A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California
Issue 479 - 5/6/11
THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- America's Great Outdoors
- Get Outside in America's Great Outdoors
- Spotlight on Partners: Save the Redwoods League
- Not for educators only: Wildlife trivia question of the week
- Wild horses and burros
- Renewable energy
- Meet your Advisory Council members
- Headlines and highlights: Assorted topics from your public lands in California
- Selected upcoming events
- Department of the Interior items: State of the Birds report
Also see this issue of News.bytes online at:
http://www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2011/479.html
 AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS
 "Outdoors Cool!" (News.bytes Extra)
The BLM Arcata Field Office and its North Coast partners celebrated Earth Day by releasing to local news media outlets a series of public service announcements urging children to get outdoors. The partners celebrated completion of the year-long project to create the PSAs.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-outdoorscool.html
  RELATED: "Outdoors Cool!" (Partner website)
Explore Humboldt County's Backyards! "Find out where to hike, bike, canoe, camp, picnic, walk your dog and spot wildlife."
http://www.outdoorscool.com/
"Youth Alive! Outdoor Adventures 2011 summer schedule" (Redwood Times, 5/4/11)
"Youth Alive! is really excited to be working with the Lost Coast Interpretive Association and the Bureau of Land Management. YA!OA has an event almost every week this summer. All events are free, and open to teens age 12 to 19." http://www.redwoodtimes.com/ci_17992797
  "BLM Partners Creating Fishing Opportunities in Sacramento River Bend" (News.bytes Extra)
New recreational fishing opportunities will be available within a year, on public lands in the Sacramento River Bend in Tehama County. Staff from the BLM Redding Field Office and the California Department of Fish and Game last week planted sunfish and bass in Coyote Pond, a recently developed facility along the River north of Red Bluff. Fishing will not be allowed for about a year to give the new fishery time to establish itself.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-coyotepondfish.html
  "BLM does Malibu" (News.bytes Extra)
BLM employees and volunteers representing the California Coastal National Monument geared up for their first appearance at the Earth Day Whale Fest at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu. The sun was elusive all day but that didn't stop the visitors from enjoying the 15th annual festival sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Natural History Association.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-blmdoesmailbu.html
"Volunteers haul away tons of trash from BLM recreation trail area" (BLM news, 5/5/11)
Scrap building material, rusting steel barrels and gas-fired heaters were among the two tons of trash removed from Bureau of Land Management public lands near Redding in a volunteer cleanup project on Saturday, April 30. Members of the Redding Geocachers organized and led the project at the site of the abandoned Hummingbird quartz and gold mine along the FB Trail segment of the Sacramento River Rail Trail.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/may/NC1146_reddingtrash.html
  "The plain truth -
The Carrizo Plain’s solitary serenity and sense of otherworldliness is obviously not for everyone" (San Luis Obispo Tribune, 5/2/11)
A reporter describes his visit to the Carrizo Plain National Monument. "As a sign beside the creek notes, 'The San Andreas fault cuts across the surface of the Earth in front of you.' According to the sign, the spot is moving 1.3 inches closer to San Francisco per year. 'At this rate, if you stood in this spot for 10 million years, you would be within walking distance of the Golden Gate Bridge.' Not that we planned on staying that long."
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/05/02/1584982/the-plain-truth.html
RELATED: "Carrizo Plain National Monument" (BLM Bakersfield Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/carrizo.html
"Birding, tidepool walks will kick off King Range summer hike series"(BLM news)
On May 7, Kyle Keegan, an expert on migratory songbirds, will show participants how to identify songbirds that migrate each year from Latin America to the King Range National Conservation Area.
On May 21, hikers can learn about the fascinating life within the North Coast’s tidepools when BLM Interpretive Specialist Rachel Sowards-Thompson leads a walk starting at 8:30 a.m. in Shelter Cove.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/april/king_range_summer_hikes.html
"Trail Days is educational fun" (Paradise Post, 5/5/11)
The 19th annual Trail Days wrapped up this week "after three days of education and fun" for fifth-graders from Pine Ridge School in Northern California, working with "a team of fire, wilderness and conservation crews. Trail Days teaches school children about land stewardship, the water cycle, wildfire preparedness, team building and general safety while out in the wild lands." BLM was a partner in the event.
http://www.paradisepost.com/news/ci_17992240
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GET OUTSIDE to America's Great Outdoors...
  ... let's go camping! Tremendous camping opportunities can be found on public lands throughout California. These include developed campgrounds, dispersed camping opportunities and long term visitor areas.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/recreation/camping.html |
SPOTLIGHT ON PARTNERS: Save the Redwood League
  Save the Redwoods League, a northern California conservation organization, has been honored for its successes in protecting important habitat and forging critical conservation partnerships involving the Bureau of Land Management and other stakeholders on California’s North Coast.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/partners/save-the-redwoods.html
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NOT for EDUCATORS ONLY:
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK:
What do male bluegill do during their breeding season?
(a.) puff up an air bladder near their mouths
(b.) migrate to find an area with more females
(c.) "sing" low humming calls
(d.) grow more scales
(e.) change color
(f.) drench themselves in aftershave lotion
--> See answer -- and more about wildlife -- near the end of this issue.
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 WILD HORSES AND BURROS
 "'Meet & Greet' a mustang" (News.bytes Extra)
In an effort to get the word out about the wild horse and burro program, BLM volunteers are offering opportunities for the public to "meet and greet" a mustang. Volunteers recently staffed booths at the Walnut Creek Horse Faire and a Gilroy event.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-whb-meet-greet.html
"California wild horse and burro adoption schedule" (BLM-California website)
This schedule is subject to change. Please check back frequently or call the contact numbers listed. Visit our Litchfield or Ridgecrest Corrals Monday through Friday during business hours. If you wish to adopt during your visit, please schedule an appointment so we may provide you better service.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/adoptions.html
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 RENEWABLE ENERGY
"Injunction Sought to Stop Powerlink: Hearing Friday May 6 in San Diego" (East County Magazine, 5/5/11)
"A hearing on a request filed by three East County organizations seeking an injunction to stop construction on Sunrise Powerlink until opponents' case can be heard in court has been cancelled." The hearing was set for today in San Diego federal court. A judge cancelled a previous hearing on Powerlink, saying "he would rule based on written records instead. Since then, however, two separate lawsuits against two federal agencies (the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service) have been joined to be heard by a single judge."
http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/6101
"Retired brigadier general pushes renewable energy for armed forces" (Barstow Desert Dispatch, 5/5/11)
"A retired brigadier general presented renewable energy and energy conservation as a way to save billions of dollars in the wars overseas at a Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce discussion." In a separate presentation to the Chamber, Mike Argentine of First Solar spoke of a proposal to build a 300 megawatt solar project near the BrightSource Ivanpah project now under construction near the California-Nevada border. He said the project "will be located on 2,154 acres of Bureau of Land Management land and will connect with the Ivanpah transmission line at the Ivanpah substation."
http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/barstow-10819-renewable-brigadier.html
"Tortoise puts plant on hold" (San Bernardino Sun, 4/29/11)
"The federal Bureau of Land Management is waiting for a new review of the threat to the endangered desert tortoise on the site of a huge solar energy facility being built in the Mojave Desert near here by BrightSource Energy before it can lift its order halting construction.
The review is being done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has been in the agency's hands since the BLM shut down the project on April 15. "
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_17961196
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HEADLINES and HIGHLIGHTS
  "Marines eye Johnson Valley for training" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 5/4/11)
"The Marines, in seeking to expand the 932-square-mile Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, want to take over more than two-thirds of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area for live-ammunition training missions. The Marines say the Mojave Desert land is needed to prepare troops for rapid responses to the world's trouble spots. But a military takeover of most of Johnson Valley would devastate California's off-road community ... off-road enthusiasts said." With video.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_johnson05.23d2bb4.html
RELATED: "Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area" (BLM Barstow Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/barstow/johnson.html
  "We Need You!" (News.bytes Extra)
BLM's El Centro Field Office participated in the 8th Annual Applied Sciences Expo at Imperial Valley College, where students had an opportunity to "talk jobs" with BLM employees.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-careerfair.html
 "Manzanar: Telling the Story" (Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles Japanese Daily News, 5/5/11)
"More than 1,100 people" from "as far away as Japan, Europe and Africa" attended the 42nd annual Manzanar Pilgrimage April 30. Among them was "95-year-old Jack Kunitomi ... who led the charge to make the former American concentration camp into the Manzanar National Historic Site. The former Manzanar reservoir site "is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management," but Manzanar Superintendent Les Inafuku has discussed with the BLM "the possibility of a land exchange so that the reservoir would come under NPS jurisdiction."
http://rafu.com/news/2011/05/manzanar-part-1/
"Northwest Resource Advisory Council visits Walker Ridge" (News.bytes Extra)
Discussion about a proposed wind energy development on Walker Ridge, along the Lake-Colusa county border, was the focus of a field tour and meeting of the BLM's Northwest California Resource Advisory Council.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2011/479xtra-nwrac.html
"Sergeant's confrontation with suspects on Hopland Grade leads to multiagency response" (Lake County News, 5/6/11)
A suspect was arrested on marijuana and weapons charges, and two more were being sought after the investigation of a suspicious vehicle parked in a remote area off of Highway 175 near the Mendocino County line. Investigators believe the three were interrupted while "setting up a major illegal marijuana cultivation operation ... much of the mountainous area surrounding Highway 175 that is managed by the BLM has been host to such operations in past years."
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/19592/919/
"BLM Redding Field Office offers firewood cutting permits" (BLM news, 5/4/11)
The Bureau of Land Management is offering firewood cutting permits for an area in the Hoadley Peaks area west of Redding. Wood cutting is convenient, with stacked piles of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine available along easily accessible Hoadley Peaks Road.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/may/NC1145_reddingfirewood.html
"Signs along hiking trail honor ‘Hopalong Cassidy'" (Palm Springs Desert Sun, 5/4/11)
"Always be truthful. Listen to and obey your parents. Don't be a show-off.
Those are just a few of the 10 guidelines that make up 'Hoppy's Creed,' created by William 'Hopalong Cassidy' Boyd, that now adorns signs along a seven-mile hiking trail named for the star of western movies and TV shows." The City of Palm Desert installed the signs at several locations, including the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitors Center.
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011105040402
RELATED: "Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument" (BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/santarosa.html
"BLM Desert Advisory Council to meet in San Diego" (BLM news, 5/4/11)
The next field trip and meeting of the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Advisory Council will be held June 3-4 in San Diego. The agenda will include updates on special recreation permits, council subgroups, and renewable energy.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/may/CDD1136_DACjunemtg.html
RELATED: "Desert District Advisory Council " (BLM website)
Meeting news, notices, agendas, and minutes from previous meetings.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/rac/dac.htm
JOBS
"Current job openings - BLM California" (USAJOBS website)
BLM California is accepting ongoing applications for park ranger, weed/plant/wildlife biological aids, survey technician, and archaeology technician.
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/a9blm-ca.asp |
SELECTED UPCOMING EVENTS
Unless otherwise indicated, find more details -- and more events --online:
https://www.blm.gov/ca/forms/calendar/
5/6 & 7- ATV Safety Training
5/7 - Migratory Songbird Hike at King Range
5/7 - Pine Hill Preserve Plant Tour
5/7 - Cache Creek Wildflower Hike
5/10 - Mono City Road scoping meeting |
DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR
"Interior and NOAA welcome National Academy of Sciences Report on the California Bay Delta Conservation Plan" (Department of the Interior press release, 5/5/11)
Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco issued statements regarding the National Academy of Sciences report on the use of science and adaptive management in California’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan and efforts "to meet the twin goals of restoring the California Bay-Delta ecosystem and protecting the reliability of water supplies."
http://www.ca.blm.gov/ty5c
"America's Great Outdoors: Secretary Salazar Releases 2011 State of the Birds Report" (Department of the Interior press release, 5/3/11)
"Report shows public lands and waters crucial to birds; One out of four bird species on public land in peril ... these publicly owned habitats support at least half of the entire U.S. distributions of more than 300 bird species." Said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, "The good news is that because birds so extensively use public lands and waters as habitat, effective management and conservation efforts can make a significant difference in whether these species recover or slide towards extinction."
http://www.ca.blm.gov/ry5c
RELATED: "State of the birds: not good" (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/3/11)
"As part of the Obama administration's 'Great Outdoors' conservation agenda, Interior and USDA ... issued their State of the Birds 2011 report. The news is not great, despite habitat improvement on public lands." The American Bird Conservancy "said pending policy issues" include the Bureau of Land Management's "state-by-state plans to improve management standards for the Greater Sage-Grouse."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=88232
"Interior announces satellite imagery of earth accessible to public on 'ChangeMatters' website" (Department of the Interior press release, 5/3/11)
The ChangeMatters website "allows users to view the Global Land Survey Landsat data developed by the Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey and NASA between 1975 and 2005. "By viewing GLS satellite imagery throughout the world, anyone can monitor and map change between epochs resulting from events such as forest harvesting, urban growth, wildfires, floods, pest outbreaks, and drought."
http://www.ca.blm.gov/vy5c
"National Museum of the American Latino commissioners join Secretary Salazar, Eva Longoria and Emilio Estefan to celebrate release of final report" (Department of the Interior press release, 5/5/11)
"Today marks a milestone for the rich and diverse history of our nation, and is a proud moment for the Latino Community," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. "With the creation of a national museum rooted here, in our nation’s capital, the contributions of Latinos will forever be recognized and woven into the American story. I thank the Commission for their thorough report and service to our country."
http://www.ca.blm.gov/xy5c
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA answer and related websites
(e.) change color
SOURCE: "Bluegill - Lepomis macrochirus" (BLM California wildlife database)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/forms/wildlife/details.php?metode=serial_number&search=2414
More wildlife news from your public lands:
"San Diego Zoo bolsters desert tortoise with release to wild" (Imperial Valley News, 4/29/11)
"Meandering slowly through the desert, 36 desert tortoises with very special shells found a new home just south of Las Vegas on Wednesday. Each tortoise carries on its back a VHS radio transmitter the size of a small stack of quarters that will allow San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research scientists to gather data about desert tortoise movement and habitat choices."
http://imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10202
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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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