BLM California Newsbytes Issue 703

Title: Untitled Document

Imperial Sand Dunes
ISSUE 703 - DECEMBER 3, 2015
- Thank You To Our Volunteers - Headlines and Highlights - BLM and DOI Highlights - Wildlife Question of the Week - Upcoming Events
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
	Seymour Thanks ACE Crew Seymour Antelope, the Bureau of Land Management mascot, visited the Alabama Hills to thank an American Conservation Experience (ACE) crew for their hard work and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. (BLM Newsbytes)
	OHV Clubs Pitch in With Cow Mountain Volunteer Work Volunteers from two off-highway vehicle clubs pitched in to help the Bureau of Land Management’s Ukiah Field Office with maintenance projects on Cow Mountain. (BLM Newsbytes) Related: Thank you to our volunteers for giving your time to public lands (BLM Facebook)
HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS
	Field Trip Focuses on Cultural and Historic Resources Archaeology professionals from California State University, Chico got some hands-on exposure to the Bureau of Land Management cultural resources and grazing management processes and saw historic and cultural resources sites,  when they joined staff from the Applegate Field in mid November to tour the Bare Grazing Allotment. (BLM Newsbytes)
	Ukiah Promotes Every Kid in a Park Staff from the Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office visited Yokayo Elementary Schools in Ukiah to promote Every Kid in a Park and hand out passes. Eighty-five children in three class rooms swapped out their paper passes with EKiP plastic passes. Students shared memories of the time they have spent on public lands in Northern California, including everything from hiking and mountain biking to seeing waterfalls and racing ATVs. (BLM Newsbytes)
	Stunning Public Lands Remind Us We Have A Lot To Be Thankful For This Holiday Season Located in the southeast corner of California, the Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in the state.  Formed by windblown sands of ancient Lake Cahuilla, the dune system extends for more than 40 miles in a band averaging 5 miles wide (map).  Widely known as “Glamis” and a favorite location for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, the dunes also offer fabulous scenery, opportunities for solitude, and a home to rare plants and animals. (BLM Tumblr) Related: Thanksgiving: Desert Pilgrams go off-road in Glamis (The Press Enterprise)
	Stargazing Here, for your weekend inspiration, we share some of our favorite stargazing spots on public lands! (BLM Tumblr)
	Feinstein Turns to Obama to Protect California Desert San Francisco Chronicle, 11/25/2015 Standing in 97-degree heat before a rowdy crowd of nearly 1,000 people last month at the Whitewater Preserve north of Palm Springs, Sen. Dianne Feinstein made clear that she will do whatever is necessary to protect California desert. At that public meeting she called on Oct. 13, Feinstein recounted her horror six years ago when she learned that one of the last open stretches of historic Route 66 was about to be boxed in by miles of industrial-scale solar and wind farms. (Read full story)
Our Voice: New DRECP a Good Start to Build On The Desert Sun, 11/28/2015 Seven years after work began — and three years beyond the original deadline — officials have come forward with the federal lands portion of a strategy for renewable energy development and land conservation in California’s deserts. Phase I of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan designates renewable energy, conservation and recreation zones across 10 million acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. (Read full story)
Latest: California’s Plan for Conservation-Minded Energy Development Takes its First Step Forward High Country News, 12/2/2015 The first wave of major renewable energy projects in Western deserts began in the mid-2000s, with several large solar projects and wind farms approved for California and Nevada. In response, federal and California officials started work on the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan in 2008, to guide development while protecting wildlife and recreation. (Read full story)
Land Trusts to Restore 8,000 Acres of Carrizo Plain Wildlife Habitat The Tribune, 12/2/2015 The Santa Margarita-based Carrizo Plain Conservancy has teamed up with the Sequoia Riverlands Trust in an ambitious plan to restore thousands of acres of degraded wildlife habitat in the Carrizo Plain area of southeastern San Luis Obispo County. (Read full story)
Off-Roaders May Again have Access to Federal Land in Fresno County McClatchy DC, 12/2/2015 San Joaquin Valley lawmakers want to reopen some western Fresno County land to off-road vehicles, but there’s a price to be paid. In a classic Capitol Hill tradeoff, conservatives would get the Clear Creek Management Area reopened to off-roaders while liberals would secure new wilderness and wild-and-scenic river designation for other federal lands. (Read full story)
BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS
	Connecting People to Their Public Lands 2015 The BLM has a long tradition of connecting people of all ages to their public lands. In March of 2014, the Secretary of the Interior’s goal of “engaging the next generation” expanded this tradition and brought renewed attention to reaching out to young people, the future stewards of public lands. (BLM Tumblr)
	Visit Stunning Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is located at the crossroads of the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou mountain ranges. The convergence of these three geologically distinct mountain ranges creates biological diversity and a tremendously varied landscape. (BLM Tumblr)
	Lincoln County Conservation On this day, in 2004 President George W. Bush signed the Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation and Development Act into law. The Act added 14 BLM-managed wilderness areas to the National Wilderness System, including the Mount Irish Wilderness Area, featured above. (BLM Tumblr)
WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK
	“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog” – these are some of the ingredients used by the witches in Macbeth to cast spells. Why would it be a bad idea for non-witches to use newts as a spell-casting ingredient? (a.) They have large, sharp teeth (b.) They are poisonous (c.) They carry a virus that causes warts in humans (d.) Their skins excrete a powerful hallucinogen (e.) They have very sharp barbed spikes on their forelegs Keep reading for answer below
UPCOMING EVENTS
Jan 6 and Feb 3: La Quinta Doggie Hikes Join the friends of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument group for a doggie hike on your public lands.
WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER
Answer : (b.) They are poisonous "California Newt - Taricha torosa" (BLM California wildlife database) California Newts are quite poisonous, as are all newts of the genus Torosa, so it is not advised to handle these salamanders. If you do, wash your hands before touching your eyes or anything that you might put in your mouth. SOURCE: BLM Wildlife Database (BLM Website)