A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California Issue 655-12/19/2014- Visit us on Facebook -- Follow us on Twitter -- Share us with friends and colleagues! THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES: - Happy Holidays - Discover the Coast - Wild Horse and Burro - Headlines and Highlights - Wildlife Trivia Question of the Week - BLM and Department of the Interior Highlights If this message does not show up properly in your email, you can see it online at: http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,8gb7,lf2,1bct,ijo3 HAPPY HOLIDAYS On behalf of BLM, we wish you and your loved ones a happy hoilday and a happy New Year! BLMers Giving back: Sharing a Lifesaving Gift this Holiday Season (BLM Facebook) 120 and counting! As of Wednesday, Dec. 10, the BLM California State Office hosted its 120th blood drive. BLM California has been part of the Federal Employees of Cottage Way Donor Club for BloodSource blood drives since June 1989. To date, the club has collected over 5,200 pints of blood from over 700 consistent donors, according to Blood Source's records. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,5yy5,gsol,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Giving Back (BLM Tumblr) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,c0qc,8eib,1bct,ijo3 Gifts of Nature (BLM Facebook) Children & Nature Network shared "The 12 Last Minute Gifts of Nature: And Now for a Completely Different Shopping Experience" by Richard Louv. Purchase an annual adventure pass for that special someone in your life. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,cfq2,54lg,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Adventure passes are for sale at BLM offices or online at http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,kauu,l26z,1bct,ijo3 DISCOVER THE COAST Coast Dairies Hike (BLM Facebook) Check out photos from this guided hike into the redwoods at Liddell Creek on Bureau of Land Management - California's Coast Dairies property at Davenport. The property is adjacent to our San Vicente Redwoods property. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,dacv,iaec,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Discover the Coast at Davenport ( BLM Website) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,7do2,9gdm,1bct,ijo3 National Conservation Lands (BLM Facebook) In honor of the unveiling of three new national vintage-style posters depicting some of the spectacular landscapes of the National Conservation Lands we wanted to highlight one of Californias most spectacular areas, The King Range NCA. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,5zec,2njl,1bct,ijo3 WILD HORSE AND BURRO Stinger and His Sidekick Hanna (BLM Facebook) On the 18th Day of December my true love gave to me...Stinger?? Meet Stinger, an 18 year old horse from the Sand Wash Basin Heard Management Area ridden by Jason Williams. Stinger was gathered when he was 3 years old then trained by the BLM and used as a wrangler horse at the Cannon City Prison Training Program in Colorado. Stinger is used for trail patrol on BLM public lands, events, packing supplies into remote fire camps, and other duties as assigned. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,f091,50yx,1bct,ijo3 Meet Emily and Emilio (BLM Facebook) On the 15th Day of December my true love gave to me...a fairy tale?? Meet Emily and Emilio, who won first place in the High Desert District's "First Annual Fun Open Horse Show." They entered the costume contest as Ana and Sven from Disney's "Frozen." Emilio is an 11-year old burro gathered from the Slate Creek Range in California. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,d9dh,7b4t,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Follow #BLMWHB on Facebook for more stories throughout the month of December. RELATED: Wild Horse and Burro Program (BLM Website) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,ly3u,etma,1bct,ijo3 OTHER CALIFORNIA HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS Say No to Trigger Trash! ( News.bytes Extra) If you drive north out of the Inland Empire into the High Desert of southern California between Victorville and Barstow, you may not notice that an unintentional dumping ground is being created. Just off either side of the interstate are areas of state, federal and private land where one can find some picturesque desert vistas of San Bernardino County. However, there are also piles of trash consisting of shot-up computer monitors and towers, old televisions, pieces of glass bottles, washing machines, cell phones and shotgun shells. Federal law enforcement rangers that patrol these areas call the piles "trigger trash." http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,58ff,62s4,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Say No to Trigger Trash (BLM Facebook) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,dqb9,150b,1bct,ijo3 Crews Complete Fire Safety-Land Health Project at Eagle Lake (News.bytes Extra) Just steps ahead of winter storms, fire crews from the Bureau of Land Management’s Eagle Lake Field Office set fire to about 500 piles of brush and juniper limbs, completing the last prescribed burning of a 10-year project to improve wildfire safety and landscape health near Eagle Lake in northeast California. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,5t4z,j3nl,1bct,ijo3 RELATED: Crews Complete Fire Safety (BLM Facebook) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,i9ft,7ekl,1bct,ijo3 Protection Sought for Scenic California Region (Associated Press, 12/18/2014) A contingent of California environmental groups, business representatives and politicians will use a visit Friday from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to push for permanent protection of some 350,000 acres of picturesque federal land near the state's famous wine country. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,fkfl,5yyo,1bct,ijo3 Native Americans Challenge Construction of Mojave Desert Solar Plant (LA Times, 12/12/2014) A federally recognized Indian tribe has filed a lawsuit to block construction of a solar energy facility that will replace 4,000 acres of ancestral homelands in the Mojave Desert with reflective photovoltaic panels. The Colorado River Indian Tribes' lawsuit claims the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's environmental impact statement for the project failed to adequately take into account its effects on the area's ecosystem, cultural resources, groundwater and the Colorado River. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,d67c,88cc,1bct,ijo3 Carmel River Diverted to Demolish San Clemente Dam (San Francisco Chronicle, 12/14/2014) The Carmel River had just begun flowing after the recent rains, prompting Lorin Letendre and several others to hike up to a ridge above the San Clemente Dam in Monterey County this past week to see the surging stream. Letendre, the president of the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy, was not so interested in the forested slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains as he was the tableau of human engineering that stretched out before him. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,ojk,a510,1bct,ijo3 Rare Desert Lizard May Get State Protection (KCET, 12/11/2014) A small and secretive horned lizard may warrant protection under the state law, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency is recommending that the state's Fish and Game Commission consider listing the flat-tailed horned lizard as Endangered under the California Endangered Species Act... Meanwhile, Imperial County has been a bit of a stronghold for the flat-tailed horned lizard, but its numbers are declining even there, especially with that county's new surge of solar and wind development. The Bureau of Land Management recently reopened 43,000 acres of flat-tail habitat in the Algodones Dunes to off-road vehicle use. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,eg2u,2y4f,1bct,ijo3 House Passes Bill to Block Cemex Mine (Santa Clarita Valley Signal, 12/11/ 2014) A bill aimed at blocking development of the proposed Cemex sand and gravel mine in Canyon Country passed the U.S. House of Representatives, bringing renewed hope to legislators and Santa Clarita city officials who have long sought to resolve the years-long mine matter. The bills...would direct the Bureau of Land Management to cancel mining contracts held by Cemex, a multi-national mining firm. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,29kn,l4im,1bct,ijo3 Holdout Senator Says Cemex Bill Sets Bad Precedent (Santa Clarita Valley Signal, 12/15/2014) A New Mexico senator who claims to be an advocate for environmental causes said Monday he opposes the Cemex bill- which would prevent a 56 million ton sand-and-gravel mine from opening in the Santa Clarita Valley - because it sets a "dangerous precedent." The Cemex bill, or Soledad Canyon Settlement Act, calls for the Bureau of Land Management to cancel two 10-year contracts Cemex has for mineral rights in Soledad Canyon, In exchange, BLM officials would sell about 10,000 acres in San Bernardino County to compensate Cemex for the contracts. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,2k5d,g9jw,1bct,ijo3 RELATED : Bureau of Land Management Testimony on S.771, Soledad Canyon Settlement Act:11/20/2013 (pdf) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,2eyq,324t,1bct,ijo3 Women Drive Ascending Popularity of Waterfowl Hunting (Sacramento News & Review, 11/6/2014) State wildlife agencies are diversifying interest in the lucrative sport of hunting by turning their sights to a once-overlooked audience: women and children. Ducks, geese and other winged prey better watch their feathered backs. Applications for waterfowl hunting have experienced a steady increase over the past decade in California. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,lvdq,9kv4,1bct,ijo3 WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK Sculpin are unusual fish in that they have: (a.) few or no scales. (b.) especially sensitive eyes, to see in abandoned mine pits and underwater caves. (c.) toxic spikes that they shoot at predators. (d.) rudimentary lungs, rather than gills. (e.) fur instead of scales. (f.) suitable habitat only in online comics, such as Reticulate World. ------> See answer near the end of this issue of News.bytes. BLM and DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR Highlights This Week at Interior (Video): December 12, 2014 (DOI Youtube) This week: Secretary Jewell welcomes ambassadors from three Pacific island nations threatened by climate change; a new report shows streams in the Chesapeake Bay region are warming due to rising air temperatures; Secretary Jewell announces new tools to help local communities build resistance to climate change; and Deputy Secretary Connor announces a major milestone for the Western Solar Plan http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,3ogf,7cde,1bct,ijo3 Vintage Poster Series: Celebrating America's Newest Conservation System! (BLM Tumblr) The Bureau of Land Management introduced three more vintage posters in an ongoing series depicting some of the spectacular landscapes of our National Conservation Lands. http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,doko,hun8,1bct,ijo3 WILDLIFE TRIVIA ANSWER (a.) few or no scales. SOURCE:"Reticulate Sculpin - Cottus perplexus" (BLM California wildlife database) http://www.elabs10.com/ct.html?ufl=0&rtr=on&s=x8pbwi,2422s,3xn3,enkr,j487,1bct,ijo3
