A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California
Issue 603- 12/5/13 - Visit us on Facebook --
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THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- Energy in the News
- Job Opportunities
-
America's Great Outdoors
- On BLM Social Media Pages
-
Wildlife Trivia Question of the Week
- Headlines and Highlights: Assorted topics from your public lands in California
- Selected Upcoming Events
- National and Department of the Interior items
If this message does not show up properly in your email, you can see it online at:
www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2013/603.html
ENERGY IN THE NEWS
 The Art - and Heart - of Wind
Energy (News.bytes Extra)
After school art students were
determined to create a mosaic
depicting wind turbines, desert
life and landscape, and have it
finished in the fall. On Thursday,
November 21, 2013, a ceremony
at the Ocotillo Wind Energy
Facility celebrated its grand
opening with the unveiling of the
finished sign.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/603xtra-windenergy.html
Colorado Governor Proposes Strict Limits on Greenhouse Gas Leaks From Drilling (New York Times, 11/18/13)
Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado proposed on Monday tough new limits on leaks of methane and other gases from well sites and storage tanks. Supporters called the limits, which would exceed existing federal rules, the most sweeping in the nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/us/colorado-governor-proposes-strict-limits-on-greenhouse-gas-leaks-from-drilling.html
Opinion: Fracking's Achilles' Heel (New York Times, 11/18/13)
It's not very often that someone starts his career as a geologist and then winds up as governor, but John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado, can make that claim. "We had fracking when I was a working geologist in 1981. It was very primitive. What really changed the world is when we got
horizontal drilling."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/opinion/nocera-frackings-achilles-heel.html
Power struggle: Green energy versus a grid that's not ready (Los Angeles Times, 12/2/13)
Minders of a fragile national power grid say the rush to renewable energy might actually make it harder to keep the lights on.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-grid-renewables-20131203,0,1019786.story
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AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS
 Panoche Hills Work
Day (News.bytes Extra)
As the first rains of the seasons
threatened, a dozen employees
of the Hollister Field Office
participated in some much
needed signage replacement and
garbage clean-up effort in the
Panoche Hills of Fresno County.
Known for the sweeping views of
the Central Valley, important
habitat for endangered species
such as the Blunt-Nosed Leopard
Lizard and the San Joaquin Kit
Fox, the Panoche Hills is home to
two Wilderness Study Areas as
well as a popular area for target
shooters and upland game bird
hunters.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2013/603extra-panochehills.html
 Old Woman Wilderness to
Celebrate Anniversary of
Wilderness Act (BLM News)
BLM's Needles Field Office
invites the public to participate in
the Old Woman Cabins Hike in
the Old Woman Wilderness on
December 21, 2013. The hike is
part of a yearlong national
celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the Wilderness
Act. Concurrently, the Old
Woman Wilderness and all
wilderness units managed by the
Needles Field Office are
celebrating the 20th Anniversary
as designated wilderness areas.
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/december/CDD-14-13-oldwomanwilderness.html
 Dunes wraps up Thanksgiving
holiday (Imperial Valley Press, 12/3/13)
More than 113,000 visitors
swarmed to the dunes to
celebrate the Thanksgiving
holiday this past week, according
to a Bureau of Land Management
official.
"We really like to see the families
having fun on their public land
because it is their land," said
Michelle Puckett, BLM
spokeswoman. "We like to see all
the generations. We saw some
camps with four generations of
family in it, and they said that
coming (to the dunes) was their
Thanksgiving tradition."
http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/dunes-wraps-up-thanksgiving-holiday/article_5606a618-5be5-11e3-9a3e-001a4bcf6878.html
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK
Reindeer thumbnail from a photo by Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, National Park Service
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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 - and more wildlife stories - near the end of this News.bytes. |
HEADLINES and HIGHLIGHTS
Editorial: Interior Secretary Sally Jewell should visit Berryessa (The Sacramento Bee, 11/29/13)
National Conservation Area status would enhance the place for the benefit of the public, bringing together the three federal landowners - the Mendocino National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation - to coordinate management of more than 300,000 acres of federal land.
Giving the place a name - Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area - would signify a visible destination, not the current patchwork.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/29/5952680/editorial-interior-secretary-sally.html
KFNP superintendent named (The Seward Phoenix Log, 11/28/13)
Rebecca R. Lasell, with 18 years land management experience, has been selected as the new Superintendent of Kenai Fjords National Park. Lasell comes to her new Seward-based position after serving as the Bureau of Land Management's District Manager of Resources, responsible for providing
oversight and guidance for 11 million acres and five field offices of the BLM's California Desert District.
http://www.thesewardphoenixlog.com/story/2013/11/28/local/kfnp-superintendent-named/2092.html
Man sentenced for dumping raw
sewage on public land (Imperial
Valley Press, 12/3/13)
On Monday, a man was
sentenced to serve six months in
custody for dumping thousands
of gallons of raw sewage onto
Bureau of Land Management land
in Imperial County last year,
according to the U.S. Attorney's
Office-Southern California.
Eric Russell, 35, was driving a
waste disposal truck for
All-in-One Environmental
Services along Highway 72 on
Jan. 3 when he illegally dumped
between 1,500 and 2,000 gallons
of domestic sewage onto BLM
land to save time.
http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/man-sentenced-for-dumping-raw-sewage-on-public-land/article_9fa6d1e6-5be8-11e3-a919-001a4bcf6878.html
Klamath task force strikes water
deal (The Eureka
Times-Standard, 12/3/13)
Ranchers and the Klamath
Tribes signed a tentative deal
Monday in Klamath Falls for
sharing water in the
drought-stricken Upper Klamath
Basin. This agreement involves
areas managed by BLM's Alturas
Field Office.
http://www.times-standard.com/l
ocalnews/ci_24643154/klamath-t
ask-force-strikes-water-deal
Related: Explore Klamath Lake
Modoc Siskiyou (BLM Partner
website)
The counties of Interior Northern
California and South-Central
Oregon offer unmatched outdoor
adventure and recreation.
http://www.klms.net/index.shtml
Man airlifted after off-road
collision (Desert Dispatch,
11/25/13)
A 47-year-old man was airlifted to
a trauma center Sunday morning
after an off-road collision in
Dumont Dunes. California
Highway Patrol spokesman Don
Spiker said the Colorado resident
was driving a dune buggy at
about 30 mph down a hill at
approximately 11:10 am.
http://www.desertdispatch.com/articles/road-15344-spiker-collision.html
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NATIONAL AND DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR
Challenge to BLM 'Anonymous Nominations' Policy (Pagosa Daily Post, 12/3/13)
A broad-based coalition of 45 local and national organizations called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to make fully transparent the process where private interests nominate public lands for oil and gas drilling and fracking. In a pointed letter to BLM Principal Deputy Director Neil
Kornze, the coalition specifically requests that the agency reverse its new policy designed to sidestep a court order requiring transparency in the oil and gas leasing process.
http://www.pagosadailypost.com/news/24560/Challenge_to_BLM_'Anonymous_Nominations'_Policy/
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA answer and related websites
They may fly over California one night of the year -- but where do most reindeer live?
(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 |
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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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