A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California
Issue 613-02/28/14- Visit us on Facebook -- Follow us on Twitter -- Share us with friends and colleagues!
THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- Military Veteran Crews
- Headlines and Highlights
- Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation
-
Discover the Coast
- Renewable Energy
-
Wildlife Trivia Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events and Activities
- Department of the Interior Weekly Video
If this message does not show up properly in your email, you can see it online at:
www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2014/613.html
 Veterans Conservation Crew Restores Trails
at National Monument
(News.Bytes Extra)
Sledge hammers, shovels, crow bars and pure muscle were the tools used by 13 members of a Veterans Conservation Corps and 21 community volunteers as they worked side-by-side on a trail restoration project in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, just outside Palm
Springs, Calif. http://www.ca.blm.gov/tsld
 RELATED: California Conservation Corps Veterans
Cleanup Hiking Trails
(My Desert, 02/16/14)
Members of the Conservation Lands Foundation, BLM, Friends of the Desert Mountains and the Desert Trails Hiking Club worked side-by-side with an all-veterans California Conservation Corps crew to make repairs along a stretch of Hopalong Cassidy Trail in Palm Desert. http://www.ca.blm.gov/rsld
 Folsom Lake Veterans Fire Crew
(BLM Facebook).
We have a quote from one of the firefighters about the experience and have their firefighter status on a Facebook photo album. http://ow.ly/u2dzC
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 Exchange Club Honors Bravery and
Commitment
(Kern Valley Sun, 02/05/14)
The 2013 Firefighter of the Year Award Dinner was held at Paradise Cove Lodge with over 90 people in attendance. This year's recipients of the award; John Moreno, BLM and... http://www.ca.blm.gov/ssld
RELATED: Fire Battalion Chief John Moreno Named BLM's 2013 Firefighter of the Year (BLM Facebook) http://ow.ly/u2hle
 Alabama Hills Restoration Project Completed
(News.Bytes Extra)
Volunteers, Alabama Hills Stewardship Group members and BLM staff planted 144 native grasses and shrubs to limit loss of vegetation at a popular dispersed campsite in the Alabama Hills.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/xsld
RELATED: Alabama Hills Recreation Area
(BLM Tumblr)
The rounded contours of the Alabamas form a sharp contrast between the glacially chiseled ridges of the Sierra Nevada. http://www.ca.blm.gov/zsld
 FIELD Crews Assist BLM
with Invasive Plant Removal
(News.Bytes Extra)
The BLM Ridgecrest Field Office successfully partnered with the Farmworker Institute of Education & Leadership Development (FIELD) on a tamarisk removal project. http://www.ca.blm.gov/wsld
Little of Federal Horse Budget Spent on Fertility
(Times-Standard, 02/19/14)
Wild horse advocates say the fiscal year 2013 budget numbers show the BLM has reneged on a commitment to fertility control as the best way moving forward to keep herd numbers in check when necessary in Nevada and nine other Western states. http://www.ca.blm.gov/9sld
 A Winter Vole Study
(BLM Facebook)
A team of researchers and volunteers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife, Investigations Lab, UC Davis, U.S. Geological Survey, and BLM are involved in a winter study to learn more about the Amargosa vole. This endangered vole doesn't hibernate in the winter, like some
other mammals, and little is known about its behavior and biology. http://ow.ly/u2BHB
RELATED: BLM's Amargosa River Natural Area
(BLM Website) http://ow.ly/tXeiG
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OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE RECREATION |
 New OHV Training Center - BLM El
Mirage
(BLM Facebook)
This 24,000 acre recreation area offers a plethora of opportunities for dry lake speed trials, motorcycles, ATVs, trucks, cars, buggies, land yachts, model airplanes, and so much more. http://ow.ly/u1Rzr
BLM and Forest Service to Apply for Off-Road Funding
(Victorville Daily Press, 02/19/14)
According to Friends of Juniper Flats, the organization and the BLM are working closely together on a grant for restoration in the Juniper Flats area, which will help protect important natural resources and restore closed vehicle routes. http://www.ca.blm.gov/jsld
Crackdown in Desert Steams Off-Roaders
(San Diego Union-Tribune News, 02/23/14)
A growing number of off-road enthusiasts are getting steamed over what they call heavy-handed law enforcement practices by federal rangers in the popular Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. http://www.ca.blm.gov/nsld
RELATED: BLM Crackdown Irks Glamis Offroaders
(San Diego Union-Tribune Video) http://bcove.me/wu1guype
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 Come Discover the Coast and Follow the Gray Whale
Migration!
(BLM Facebook)
It is the third busiest year ever for whales passing by Palos Verdes.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/5sld
 Good Morning! Are You Feeling Revved up for the Day?
(BLM Facebook)
Some of us (photo) just want to laze around. Get ready, it's time for a quiz. Seal or sea lion and why? http://www.ca.blm.gov/3sld
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 Feds Green Light 2 More Solar Projects
in Ivanpah Valley
(KCET Rewire, 02/19/14)
The U.S. Interior Department announced Wednesday it was approving two large solar projects in the Mojave Desert that may displace or harm more than 2,000 desert tortoises.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/psld
A Huge Solar Plant Opens, Facing Doubts About Its Future
(The New York Times, 02/13/14)
The Ivanpah solar power plant stretches over more than five square miles of the Mojave Desert. Almost 350,000 mirrors the size of garage doors tilt toward the sun with an ability to energize 140,000 homes. http://www.ca.blm.gov/ctld
 Environmentalists Say Solar Projects Will Endanger Desert Tortoises
(My Desert, 02/23/14)
Federal officials announced the approval of two solar energy plants on public lands in California and Nevada, angering environmentalists who say the facilities will endanger desert tortoises. The government said it would work to protect the tortoises by expanding the Ivanpah Desert
Wildlife Management Area by more than 20,000 acres. http://www.ca.blm.gov/msld
RELATED: Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation System Project
(BLM Website) http://www.ca.blm.gov/ysld
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK |
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When it comes to Sea lions, which of the following are true?
(a) can walk on their flippers
(b) are brownish in color
(c) molt their fur once a year
(d) have a great sense of musical rhythm
(e) a, b, c
(f) all of the above
See answer- and more information near the end of this News.bytes.
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SELECTED UPCOMING EVENTS and ACTIVITIES |
Mar: Improvement Projects Planned at Boulder Reservoir
(BLM News Release)
Improvement projects to improve wildlife and fishery habitat and fishing opportunities are planned to begin this spring at Boulder Reservoir, about 25 miles southeast of Cedarville.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/6sld
Feb. 2: BLM Seeking Public Input on Drought Response Planning
(BLM News Release)
BLM is seeking public input on issues to be considered when the Surprise Field Office develops an environmental assessment for managing livestock and wild horses during drought. http://www.ca.blm.gov/7sld
Mar. 4 - Apr. 7: BLM Seeks Input on California State Parks OHV Grant Application
(BLM News Release)
BLM is submitting a grant application to the California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division to help manage off-highway vehicle recreation opportunities on public lands. The preliminary application will be available on the OHMVRD's website at http://www.ohv.parks.ca.gov/ for review and comment. http://www.ca.blm.gov/8sld
Mar- Apr: Wednesday Wildflower Walks - San Joaquin River Gorge SRA
(BLM Facebook)
Every Wednesday Morning in February and March 2014 at the San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area. http://www.ca.blm.gov/2sld
Mar 15: North Algodones Dunes Night Hike
(BLM Facebook)
Join a park ranger for a fun night hike roaming the sand hills (dogs permitted). This moderately easy hike follows sandy washes and climbs the short dunes. http://ow.ly/u2rK6
Mar. 15- May 24 (Saturdays): Soda Lake and Painted Rock Guided Tours at Carrizo Plain National Monument
(BLM Facebook)
Come join us for our Soda Lake/Painted Rock Guided Tour. Reservations are required and can be made at http://www.recreation.gov/. Event announcement : http://ow.ly/twOiX
Apr 5: The Palos Verdes/ Point Vicente Whale of a Day Event
(BLM Facebook)
The event was rescheduled from March to April due to poor weather. Come celebrate the magnificent gray whale and our California coast. http://www.ca.blm.gov/0sld
Apr 16: Project Archaeology- Teacher Workshop at the San Joaquin River Gorge
(BLM Facebook)
1-Day Teacher Workshop at BLM's San Joaquin River Gorge Management Area Investigating Shelter. http://www.ca.blm.gov/1sld |
DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR VIDEO |
 DOI Weekly Video: February 21, 2014
(DOI YouTube)
This Week at Interior: two solar energy projects are approved near the California-Nevada border; Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor joins President Obama on a visit to drought-stricken California; the first publicly available interactive map of 47,000 onshore wind turbines
is released...
http://youtu.be/F4s7H0v_bvY
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WILDLIFE TRIVIA ANSWER and related information |
When it comes to
Sea lions, which of the following are true?
(f) all of the above
RELATED: Dancing Animals Help Tell Us Why Music Evolved
(National Geographic, 02/16/14)
The question has turned into a burgeoning scientific field -- one that looks at everything from boy-band-loving cockatoos to head-bobbing sea lion -- with implications for how and why music evolved in people. http://www.ca.blm.gov/lsld
VIDEO: Beat Keeping Sea Lion
(UC Santa Cruz YouTube)
Ronan, a resident sea lion at UC Santa Cruz, is the first non-human mammal shown able to find and keep the beat with musical stimuli. http://youtu.be/6yS6qU_w3JQ
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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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