A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California
Issue 585 - June 27, 2013
THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- America's Great Outdoors
- On our Facebook pages
- On our other social media pages
- Not for educators only: Wildlife trivia question of the week
- Renewable energy
- Environmental items
- Fire news
- Headlines and highlights: Assorted topics from your public lands in California
- National and Department of the Interior items
- Selected upcoming events
If this message does not show up properly in your email, you can see it online at:
www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2013/585.html
SUMMER in AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS!
 The Department of the Interior is launching a summer photo project called "Summer in America's Great Outdoors," where
we're asking folks to submit their favorite photos from their visits to America's public lands. Let's show everyone the diverse range of activities one can do on America's public lands!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/summerago/pool/ |
 AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS
 "Enjoy The Silence: The Inaudible Wonders Of The Carrizo Plain"
(KCET - The Back Forty, 06/14/13)
The Carrizo Plain National Monument in Central California is best known as a springtime wildflower paradise, with fields and hillsides blanketed in an array of colors. But for most of the year, the 250,000-acre valley, located halfway between Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo, sports an arid,
golden brown look. Here on the Carrizo Plain, buffered by mountains and distance, the great urban lion has been hushed. My nostalgia for noise was suddenly supplanted by my savor for silence.
http://www.kcet.org/news/the_back_forty/commentary/concrete-and-chaparral/enjoy-the-silence-the-inaudible-wonders-of-the-carrizo-plain.html
RELATED: "Carrizo Plain National Monument" (Bakersfield Field Office)
The Carrizo Plain, 100 airline miles (160 km) north of Los Angeles, California is an area by-passed by time. Soda Lake, its centerpiece, is a glistening bed of white salt, set within a vast open grassland, rimmed by mountains.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/carrizo.html
 "Summer Evenings In the Desert"
(KCET - The Back Forty, 06/14/13)
Even when the day is hot, at 3,500 feet sundown brings pretty rapid cooling. The day's stored heat radiates up into the sky. The breeze raises the hairs on my neck. 95 degrees seems sweet after a triple-digit day, and the mid-80s sweeter still, and the slanting, coloring light draws me deeper into
the desert.One can walk off into the sunset only so far. Eventually the sun sets all the way and you have to turn around and walk back. The shadow of San Gorgonio fills the Morongo Basin the way Clark Mountain's filled the Ivanpah Valley, and the far slopes of the Sheepholes stay brightly lit
enough to silhouette the Joshua trees for the next half hour.
http://www.kcet.org/news/the_back_forty/commentary/the-hidden-desert/those-pink-summer-nights-in-the-desert.html
RELATED: "San Gorgino Wilderness" (Palm Springs Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wilderness/wa/areas/san_gorgonio.html |
ON OUR OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES...
 ...California's very own own Bob Wick took this amazing photo of the supermoon setting over the Centennial Mountains WSA in SW
Montana. A sight to behold.
http://mypubliclands.tumblr.com/
|
NOT for EDUCATORS ONLY:
|
WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK:
How does the common kingsnake subdue its prey?
(a.)
with venom
(b.) by repeated biting
(c.) by constriction
(d.) by drowning it
(e.) by frightening it to death
(f.) by capturing its knight, bishop and queen
See answer near the end of this News.bytes. |
 RENEWABLE ENERGY
"Smilodon Brings Smiles" (News.bytes Extra)
Several weeks ago, a few fossilized bone fragments were unearthed in a trench on the Desert Sunlight solar power project near Desert Center, Calif. At first they were assumed to be of the extinct American Lion. The bones were sent to the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles
where they identified them as part of an ice-age Smilodon.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_smilodon.html
RELATED: "Desert Sunlight Solar Project" (Palm Springs Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/Solar_Projects/Desert_Sunlight.html
"Calico Solar Plans Withdrawn" (The Press-Enterprise, 06/24/13)
The developer of a controversial plan to cover as much of six square miles of public land with solar panels east of Barstow has abandoned the endeavor, citing changed market conditions.The K Road Calico Solar Project had been proposed in an ecologically sensitive area north of Interstate 40,
between Ludlow and Newberry Springs.The land, about 37 miles east of Barstow, would have been covered with photovoltaic panels, generating - at full capacity - electricity for 250,000 homes.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/t6kd
RELATED: "K Road Calico Solar Project" (Barstow Field Office)
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/barstow/renewableenergy/k_road_calico_solar.html |
ENVIRONMENTAL ITEMS
"$84-million Removal of a Dam on Carmel River Set to Begin"
(Los Angeles Times, 06/23/13)
The Carmel river is overpumped. Flood plain has been lost to development, and the silted-up San Clemente is vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake, threatening 1,500 downstream structures. But next month, in what officials say is the state's largest-ever dam removal, work will begin on a
three-year project to dismantle the 106-foot-tall concrete dam and reroute half a mile of the river. The dam property includes 928 acres of chaparral and oak woodlands that American Water will donate to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management - the federal government's largest landowner - when the
demolition is complete. http://www.ca.blm.gov/n6kd
"Marijuana Crops in California Threaten Forests and Wildlife"
(The New York Times, 06/20/13)
It took the death of a small, rare member of the weasel family to focus the attention of Northern California's marijuana growers on the impact that their huge and expanding activities were having on the environment. Brad Job's territory as a federal Bureau of Land Management officer includes public
lands favored, he said, by Mexican drug cartels whose environmental practices are the most destructive. "The watershed was already lying on the ground bleeding," Mr. Job said. "The people who divert water in the summer are kicking it in the stomach."
http://www.ca.blm.gov/q6kd
"Wyden: Price Tag Too High on Klamath Basin Deals"
(The San Francisco Chronicle, 06/20/13)
Drought has again brought the water struggles of the high-desert Klamath Basin to national attention. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, held a hearing aimed at reducing the cost of an agreement to restore tribal fisheries and guarantee water for
irrigators, and to resolve issues that remain divisive in the basin."We can figure this out," Wyden told representatives of the array of interest groups in the region of Southern Oregon and Northern California that suffers recurrent drought.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/r6kd
RELATED: "Klamath Basin" (Arcata Field Office)
The counties of Interior Northern California and South-Central Oregon offer unmatched outdoor adventure and recreation in an area three times the size of Massachusetts.http://www.klms.net/index.shtml
"BLM Seeking Public Comments on Prosper Ridge Prairie Environmental Assessment" (BLM, 06/21/13)
An environmental assessment analyzing effects of several alternatives for restoring coastal prairies in the King Range National Conservation Area has been released by the Bureau of Land Management for public review and comment.The BLM is proposing to reduce the number encroaching Douglas-fir trees
and other woody plants to restore about 800 acres to a coastal prairie dominated by grasses.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/june/blm_seeking_public.html |
FIRE NEWS
 "Back Country Horsemen Help With Fire Recovery in Wilderness"
(News.bytes Extra)
Members of the Back Country Horsemen of California lent their expertise and horsepower - literally - when the BLM's Surprise Field Office was faced with a daunting task of replacing miles of wildfire-damaged fences in the High Rock and Little High Wilderness Areas of Northwest Nevada.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_bch_help.html
 "Honoring Luke Sheehy" (News.bytes Extra)
Members of the firefighting community joined friends and family members of fallen firefighter Luke Sheehy at Redding's Civic Auditorium Sunday, June 23, to remember and honor the Forest Service smokejumper who died June 10 while fighting a fire in the Warner Wilderness of the Modoc National Forest
in northeast California.The BLM sends its deepest condolences to Luke's family and friends, and to the firefighting community.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_honoring.html
"BLM Issues Fire Prevention Orders for California Desert District" (BLM, 06/21/13)
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released Fire Prevention Orders that address year-round and seasonal fire restrictions. The Fire Prevention Orders assist with wildland fire prevention efforts throughout public lands within the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) as well as
public lands outside the CDCA in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego Counties.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/june/blm_issues_fire_prevention.html
"BLM Bishop Field Office & Inyo National Forest Announce Fire Restrictions"
(BLM, 06/24/13)
Effective Friday, June 28, the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office and the Inyo National Forest are implementing fire restrictions.The restrictions are in effect on all BLM public lands managed by the Bishop Field Office and all Inyo National Forest lands, including wilderness
areas."Ongoing drought conditions, well below average rain and snowfall this past winter and warmer than average temperatures have led to very dry conditions for this time of year," said Inyo National Forest Supervisor Ed Armenta. "We are experiencing very high fire danger and continued hot and dry
weather patterns here in the eastern Sierra."
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/june/bishopfirerestrictions.html |
HEADLINES and HIGHLIGHTS
"Palm Springs BLM Educates Local Communities with Jr. Ranger Program's OHV Safety Message" (News.bytes Extra)
A Junior Ranger grant from the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division funding has provided for off-highway vehicle (OHV) - related education and safety activities within the BLM Palm Springs- South Coast Field Office. The
Junior Ranger program brings together safety messages from Tread Lightly! and the National OHV Conservation Council to create a safe, positive OHV-recreation environment.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_jr_ranger.html
"BLM and Partners Dedicate New Trail Bridge at Clear Creek" (News.bytes Extra) Hikers and bicyclists in the Redding Field Office's Clear Creek Greenway now have a safe and scenic way to cross between two trail networks, thanks to a
partnership involving federal, state and local agencies and a private organization. A June 20 ribbon cutting celebration marked the opening of a new footbridge connecting the Piety Hill Trails with more than 12 miles of routes in the Clear Creek Greenway.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_new_trail.html
"Cultural Site Protection Expanded" (News.bytes Extra)
A new network of volunteers has emerged in Southern California after weekend training in cultural site preservation. At the Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, the California Archaeological Site Stewardship Program (CASSP) workshop brought together people committed to protecting regional
cultural heritage sites.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_cultural.html
"Oil Pipeline Could Take Basin Route" (Hi-Desert Star, 06/19/13)
Questar Southern Trails is considering whether to build a pipeline that would transport crude oil through parts of the Morongo Basin.The other route coincides with a Bureau of Land Management utility corridor south of here near Interstate 10. The company is conducting aerial surveys along the
BLM utility corridor. About 1,050 land owners in the region between Essex and Whitewater were sent notices of the proposed oil pipeline project, requesting permission to enter private property for surveying purposes.The surveying work is not invasive, according to Questar.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/p6kd |
NATIONAL and DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ITEMS
"Interior Releases First-Ever Comprehensive National Assessment of Geologic Carbon Dioxide Storage Potential" (DOI, 06/26/13)
The United States has the potential to store a mean of 3,000 metric gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in geologic basins throughout the country, according to the first-ever detailed national geologic carbon sequestration assessment released today by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The
assessment comes on the heels of a national plan to combat climate change announced by President Obama.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/m6kd
"30 US Reps Seek Reforms for BLM's Horse Budget"
(San Francisco Chronicle, 06/20/13)
Thirty U.S. representatives urged new U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to make a priority out of reforming the government's wild horse management program and its spiraling budget that they say has created an "untenable situation" for both the mustangs and taxpayers. The majority of the
co-signers were from states in the East and South, but several joined from states that are home to some of the estimated 37,000 free-roaming wild horses and burros on federal land in the West, including Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., five representatives from California and
three from Oregon.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/s6kd
|
SELECTED UPCOMING EVENTS
July 13 - "Upcoming Wild Horse and Burro Adoption" (News.bytes Extra)
The Bureau of Land Management brings its Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program to Taylor Made Farms, 560 Church Ave., San Martin, CA, on Saturday, July 13.The BLM will offer 30 horses, mostly yearlings, and 10 burros for public adoption. Anyone interested can preview the animals when they
arrive at about 3 p.m. on Friday, July 12.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/585_extra_-_san_martin.html
RELATED: "BLM Adoption in San Martin Includes Wild Horses, Burros and Halter-Gentled Mustangs" (BLM, 06/26/13)
In addition to the wild horses from the Litchfield Corrals, the adoption will include four mustang geldings halter gentled by Karen Topping"s riding group at Taylor Made Farms. One of the project horses is a yearling and the others are two year olds. Those horses also will be available for preview
from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, July 12.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/june/sanmartinadoption.html |
--------------------
- If your e-mail program does not allow you to click on the above links to visit that Web page, copy and paste the URL into your browser's "Location" or "Address" bar.
- Some online news sites require free registration to view their content online. Some news sites remove news stories from the Web soon after publication. If you plan to keep a story, you should print a copy or save the Web page to your computer.
DISCLAIMER: By linking to Web sites, the BLM does not imply endorsement of those sites, or of products or advertisements on those sites.
News.bytes published by
Bureau of Land Management
California State Office
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1834
Sacramento, Ca 95825
(916) 978-4600
www.blm.gov/ca/
We appreciate feedback. Send comments to the News.bytes team at:
mailto:canewsbytes@xxxxxxx
To subscribe to News.bytes, visit our News.bytes subscription page at: www.blm.gov/ca/caso/getnewsbytes.html.
|
