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Tunnison Mountain Wilderness Study Area
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ISSUE 697 - OCTOBER 22, 2015 |
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- Archaeology Month
- Drones
- Discover the Coast
- Headlines and Highlights
- BLM and DOI Highlights
- Wildlife Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events
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ARCHEOLOGY MONTH |
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From creating shelters using reed mats to learning how to throw a spear with an atlatl, a group of 20 hardy northern California residents braved a rainy day Saturday, Oct. 17, to
participate in the second annual Archaeology Day. (BLM Newsbytes)
Related: BLM Heritage program
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More than 200 fourth graders in the Eastern Sierra got a special lesson on the natural history of Fish Slough, a Bureau of Land Management Area
of Critical Environmental Concern, through the Bishop Field Office’s Hands on the Land program earlier this month. (BLM Newsbytes)
Related: Fish Slough (BLM Website)
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DRONES |
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The Sacramento Bee, 10/21/2015
The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, Oct. 20:
Anyone who owns a car, motorcycle or plane must register it with authorities so they can be found and held accountable if they crash into someone or something. Soon the operators of drones, more formally known as unmanned aircraft systems, will have to do so too. This is very good news for
public safety. (Read full story)
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Associated Press, 10/19/2015
The federal government will require many drone aircraft to be registered, a move prompted by the growing number of reported close calls and incidents that pose safety risks, officials announced Monday. (Read full story)
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A bird? A plane? Nope, just another drone intrusion yesterday on the Wheeler Fire in Utah that shutdown all aviation
operations. This is the 19th reported drone intrusion this year. (National Interagency Fire Center
Facebook)
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DISCOVER THE COAST |
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A Walnut Creek, Calif. artist has received the Bureau of Land Management’s second annual “King’s
Choice Award” for a painting he completed during Plein Air at the Lost Coast, an outdoor art event held Oct. 1-4 in the King Range National Conservation Area. (BLM Newsbytes)
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The King Range Wilderness, Cache Creek Wilderness and four other wilderness areas were created when the Northern California Coastal Wild
Heritage Wilderness Act was signed. Explore these wilderness areas and other National Conservation Lands with new interactive maps at: National Conservation Lands (BLM Tumblr)
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The Cambrian, 10/21/2015
Lots of seals to see
at Piedras Blancas in October. They’re big, but not as big as the adult bulls who will take over the beach in December. In the fall, it’s all rest and rough-and-tumble play among the youngsters. (Read full story)
Related: Piedras Blancas, Fort Ord National Monument (BLM Websites)
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HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS |
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We received a bit of rain last night leaving pockets of wet sand in areas. (BLM Facebook)
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Victorville Daily Press, 10/21/2015
Just a week ago, nobody was sure if the annual Powder Puff Race Towards a Cure, an all-female off-road race that serves as a fund raiser for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, was even going to take place as scheduled Saturday. Miscommunications between the sponsoring Mojave Off-Road Enthusiasts and the Bureau of Land Management threatened to postpone the race at the last minute. (Read full story)
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Victorville Daily Press, 10/18/2015
Seems like only last month we were looking for shade to camp under for most of the time. The season is changing. As winter slowly moves in, many campers that live outside of California migrate south for a warmer climate. These folks are known as “snowbirds.” The southwest is very
inviting to those who choose to camp in our vast and beautiful Golden State, where folks RV camp for even months at a time. (Read full story)
Related: Long Term Visitor Areas (BLM Website)
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Loyal volunteers from @bristleconecnps, new BLM
volunteers, BLM’s Bishop Field Office staff, and BLM fire crew members from Engine 31/32 planted bitterbrush seedlings within the Indian Fire. The Indian Fire burned approximately 12,000 acres of sagebrush
bitterbrush habitat in 2012. Plantings like this will help create small islands of shrubs that will provide important habitat to sage-grouse and other wildlife. (BLM Facebook)
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Reptile Awareness Day
In case you missed it, Wednesday was Reptile Awareness
Day. Get outdoors to spot these reptiles on my public lands in California! (BLM Facebook)
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The Press Enterprise, 10/16/2015
A solar power plant at the center of the Obama administration’s push to reduce America’s carbon footprint by using millions of taxpayer dollars to promote green energy has its own carbon pollution problem. The Ivanpah plant in the Mojave Desert uses natural gas as a supplementary
fuel. (Read full story)
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LA Times, 10/18/2015
The ash of the Rocky fire was still hot when Gov. Jerry Brown strode to a bank of television cameras beside a blackened ridge and, flanked by firefighters, delivered a battle cry against climate change. The wilderness fire was “a real wake-up call” to reduce the carbon pollution
“that is in many respects driving all of this,” he said. (Read full
story)
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The Bureau of Land Management has announced that restrictions on outdoor use of fire have been lifted for BLM-managed public lands in Butte, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity,
Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties. The areas are managed by the BLM Arcata and Redding field offices. (BLM News Release)
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BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS |
This Week at Interior
October 16, 2015: Celebrating the wonder of national wildlife refuges, a call to action for the Land and
Water Conservation Fund, and we’re preparing for disaster with wildfire funding and the world’s largest earthquake drill. (DOI Youtube)
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WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK |
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The bat population is in steady decline due to what?
a) Human interference
b) White nose syndrome
c) Habitat loss
d) All of the above
Keep reading for answer
below |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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A special fall colors bike ride and shuttle service will be offered Saturday, Oct. 24at the Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail in northeast California. The bike ride, mostly downhill on a
smooth and wide gravel trail, is ideal for families. RSVP and more information at (BLM News Release)
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Reserve a trip back in time! Experience the life of a 1909 Lighthouse keeper on the next Piedras Blancas Light Station Twilight Tour, Saturday, Oct 24! Enactors include light keepers working in the lighthouse, fog signal
building, and blacksmith shop and their wives demonstrating domestic life. With luck, you might also experience a beautiful sunset. (BLM
Facebook)
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Management issues for Central California will be on the agenda when the Bureau of Land Management’s Central California Resource Advisory Council meets Oct. 29-30 in the Mendocino area. The RAC will meet from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, at the Mendocino Hotel, 45080 Main St., Mendocino, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Time for public comment is reserved from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. (BLM News Release)
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The Bureau of Land Management's Northern California Resource Advisory Council will convene for a meeting and field tour Thursday and Friday, Nov. 5 and 6, in the conference
center at the Red Lion Hotel, 1929 Fourth St. in Eureka. On Nov. 5, the council will convene at 9 a.m. and depart immediately for a field tour to public lands managed by the BLM Arcata Field Office. Members of the public are welcome. They must provide their own transportation, meals and
beverages. (BLM Website)
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November 8: BLM Offers Burros for Adoption in Davis
Residents of the Davis area will have the opportunity to add some long ears to the family when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will offer wild burros for adoption at the
Donkey Welfare Symposium on Sun., Nov. 8 California Wild Horse & Burro Adoption
Schedule (BLM Website)
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WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER |
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That bat population is in steady decline due to what?
Answer d) All of the above
“The bat population is in steady decline due to numerous factors. The main reason for the decline is human interference, such as habitat destruction and alteration. Bats live
in natural structures like caves, but they also live in manmade structures such as bridges and abandoned mines. Vandalism in these areas drives the bats away and kills many of them. Activities such as building bonfires under bridges can also cause them to die from smoke inhalation. Many bridges and
mines also contain maternity dens, so these detrimental activities not only kill the adults but the new generations as well. You can help protect bat populations by avoiding areas that may contain bats. If you must enter a bat roost area, be careful to leave the area as you found
it.
A fungus appears to be the cause of a disease called white-nose syndrome, which has killed more than a million bats in the past four years. It even threatens some of the
continent’s most abundant bat species with extinction.
SOURCE: Smithsonian, BLM Wildlife Database
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