BLM California Newsbytes Issue 709

Title: Untitled Document

California Coastal National Monument 

ISSUE 709 - JANUARY 29, 2015

- Wildfire Prepardness and Rehibilatation
- Discover the Desert
- Discover the Coast
- Headlines and Highlights
- BLM and DOI Highlights
- Wildlife Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events

WILDFIRE PREPARDNESS AND REHABILITATION

Veteran Firepower

The Bureau of Land Management, in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Team Rubicon, conducted a wildland firefighter training session for veterans. Over 50 Team Rubicon students participated and received instruction in wildland fire suppression tactics, including communication techniques, fireline construction, equipment operation and other critical wildland firefighting skills. (BLM Newsbytes)

Helicopters to Start Spreading Wood Shreds in Butte Fire Burn Area

Calaveras Enterprise, 1/25/2016
Beginning this week, about 280 truckloads of wood shreds are being hauled to the Butte Fire burn area where they will later be dropped by helicopters for erosion control. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management awarded Mountain West Helicopters a $2 million contract to disperse nearly 35,000 cubic yards of wood shreds on 1,400 acres of BLM land in the burn zone, mostly along Jesus Maria Creek. Read full story 

3 Million Set Aside for Lake Tahoe Wildfire Reduction

Sierra Sun, 1/25/2016
More than $3 million to help reduce wildfire risk at Lake Tahoe was included in the latest round of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. The funding is part of nearly $40 million going to projects around Nevada and California to reduce wildfire risk, conserve landscapes, restore wildlife habitat, and improve public recreation, said Tahoe Regional Planning Agency spokesman Tom Lotshaw. Read full story 

DISCOVER THE DESERT

Discover the Desert- Return to Tatooine

Galactic aliens along with local earthlings descended upon the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area on Saturday, January 23, 2016 to participate in a Star Wars themed Discover the Desert event. The BLM El Centro Field Office staff partnered with United Desert Gateway, the Imperial Valley Film Commission and the Imperial Sands Garrison of the 501st Legion to bring the Star Wars planet Tatooine back to life. (BLM Newsbytes)

Related: Hundreds Turn-Out For Fun Day In the Desert (KXOAM 1230/FM107.5)

Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the Discover the Desert-Star Wars Event a huge success! We hope you had fun and enjoyed your public lands! (BLM Facebook)

Calico Ghost Town in California Remains A lively Attraction

Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1/23/2016
A veteran of the boom-and-bust cycles common to western mining towns, Calico ghost town thrives today as a popular San Bernardino County regional park near Barstow, Calif. Open year-round, this attraction in the middle of the Mojave Desert is best visited during the cooler months. Read full story 

British History – Historical Film Location Near Los Angeles

Union Jack, 1/3/2016
Forged from glaciers and sacred to Native Americans, lies the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, California where many films were shot on location. Most of these films brought cowboys to the screen like Hopalong Cassidy, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and John Wayne. However, some films brought British actors and directors to a place located a mere three hour drive from the Hollywood sign. Read full story 

Related: Discover the Desert at Alabama Hills (BLM Website)

DISCOVER THE COAST 

King Tides Hike on the California Coastal National Monument

California Coastal National Monument manager, David Ledig, shares a hike from last Friday morning during the January 22nd King Tide at the Point Arena – Stornetta Unit of the California Coastal National Monument. (BLM Newsbytes)

Related: Discover the Coast at Point Arena (BLM Website)

BLM, Partners will open Trinidad Lighthouse Sunday

Tours of the historic Trinidad Light Station and living history presentations about the demanding life of the light keeper’s family will be offered in a free open house Sunday, Jan. 31, in at the historic lighthouse on Trinidad Head. Tours will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and living history presentations by Julie Clark of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be held throughout the day. (BLM News Release)

HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS

California Wildlife Photo Contest Winner 2015

2015 Wildlife Photo of the Year
American Pika with grass appears to be smiling for the camera. Not only is Yosemite National Park a “premier” California Watchable Wildlife viewing site, it’s part of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy region, and this elusive creature is an endagered species.  (BLM Facebook)

Retiring California Lawmakers Talk About What’s Left to do and Whats Next

LA Times, 1/22/2016
With less than a year until their replacements are sworn in, California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Reps. Sam Farr and Lois Capps are checking off their to-do lists, trying to wrap up decades of work in Washington. Capps’ to-do list includes making the Piedras Blancas Light Station near San Simeon and its 141-year-old lighthouse a national monument. . . . Before he leaves office next January, Farr wants to pass the Clear Creek National Recreation Act, a bill he has proposed before without success. Read full story

Federal, San Bernardino County Pact to Aims to Crush Mining Permit Times

San Bernardino Sun, 1/25/2016
Officials connected to the mining industry are hoping the recent agreement between county and federal officials will smooth out the permitting process for mining activity. “I’ve seen permits that should take 30 days to get approved, take two years,” said Dinah Shumway, a Victorville-based economic geologist who does consulting for the mining industry. Earlier this month, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a memorandum of understanding with the Bureau of Land Management for expedited environmental review and permitting of mining activities on federal lands administered by the BLM. Read full story 

Elephant Seals Pups Face Dangers of Drowning, Separation from Mom

The Tribune, 1/28/2016
Plenty of pups squirm on the beach in January, under the watchful eyes of their mothers. The bulls are less concerned, with their attention focused on mating. This year’s high tides and storms have added to the chaos. Elephant seal pups can’t swim when they are born. That inability must be a holdover from their evolutionary past, when their ancestors were land mammals. As helpless pups, they are at risk of drowning as waves inundate the beach. Read full story 

A Tale of Two BLM Mascots

High County News, 1/25/2016
Revelers in Phoenix for the 2015 Super Bowl likely expected to see Blitz, the muscular blue bird that is the Seattle Seahawks’ mascot, along with Pat Patriot, the war-hero symbol of the rival New England Patriots.  But they weren’t prepared for the shorts-wearing pronghorn handing out bookmarks in front of a desert backdrop. Read full story 

BLM Seeking Public Comments on Off-Highway Vehicle Grant Application

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Eagle Lake Field Office is accepting public suggestions and comments regarding management needs and projects that would benefit off-highway vehicle recreation on public lands. The field office staff will use the comments to develop a preliminary grant application to the California State Parks Off- Highway Motor Vehicle Division. (BLM News Release)

Editorial The Government Should Expand Protections for California’s Deserts

LA Times, 1/28/2016
Anyone who has driven through the California deserts — especially those who have wandered away from the freeways — has experienced the subtle majesty of vast open spaces, of the arroyos that wind back to jagged steep-sided mountains and of the magnificent plants and wildlife that thrive despite the low water, intense heat and relentless sun. The world tends to think of California nature in terms of beaches and redwoods and mountains, Big Sur and the Sierra Nevada, but the deserts are also part of who we are. Read full story 

Knight Urges Timely Turnaround on Cemex Decision

Signalsscv, 1/28/2016
Representative Steve Knight (CA-25) sent a letter on Thursday requesting that the final judgment on the proposed Cemex mine in Soledad Canyon be delivered as soon as possible.  The letter, which was addressed to Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor, comes after the Bureau of Land Management’s decision in August to cancel Cemex’s mining contracts in the Santa Clarita Valley. Shortly after that pronouncement, Cemex exercised its right to appeal the cancellation, initiating a legal proceeding that could take over two years to complete. Read full story 

BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS

This Week: Protecting Wildlife Around the World

Secretary Jewell travels through Africa in support of U.S. efforts to fight illegal wildlife trafficking; the Secretary makes an appearance on ABC’s “Rock the Park” to push her youth initiative; and it’s a major milestone for the National Park Service. (DOI YouTube)

Travel with Guest Photographer Bob Wick and Retrace Wyoming’s Historic Emigrant Trails!

It’s hard to believe that just over 150 years ago, hundreds of thousands of pioneers traversed these vast high deserts of Wyoming on foot and by wagon seeking a better life in the west. Easterners looking to farm in the rich soils of Oregon or to find riches in the California goldfields, Mormons pulling handcarts towards the Brigham Young’s settlements in the Great Salt Lake Valley, and riders on the short-lived Pony Express mail route all converged west of Casper to make their way over a low point in the Continental divide at South Pass.  (BLM Tumblr)

Wildfire Plan Seen as Biggest Land Policy Change in Decades

Associated Press, 1/26/2016
A year after Interior Secretary Sally Jewell shifted the national approach to fighting wildfires across a wide swath of sagebrush country in the West, her strategy is turning out to be one of the most significant federal land policy changes in some 80 years, public land experts, outdoor enthusiasts and scientists say. The five-page order she issued last January directed federal resources for the first time to fight massive blazes in open sagebrush steppe habitat that supports cattle ranching, recreation and some 350 species of wildlife, including the imperiled sage grouse. Read full story 

Coal Projects Advance but Won’t be Final Under Moratorium

Associated Press, 1/27/2016
U.S. officials on Wednesdaycleared the way for a review of two mining projects that would dig up 644 million tons of coal from public lands, despite a recent government moratorium halting federal coal sales. Wyoming, Montana and U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials approved moving forward with a multiyear evaluation of the projects located next to existing mines in the states’ Powder River Basin, the nation’s largest coal-producing region. Read full story 

Obama Targets Methane Emissions on Federal Land

The Hill, 1/29/2016
The Obama administration is targeting oil and natural gas drillers on federal land in its latest regulatory push to cut down on methane emissions. In a set of standards proposed Friday by the Interior Department, regulators want to restrict the rates at which drillers deliberately or accidentally release natural gas. The standards are also intended to restrict the deliberate burning of gas that is not captured. It’s the latest climate change-related push from the Obama administration, and comes after several organizations this week pronounced 2015 as the warmest year on record. Read full story 

Keep Public Lands in Public Nands

Idaho Statesman, 1/27/2016
Together, Americans own 193 million acres of national forests and 245 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management. These lands have been a vital part of the nation’s fabric for a century, providing sustained yields of timber and valuable minerals, world-class fish and wildlife, vast recreational opportunities and drinking water. Read full story 

Oregon Standoff Day 28: What you need to know Friday

The Oregonian, 1/29/2016
As we enter Day 28 of the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, here are the latest developments. And then there were four. After a series of arrests and voluntary departures, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was left in the hands of just four people Thursday night. The live-streams that had colorfully documented the earlier days of the nearly monthlong occupation petered out. As occupiers stopped answering calls from the outside, they apparently kept up negotiations over the terms of their departure. Talks with the FBI were continuing “around the clock,” said Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge in Portland. Read full story 

WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The largest short-tailed weasels weigh only six ounces. And they...
(a) …hunt in packs to bring down larger prey.
(b) …act as cute and cuddly as they look.
(c) …prey on animals larger than themselves.
(d) …build clusters of dens together, for mutual protection.
(e) …went all Paparazzi Goes the Weasel on the guy who took this picture.
Keep reading for answer below

UPCOMING EVENTS

Feburary 11: Open House for 2016 Off-Highway Vehicle Grants

The Inyo National Forest and the Bishop Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold an open house Feb. 11 to gather ideas from the public for requesting off-highway vehicle grant funds. The informal open house will run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Forest Service/BLM office, 351 Pacu Lane, Bishop. (BLM NewsRelease)

Feburary 13: Piedras Blancas Light Station Plans Living History Tour

The Piedras Blancas Light Station will celebrate its 141st birthday Feb. 13 with a living history tour, “Peek at the Past.”Guides in period attire and enactors will portray life at the light station in the 1890s during this special event. Details: PiedrasBlancasTours@gmail.com

February 5-7: Wild Horse &Burro Adoption in Pomona

Six to ten gentled horses and six gentled burros will be available for adoption by oral bid auction. (BLM News Release)

March 5: Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival

Mark your calendars now for our 9th Annual Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival on March 5! (Friends of the Desert Mountains Facebook)

WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER

The largest short-tailed weasels weigh only six ounces. And they…

(c) …prey on animals larger than themselves.

Although the largest short-tailed weasels measure only slightly more than a foot long and weigh only six ounces, these small mammals are not afraid to go after such prey as cottontails and other rabbits, birds, and snakes. They usually go after larger food only when smaller food (such as insects, shrews, frogs, and mice) are unavailable.

SOURCE: “Short-tailed weasel – Mustela erminea“ (BLM California wildlife database)
Learn more about this answer — and see a larger photo of the short-tailed weasel.

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