Selected upcoming events
- Department of Interior: Profile of the Secretary-designate
Also see this issue of News.bytes online at:
http://www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2008/363.html
No News.bytes next week
We do not plan to issue News.bytes next week. Happy Holidays! and we plan to return the following week.
RELATED: "Attention all users - Site availability notice" (BLM national website)
"Starting on Monday, December 29, 2008 and extending through Sunday, January 4, 2009, we will be conducting maintenance and internal software upgrades on the system that generates and manages this web site and all its pages. One of the changes that will occur early in the week is upgrading our left navigation software. Early in the week, you may experience broken links or complete lack of functionality when using the left navigation. Later in the week, we also will be implementing other internal updates that may cause the site to load or respond slowly..."
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html |
NOT for EDUCATORS ONLY:
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
They may fly over California one night of the year -- but where do most reindeer live?
(a.) Northern Maine and southern Canada
(b.) Scandinavia and Siberia
(c.) The Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario
(d.) Alaska and the Yukon Territory
(e.) The North Pole
(f.) The South Pole -- the North Pole story was concocted to confuse geographically-challenged aggressive paparazzi.
------> See answer -- plus links to more information -- near the end of this issue of News.bytes. |
RUDOLPH ... OR RUDOLPHINIA?
 "Wildlife experts ponder gender of Santa's reindeer" (Associated Press, 12/19/08)
"There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions. The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends - the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time - is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A&M University."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izgD4cy_X6xL3ifn1McgvImwSlWwD955N1500 |
PRESERVING HISTORY IN THE DESERT
  "Mojave Desert historian keeps California's heritage alive" (Los Angeles Times, 12/14/08)
"Out on the great swells of the eastern Mojave Desert, that vast sand sea lying between Barstow and the Colorado River, there is no crumb of history, no tall tale, no arcane bit of knowledge too small to escape Dennis Casebier's notice. 'I'm fascinated by who ate rabbits,' he said ... Casebier, 74, has assembled the largest archive of Mojave Desert history." His goal "is to shed light on what he describes as 'forgotten country' -- the eastern Mojave Desert, between Barstow and the Colorado River ... A 1920s picture of Rock Springs Land and Cattle Co. cowboys is one of about 108,000 photographs ... The library also has thousands of maps, oral histories and biographical files." Personal histories include many from soldiers stationed in the Mojave Desert during World War II. The BLM manages much land in the Mojave, including the largest WW II training camp.
Note: this news site may require free registration to view its content online.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-mojave14-2008dec14,0,1278443,full.story
RELATED: "World War II Desert Training Center, California-Arizona Maneuver Area" (BLM-California, Needles Field Office)
During World War II, soldiers came to the Mojave Desert to train for battles over rough terrain and in inhospitable climates. This site, called Camp Young, was the world's largest Army post. Its first commander was Major General George S. Patton Jr.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needles/patton.html |
RENEWABLE ENERGY
 "State regulators OK Powerlink" (San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/19/08)
"The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday cleared the way for construction of the Sunrise Powerlink, a contentious transmission line that promises to bring more reliable and renewable power from the Imperial Valley to San Diego ... SDG&E President Debra Reed said, 'Our plans are to move forward with construction of the line as soon as we possibly can.' That may be a while. Power line opponent Michael Shames, executive director of San Diego's Utility Consumers' Action Network, said a legal challenge is being prepared." BLM is processing a right-of-way application from SDG&E for the power line. A decision is due next month.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/18/bn19sunrise132520-sunrise-powerlink-approved/?zIndex=24621
RELATED: "California Utilities Commission approves disputed power line" (New York Times, 12/19/08)
"The first skirmish in what promises to be a war of attrition between groups that want maximum supplies of renewable energy and groups that want maximum protections for landscapes and endangered wildlife ended Thursday when the California Public Utilities Commission, in a 4-to-1 vote, approved a 123-mile, $1.9 billion power line from El Centro to northwestern San Diego."
Note: This news site may require free registration to view its content online.
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/california-utilities-commission-approves-disputed-power-line/
"DWP sticks with Green Path North project, rejects Edison's offer to use power lines" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 12/21/08)
"Southern California Edison is offering an alternative to the Green Path North power line project that Los Angeles wants to build across San Bernardino County deserts and foothills. Edison could add enough capacity on its power lines along Interstate 10 to carry electricity to Los Angeles from geothermal, wind and solar power projects planned in the desert, said Sandi Blain, manager of the transmission project licenses for Edison, an investor-owned utility. However, officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power say they are not interested." Several of the routes being discussed would cross BLM-managed lands.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_greenpath20.45eea11.html?npc
"Federal agencies move to ease development of geothermal energy and increase power generation" (Department of the Interior news release, 12/18/08)
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management today published the record of decision and approved resource management plan amendments for geothermal leasing in the western United States to make more than 190 million acres of federal lands available for leasing and potential development of geothermal energy resources. The approved development scenario, which was analyzed in the final programmatic environmental impact statement, anticipates a potential 5,500 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from resources in the 12 western states (including Alaska) by 2015. It also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/december/DOI0906_geothermal_development.html
"Revised COSO-Hay Ranch Project EA available for public review" (BLM-California news release, 12/5/08)
The EA analyzes the impacts of the proposed action and alternatives to supply supplemental injection waters from the Hay Ranch water well to the Coso geothermal reservoir. This project entails construction of a groundwater extraction and pipeline delivery system from the Hay Ranch to the water distribution station and an existing injection system located at the Coso geothermal field on withdrawn land managed by the Navy as part of the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/december/CDD0916_COSO_revisedEA.html
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HEADLINES and HIGHLIGHTS
  "Overlook offers up-close view of spawning salmon" (Redding Record Searchlight, 12/23/08)
"Thousands of salmon have been running up Clear Creek just south of Redding for almost a decade after an old diversion dam was removed, but they've mostly done so unseen. Until now. A new overlook gives people a chance to watch the fish on their journey from the Pacific Ocean. 'It's just neat,' said Bill Vaughn of Redding, who said he discovered the overlook recently ... Part of a joint project of the Bureau of Land Management, state Department of Fish and Game and the Shasta Resource Conservation District to create a new 12-mile matrix of trails along the creek, the overlook opened last month."
Note: this news site may require free registration to view its content online.
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/23/overlook-offers-up-close-view-of-spawning-salmon/
  "Desert wind blows health risks from Calif mines" (Associated Press on Google News, 12/21/08)
"Randsburg, Calif. -- Heaps of toxic mine waste rise like church steeples over this wind-swept desert town, threatening the health of residents and of thousands of off-road bikers .Tests on dust samples have revealed some of the highest arsenic levels in the country -- as much as 460,000 times the level deemed safe by the federal government ... A federal audit released in July said the problem was not being effectively dealt with by the Bureau of Land Management ... Still, some old-timers just shrug when asked if they're worried about the high arsenic levels."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilIZQlQmr8HHmVgYsz85Zltfm5NwD957CACO0
RELATED: "Rand Mountain arsenic remediation" (BLM-California, Ridgecrest Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/red_mountain.html
"YouTube video leads to graverobber's arrest" (Eureka Times-Standard, 12/20/08)
"The discerning eye of a federal Bureau of Land Management employee and the investigative skills of Patrick's Point State Park Ranger Greg Hall led to the arrest of a Eureka man this week on suspicion of looting archaeological items from an ancient tribal village site ... For the Yurok Tribe, it's a crime that is considered one of the most offensive committed against ancestors. 'These items likely came from Yurok burial grounds and removing them from this sacred place is disrespectful and a violation of Yurok traditional law, as well as state and federal law,' Tribal Chairwoman Maria Tripp said in a prepared announcement."
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_11277958
"Volunteers, donors help Fort Ord Public Lands to tune of nearly $200K" (Salinas Californian, 12/23/08)
"According to the federal Bureau of Land Management, residents of the Central California coast volunteered time valued at nearly $200,000 this year to help maintain the Fort Ord Public Lands. This year, volunteers and hosted workers donated more than $190,000 worth of labor to improve trails, conduct biological surveys, battle invasive weeds, restore sensitive habitats, and construct fuelbreaks, the BLM reported."
http://thecalifornian.com/article/20081223/NEWS01/81223035/1002/NEWS01
"BLM approves decision for Sage Steppe Restoration" (BLM-California news release, 12/18/08)
The Bureau of Land Management has approved records of decision (ROD) putting into place a Sage Steppe Restoration Strategy for public lands managed by the Alturas, Eagle Lake and Surprise field offices in northeast California. The RODs and restoration strategy can be viewed online.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/december/NC0918_SageSteppeROD.html
"Wilderness hearing brings out the boos for new proposal" (Inyo Register, 12/20/08)
"Forty people from Bishop to Keeler, and even Southern California and Utah, signed up Tuesday evening to weigh in on five new wilderness designations proposed for Southern Inyo ... no one came forward at the extended Board of Supervisors session in Lone Pine to voice their support for the wilderness proposals ... the discussion was in reference to a proposal from the California Wilderness Coalition to Senator Dianne Feinstein to add five new wilderness designations to areas of Southern Inyo County ... Most speakers at the hearing expressed concerns about the struggling mining industry, and how the wilderness proposals, if passed into law, could drive the industry out of the county completely." Some of the proposals would involve lands managed by the BLM.
http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/120553/1/
"Lawsuit filed about bighorn sheep" (Palm Springs Desert Sun, 12/18/08)
"Opening a roadway in the San Jacinto Mountains to commercial vehicles would damage critical lambing areas for the endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep there," said three environmental groups that "filed Thursday against the federal Bureau of Land Management."
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081218/NEWS01/81218017/
"Nominations open for BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board" (BLM national news release, 12/18/08)
The Bureau of Land Management is requesting public nominations to fill three vacancies on the national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. The categories to be filled are: Wildlife Management, Humane Advocacy, and Livestock Management. The Board advises the BLM (an agency of the Interior Department) and the Forest Service (an agency of the Department of Agriculture) on the management, protection, and control of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands administered by those agencies.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/december/WO0911_WHBAdvBd_nominations.html
"Feds rework BLM conservation standards" (Victorville Daily Press, 12/19/08)
"The Bureau of Land Management announced new land management guidelines that officials hope will strengthen conservation efforts, but critics have decried the developments as a continuance of misguided environmental policy. The revised guidelines manual, last updated in 2001, attempts to standardize identification of rare species and covers conservation policy of more than 300 species listed on 258 million acres of federally owned land that the BLM manages."
http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/conservation_10046___article.html/species_blm.html
"BLM office to leave Hollister" (The Hollister Pinnacle, 12/19/08)
"The Bureau of Land Management's Hollister field office, which has been in operation since the 1980s and now manages 284,000 acres of public land, recently announced it will be moving its operational base to Marina in the coming years. More than 30 employees, 16 of whom live in Hollister, will be affected by the relocation, though it could take up to three years before the move is made. ... Hollister Field Manager Rick Cooper said the planned move, which is necessitated by a need for more space and a desire to move operations closer to 7,200 acres of BLM land at the former Fort Ord, still needs to be approved by the agency's national operations center in Denver, Colo."
http://www.pinnaclenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=251689
"When is burning allowed?" (Imperial Valley Press, 12/17/08)
"As far as out in the dunes, themselves, Neil Hamada, dunes manager with the federal Bureau of Land Management, said that while wood campfires are OK, it is against regulations to burn trash or other materials. “We tell people clean wood is what you need to burn,” Hamada said. He added that visitors need to bring their own wood, not burn what’s at the dunes, and that the campfire areas need to be kept clean of glass bottles, cans and other trash."
Note: this news site may require free registration to view its content online.
http://ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/12/17/probe/probe01.txt
RELATED: "Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area" (BLM-California, El Centro Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/recreation/ohvs/isdra.html
"Colorado River may face fight of its life" (San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/21/08)
"The Colorado River has endured drought, large-scale climate changes, pollution, ecological damage from dams and battles by seven states to draw more water. Now the life vein of the Southwest faces another threat: Energy companies are sucking up the Colorado's water to support increased development of oil, natural gas and uranium deposits along the river's basin. The mining and drilling will likely send more toxins into the waterway ... The river provides drinking water for more than 27 million people in seven states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming ... The Interior Department, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, oversees where the water goes but not what's needed to keep it clean."
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/21/1n21colorado211057-colorado-river-may-face-fight-i/?zIndex=25801
RELATED: "How the West's energy boom could threaten drinking water for 1 in 12 Americans" (Scientific American, 12/22/08)
"The Colorado River, the life vein of the Southwestern United States, is in trouble. The river's water is hoarded the moment it trickles out of the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado and begins its 1,450-mile journey to Mexico's border. It runs south through seven states and the Grand Canyon, delivering water to Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. Along the way, it powers homes for 3 million people, nourishes 15 percent of the nation's crops and provides drinking water to one in 12 Americans. Now a rush to develop domestic oil, gas and uranium deposits along the river and its tributaries threatens its future."
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-the-wests-energy-boom-could-threaten-drinking-water
JOBS
"Current job openings - BLM California" (USAJOBS website)
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/a9blm-ca.asp
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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
 "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar" (Time, 12/23/08)
"Ken Salazar is a hat guy, and he donned his trademark Stetson on Wednesday during his introduction as Secretary of the Interior-designate. It was a sartorial gesture that seemed both an _expression_ of his down-home persona and a reminder that he hails from the wide-open spaces he's now charged with managing. At Interior, Salazar, a first-term Democratic Senator from Colorado, will be charged with the critical role of mapping out policies that strike a balance between preserving America's natural resources and tapping them for energy and recreational purposes." The BLM is a bureau within the Department of Interior.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1863062_1863058_1867218,00.html
"First three hearings of the 111th" (United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources)
Follow the link for "First three hearings of the 111th" -- One of the three hearing is "Thursday, Jan. 15, at 9:30 a.m., in Dirksen 366, to consider the nomination of Sen. Ken Salazar to be Secretary of the Interior."
http://energy.senate.gov/public/ |
WILDLIFE TRIVIA ANSWER and related websites
(b.) Scandinavia and Siberia
SOURCE: "Frequently asked questions about caribou" (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
"Caribou and reindeer are the same species (Rangifer tarandus). Reindeer are a domesticated variety of caribou that are herded by humans and used for pulling sleds. Most reindeer occur in Scandinavia and Siberia. They generally are smaller and have shorter legs than their wild relatives. In Siberia, caribou are referred to as 'wild' reindeer."
http://arctic.fws.gov/carcon.htm
RELATED: "Reindeer/caribou" (Bering Land Bridge National Preserve)
Both male and female caribou grow antlers...and more information about reindeer and caribou.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/bela/html/rangifer.htm |
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News.bytes published by
Bureau of Land Management
California State Office
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1834
Sacramento, Ca 95825
(916) 978-4600
http://www.blm.gov/ca/
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