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| ISSUE 682 - JULY 9, 2015 | ||||||
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- Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation |
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| Off-Highway Recreation | ||||||
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Top Destinations for OHV Recreation Adventurers
As summer falls upon us, the air is filled with growing excitement and anticipation for the activities spread throughout this adventurous season. This time of year provides an opportunity to explore the
outdoors with some off-road fun with family and friends. As you plan your trip to off-highway vehicle (OHV) areas, take a look at these top BLM OHV destinations suitable for recreational users looking to explore and indulge themselves in the wonderful landscapes California’s public lands
have to offer. |
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Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle AreaLocated in beautiful Northern California. Just 10 miles northwest of Redding, the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle area offers over 200 miles of roads and trails on approximately 52,000 acres for off-road enthusiasts. (BLM Flickr Album) RELATED: Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area (BLM Website) |
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#TrailTuesday#TrailTuesday reminds you to check with California State Parks for current Red Sticker Seasons if you plan a trip this summer to one of California’s great Off-Highway Vehicle Parks. (BLM Facebook) RELATED: California State Off-Highway Motor Vehicular Recreation (State of California website) |
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Imperial Sand Dunes DAC Subgroup MeetingThe Imperial Sand Dunes DAC Subgroup will meet next month! Mark your calendars for August 6, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. at the El Centro Field Office. This is a public meeting and all are encouraged to attend. (BLM Imperial Sand Dunes Facebook) RELATED: Imperial Sand Dunes (BLM Website) |
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| WILDFIRE SEASON | ||||||
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BLM Firefighters Train for Helicopter MissionsAs the summer wildfire season begins to intensify, Bureau of Land Management fire crews in northeast California recently completed training in the safe and effective use of helicopters in battling wildland fires. Helicopters are an essential tool in wildland firefighting. They are used in a variety of ways including transporting crews into back country fire locations, delivering supplies to firefighters in remote locations, dropping water and fire retardant, emergency medical evacuations, reconnaissance and mapping. (BLM News.bytes) |
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| VOLUNTEERS | ||||||
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Volunteers, BLM Benefit from Annual Archaeology WeekVolunteers learned about archaeology, Lassen County history and the importance of protecting cultural resources, when the Bureau of Land Management’s Eagle Lake Field Office hosted its second annual Archaeology Volunteer Week in mid-June. A dozen volunteers were joined by seven BLM archaeologists in the event. Volunteers received instruction on archaeology field methods, compass use and the history of the region before heading to the field to detail findings in the Belfast Petroglyph Site, a well-known cultural resource location near Susanville. (BLM News.bytes) |
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Passport in Time
On this Passport In Time project, volunteers and BLM staff explore the Lost Emigrant Trail. Despite high summer temperatures and a hidden rattlesnake, the Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office and
30 volunteers completed archaeological investigations of a lost emigrant trail. |
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Retired BLMers Still Heeding the Call to Public ServiceThe call to public service that led a group of retired Bureau of Land Management employees into and through their careers still sounds strongly, and a Lake County museum is realizing the benefits of their efforts. Seeing the potential for the museum to acquire a relic of early transportation, Ukiah resident Pardee Bardwell enlisted the help of his former co-workers to rescue an 1875 horsedrawn “doctor’s buggy” from a precarious hillside perch and transport it to a museum which plans to fully restore it. (BLM News.bytes) |
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Thank You to Nick’s InternsA big THANK YOU goes to Nick’s Interns for all the great work at the King Range National Conservation Area. View more photos (BLM Facebook) |
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| DISCOVER THE COAST | ||||||
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Consider this your Nature GetawayThese beautiful images are from California’s far North Coast, where peaks rise from black sand beaches and fog shrouds the forests. (CBS Evening News, 7/2/2015) |
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2nd Annual Discover the Coast @ Point ArenaExplore a self-guided hike along 3.5 miles of coastal trail, visit Point Arena City Hall to enjoy food vendors and an art fair, visit the Mendocino College Coastal Field Station’s open house, and take a free lighthouse tour all at the 2nd Annual Discover the Coast @ Point Arena celebration on August 1. Learn more (BLM Event) |
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| HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS | ||||||
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US wildlife agency won’t list wild horse as endangeredThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a proposal to list the North American wild horse as a threatened or endangered species. The petition said mustang habitat has shrunk 40 percent since President Richard Nixon signed the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act into law in 1971. (Associated Press, 7/2/2015) |
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About 6,200 Marijuana Plants Found in Plumas CountyPlumas County authorities, along with Forest Service law enforcement, say they recovered about 6,200 marijuana plants near Antelope Lake. Sheriff Greg Hagwood says members from Plumas County SWAT, and law enforcement from the Forest Service and BLM conducted a marijuana eradication raid...Deputies say the raid team and support staff recovered approximately 6,200 marijuana plants that ranged from six inches to three feet tall. (KTVN-TV, July 2, 2015) |
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Gun allegedly used in S.F. shooting was reported stolen from ranger’s carThe gun that law enforcement sources here have said was used in a fatal shooting of a 32-year-old woman on the city’s Embarcadero had been reported stolen from the vehicle of a federal law enforcement officer four days before the July 1 killing, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman said Wednesday. The BLM ranger was “on travel when his vehicle was broken into” June 27 and the gun issued to him was stolen, spokeswoman Dana Wilson said. (LA Times, 7/8/2015) |
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Push to Declare Stretch of Santa Cruz Coast a National
Monument
As President Obama nears the end of his term, land conservationists are lining up with proposals to have their piece of the country designated a national monument. It’s something the president can do by executive order, and it can also happen through an act of Congress. In California, there are four proposed monuments: Berryessa Snow Mountain up north, Sand to Snow in the south, Mojave Trails along Route 66 and one along the Santa Cruz coast in Davenport, where not everyone is sold on the idea. Now it’s owned by the Bureau of Land Management, which opens up the property to the public at least once a month for guided tours. The BLM is working on plans for greater access, including the creation of recreational trails, but things are moving slowly partly because of funding. (KQED News, 7/3/2015) |
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Conservation Lands guidelines in playA land-use plan element for Southern California desert lands is shaping into a clash between hands-off protectionists and hands-on miners. The Conservation Lands Foundation says the Bureau of Land Management is using the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan as an opportunity to designate conservation lands, but with a mining component allowed...At the same time, miners are decrying the exclusion of their industry’s activity from more public lands. (Victorville Daily Press, 7/4/2015) |
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Poll: Desert voters prefer excluding miningPollsters debuted a bi-partisan survey on the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Act that shows a majority of desert voters reject mining activity on conservation lands and prefer that solar- and wind-energy projects be located on previously disturbed lands not used for agriculture...The poll shows San Bernardino County voters favor excluding mining from sensitive lands 53-30 percent. In Imperial County the ratio is 59-33 percent and in Kern County 51-39 percent. (Desert Dispatch, 7/8/2015) RELATED: Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (BLM Website) |
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| BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS | ||||||
This Week at Interior, July 2, 2015This week: Secretary Jewell travels to Asia, supporting international efforts to fight wildlife trafficking, and promoting tourism here at home; Team Rubicon heads for Alaska to help fight wildfires in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management; a final rule released by which Indian tribes are recognized by the federal government; new USGS research points to the major threat to polar bears; Interior sponsors the first-ever White House campout; a White House policy change allows still photograph on tours for the first time in 40 years; and Interior wishes everyone a safe and happy Independence Day. (DOI YouTube, 7/2/2015) |
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BLM Director: We are addressing Burning Man issuesMany have read stories in recent days about a proposed lavish encampment for Bureau of Land Management employees working at the Burning Man festival that is held annually on public lands in the Nevada desert. These reports painted a troubling portrait of government employees seeking VIP accommodations and outlandish provisions. Like you, I was surprised and upset by much of what I read. I have directed my team to take a top-to-bottom look at exactly what is needed to properly support BLM employees that have oversight responsibility for this enormous public event in a remote corner of Nevada. (Reno Gazette-Journal, 7/8/2015) |
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Explore the unique Desert Landscapes of BLM Nevada with #mypubliclandsroadtripRock climb and hike at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area – Nevada’s first National Conservation Area. Go behind-the-scenes of a successful equine training program. Learn more about desert habitat and more. (BLM Tumblr) |
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#mypubliclandsroadtripTravels to several stunning BLM Nevada Landscapes#mypubliclandsroadtrip travels to several stunning BLM Nevada landscapes that showcase the diversity of lands managed by BLM. (BLM Tumblr) |
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Explore diverse Wilderness managed by BLM Nevada with #mypubliclandsroadtripThese areas are largely undeveloped, natural, and unconstrained by human activity. They provide outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation. These wilderness lands consist of rugged mountain ranges, broad valleys, and desert plains that house natural and cultural resources. (BLM Tumblr) |
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Report: Public lands activity adds $360 billion to economyRecreation, energy development and other activities on federal lands administered by the Department of the Interior contributed nearly $360 billion to the national economy and created more than 2 million jobs, according to a report for the 2014 fiscal year. The harvest of 500 million board feet of timber on Bureau of Land Management and tribal lands supported $800 million in output and about 3,800 jobs. (The Business Times, 7/5/2015) |
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| WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK | ||||||
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What would happen to you if you are bitten by a lyre snake? Would you most likely:
a) not be severely injured by their venom? |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS | ||||||
July 18: Trail Building WorkshopA trail building workshop is set for Saturday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Hidden Valley Trailhead. Avery Love, a recreation technician with the Bureau of Land Management Arcata Field Office, will instruct participants on techniques for building sustainable trails. (BLM News Release) |
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July 31: Free King Range HikeViews of a Pacific Ocean sunset and rise of the full moon over the King Range will be the rewards Friday, July 31, for those who hike two-and-a-half miles and climb 1,900 feet to the summit of King Peak. BLM Wilderness Ranger Paul Sever will lead the outing from 4 p.m. to midnight. (BLM News Release) |
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| WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER | ||||||
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QUESTION: What would happen to you if you are bitten by a lyre snake? Would you most likely:
ANSWER: a) not be severely injured by their venom. SOURCE: Sonoran lyresnake - Trimorphodon lambda (BLM California wildlife database) |
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