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Sage-Grouse (Photo by Bob Wick, BLM)
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ISSUE 693 - SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 |
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- Sage-Grouse Conservation
- Sage-Grouse Conservation in California
- National Public Lands Day
- Happy First Day of Fall
- National Conservation Lands
- Headlines and Highlights
- BLM and DOI Highlights
- Wildlife Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events
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SAGE-GROUSE CONSERVATION |
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An unprecedented, landscape-scale conservation effort across the western United States has significantly reduced threats to the greater sage-grouse across 90 percent of
the species’ breeding habitat and enabled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conclude that the charismatic rangeland bird does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. This collaborative, science-based greater sage-grouse strategy is the largest land conservation
effort in U.S. history. (DOI News Release)
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Once seen in great numbers across the West, greater sage-grouse have declined in number over the past century because of
the loss of sagebrush habitats essential for their survival and had been candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act. (DOI YouTube)
Related: Top 5 Things You Should Know About the Sage
Grouse (DOI Website)
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The Washington Post, 9/22/2015
The Interior Department said Tuesday it won’t propose federal protections for the greater sage grouse, a chicken-sized bird of the sagebrush that ranges from California to
the Dakotas. (Read full
story)
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Los Angeles Times, 9/24/2015
They worried the feds were going to shut down the West. Five years ago, federal scientists recommended adding a new name to the endangered species list: the greater sage grouse, an obscure but once-omnipresent bird whose population had been in steep decline for more than a century. The
catch: The bird dwells in the scrubby carpet of sagebrush that stretches across 165 million acres and 11 western states – land that also includes oil and gas fields, wind energy farms, mines and cattle ranches. Many political and industry leaders said an endangered listing would strangle the
western economy. (Read full story)
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This majestic bird has good reason to celebrate. The greater sage-grouse doesn’t require endangered species protection thanks to
America’s largest land conservation effort. (BLM Tumblr)
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SAGE-GROUSE CONSERVATION IN CALIFORNIA |
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Today’s announcement that the greater sage-grouse will not be listed as threatened or endangered was welcome news for a northeast California team hard at work on the
species, but it will not slow down their ongoing work to find collaborative approaches to conserving the sagebrush sea. (BLM Newsbytes)
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Native plants have been one of the tools used by the Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office to rebuild greater sage-grouse habitat damaged by fire. Over
the years, the Bishop Field Office has been growing native plants for restoration projects at the local Deepest Valley Native Plant Propagation Center. (BLM Newsbytes)
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California’s Eastern Sierra region is a dramatic transition zone between the snow-capped granite spires of the Sierra Nevada and the endless sagebrush covered
uplands of the Great Basin. More than 100,000 acres of BLM lands cover most of the Bodie Hills and include several wilderness study areas. (BLM Tumblr)
Watch the Sagebrush Sea on PBS to learn more about Greater Sage-grouse habitat: (PBS.Org)
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NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY |
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On September 26th, celebrate something we all share…our public lands. (National Environmental Education Foundation Facebook)
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National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the largest volunteer event for America’s public lands. NPLD is held on a Saturday in late September when thousands of Americans
volunteer to improve and enhance our nation’s public lands. National Public Lands Day 2015 will officially take place on Saturday September 26, 2015. In BLM California, NPLD events will also take place on other days during the fall. (BLM Website)
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Volunteer on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 26th, with a trail project at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument! (BLM Facebook)
Related: National Public Lands Day (BLM Website)
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HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL |
Happy First Day Of Fall! Check out Fall colors when you
visit Bizz
Johnson National Recreation Trail. (BLM Facebook)
Related: Bizz Johnson Trail
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Everything you need to know for the perfect camping experience…Just in time for the first day of
fall! (Student Conservation Association Facebook)
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The First Day Of Fall means cooler temps are coming, but wildfire danger remains high. Are you Set? (CAL FIRE Facebook)
Related: Ready For Wildfire
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NATIONAL CONSERVATION LANDS |
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Covering 68,000 acres and extending along 35 miles of coastline in California, King Range National Conservation Area
preserves the dramatic meeting of the land and the sea. This remote region is known as California’s Lost Coast and is only accessed by a few back roads. But it’s worth the effort! (BLM Tumblr)
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Indian Pass #Wilderness preserves jagged peaks and spires incised by mazes of
twisting canyons in a distinctive part of the aptly named Chocolate Mountains. The area is crowned by rugged Quartz Peak in the western portion. (BLM Facebook)
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BLM Bakersfield wildlife biologists joined researchers from the Carrizo Plain Ecosystem Project for annual monitoring of endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens) populations on the Carrizo Plain National Monument. (BLM Newsbytes)
Related: Carrizo Plain Ecosystem Project
(Carrizoscience.org)
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The New Yorker, 10/19/2015
The first giant kangaroo rat I saw was fluffy and round, with cartoonishly large eyes. It looked like something that might be big in Japan. It was also long dead—stuffed, mounted, and stuck haphazardly alongside a dozen other, less exotic mammals (a skunk, a possum, a field mouse) in a
low display case on the uppermost floor of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Although I fear and despise nearly all rodents, I was smitten with this one. (Read full story)
Related: Carrizo Plain National Monument
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HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS |
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The Tribune, 9/18/2015
Rep. Lois Capps, along with two of her congressional colleagues, introduced a bill Friday that would add the historical Piedras Blancas Light Station and three other important sites to the California Coastal National Monument. (Read full story)
Related: Piedras Blancas Light
Station (BLM Website)
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The Desert Sun, 9/18/2015
While national policymakers spin their wheels debating climate science, California is charging ahead to promote clean energy — with support from Democrats and Republicans alike. More than
a quarter of the state’s electricity now comes from renewables, and last month lawmakers approved a 50 percent clean energy mandate. (Read full story)
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Capital Press, 9/22/2015
The state’s water board has agreed to discontinue developing blanket regulations affecting grazing near streams — at least for now. Employees recommended the State Water Resources Control Board stop preparing the Grazing Regulatory Action Project, or GRAP, after receiving
testimony from ranchers and others and visiting several ranches earlier this year. (Read full story)
Related: Grazing (BLM Website)
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Outside, 5/28/2013
Trona Pinnacles, California
Keep a lunar calendar handy when planning your trek to the Trona Pinnacles: these otherworldly formations are at their best during the full moon. Over 500 porous tufa spires sit on the dried-out Searles Lake basin, and they’re especially striking under a vast night sky. A bonus for sci-fi
enthusiasts: the Pinnacles have made appearances in TV shows and films like Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. (Read full story )
Related: Trona Pinnacles (BLM website)
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KRCR News, 9/18/2015
The Northstate is home to a local legend about a stagecoach robbery that is now commemorated with a historical plaque. The gold stolen in the heist more than 120 years ago has never been found. The Bureau of Land Management unveiled the new interpretive panel Thursday along the Middle
Creek Trail east of Old Shasta in Shasta County. The plaque recalls the story of the Ruggles brothers who robbed a stagecoach west of Redding in 1892. (Read full story )
ICYMI: Video
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The Californian, 9/20/2015
Late afternoon winds and low humidity on Saturday forced a roadside fire to spread onto both sides of Highway 68 west of Salinas. The fire burned 100 acres of hilly terrain and threatened dozens of homes between Corral de Tierra Road and Laureles Grade Road. Fire crews managed to extinguish
fires that spread to two residences, partially burning them. No other structures were damaged. (Read full story)
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BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS |
This Week at Interior September 18, 2015
This week: a historic settlement ends a 25-year legal battle between the U.S. government and 600+ tribal entities; as wildfires continue to burn across the West, a call to change the way the nation pays for
wildfire costs; a possible renewable energy lease sale offshore North Carolina moves forward; and good news for the rabbit that inspired “Peter Cottontail.” (DOI YouTube)
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Celebrate the First Day of Autumn in the Great Outdoors! – Bureau of Land Management – Colorado. It’s the first day of fall, and one of the most vibrant locations in the Western U.S. is the San Juan Mountain Region of Southwest Colorado. The San Juans form the southern part of Colorado’s
Rocky Mountains and is thought by some to have the most varied scenery in the world. (BLM Tumblr)
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WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK |
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Which predator is the most dangerous to Bobcats?
a) humans
b) dogs
c) deer
Keep reading for answer below |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
Volunteers needed to help install new interpretive signs highlighting some of the rich cultural and historical heritage at the Keysville Special Recreation Management Area, clean up Keysville's Slippery Rock Boat Launch and plant native trees and shrubs in the area as part of a
restoration and beautification effort. (BLM News Release)
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As part of National Public Lands Day, The Barstow Field Office invites volunteers to participate in a general clean-up of public lands in the Ord Mountain/East Stoddard Valley
area. Check-In will begin at 7:00 a.m. and lunch will be provided to all volunteers. (BLM Website)
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Volunteers are welcome to help with a National Public Lands Day cleanup project at Clear Creek near Redding, Saturday, Sept. 26.The Bureau of Land Management, Western Shasta
Resource Conservation District, Chico State Research Foundation and Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve will host the event. Working from the creek banks and along Clear Creek Road, volunteers will remove old fencing, pick up litter, scour off graffiti and repair fire-damaged hiking trails in the
day-long project. (BLM News Release)
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Save the Date! November 6, 2015 marks the 15th anniversary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument –
and we want you to celebrate with us! (BLM Facebook)
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WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER |
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Which predator is the most dangerous to Bobcats?
Answer: a) humans
Foxes and owls are common predators of bobcats, but their worst enemies are humans. Bobcats typically die from being struck by automobiles or from being hunted. Few predators
other than cougars and humans are able to kill an adult bobcat. Adult bobcats may receive fatal or debilitating injuries from prey animals.
Source: BLM Wildlife Database
Living With Wildlife (Washington Department of Fish and
Game)
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