 California Coastal National Monument Orange County Rocks and Islands  |
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- 2018 Planner |
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| 2018 PLANNER | ||||||
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Enjoy the Beauty of California All Year Long with a 2018 PlannerThe Bureau of Land Management manages 15 million acres of public lands in California - nearly 15 percent of the state - and 1.6 million acres in northwestern Nevada. This year’s monthly planner features stunning public lands across the state with impressive employee photography. Get your FREE planner while supplies last. (BLM website) |
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Not Your Ordinary Job: Apply to be a Wildland Firefighter TODAYDo you enjoy the outdoors? Looking for adventurous career? Want a job that challenges you physically? A wildland firefighting job might be for you! Wildland firefighters often travel to remote locations, many that are rarely seen by most people. (My Public Lands Tumblr) Related: USAJOBS website |
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BLM to Host Open House During Hiring for Central California Seasonal Wildland Fire PositionsThe Bureau of Land Management Central California District is accepting applications for 2018 summer seasonal wildland firefighting jobs. There are fire positions available for hotshot, handcrew and engine crew members; heavy equipment operators; dispatchers and prevention/mitigation personnel based in Bakersfield, Bishop, Placerville and Porterville. (BLM news release)
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BLM has Job Openings for Seasonal Firefighting Stationed in Northern CaliforniaThe Bureau of Land Management is accepting applications for summer seasonal firefighting jobs on northern California fire engine crews, the Diamond Mountain Interagency Hotshots and other positions, including a prescribed fire/fuels crew, dispatch, fire prevention/mitigation, helitack and fire lookout. (BLM news release) |
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BLM Announces Opening for Southern California Firefighting PositionsThe Bureau of Land Management California Desert District is currently accepting applications for 2018 summer seasonal firefighting jobs. There are positions available for fire engine crew members, helicopter crew members, dispatchers and fire prevention/mitigation personnel located in southern California. (BLM news release) |
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Sharing Personal Experiences from the Fire LineBLM Wyoming, the National Interagency Fire Center and other state, federal and conservation corps sponsors helped bring together an all women's fire crew this past summer! Crew members share their experiences after the Orleans Complex on the Six Rivers National Forest in California. (BLM California Facebook) |
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| CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES | ||||||
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In Scorched California, a Year of ‘Epic Firefighting’ Is Testing LimitsFresh off a 24-hour shift in fire-filled valleys, Fabian Uresti, a veteran firefighter from California’s Central Valley, shrugged off the question of whether he would make it home for Christmas. “I missed Thanksgiving this year, too,” Mr. Uresti said. “It’s part of the job.” Major fires raging across the state this year from wine country to just shy of the Mexican border have stretched California firefighters to their limit. “A lot of epic firefighting is occurring but we have a lot of tired folks out there on the line,” said Chief Janet Upton, a deputy director of Cal Fire…The crews fighting the fire in Ventura include seasonal and permanent personnel from across the state; teams from the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management; and crews made up of prison inmates, who work for a base salary of $2 a day. (The New York Times) |
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The Fire This Time: Watching California BurnThe first fire began on Monday night, December 4, in the hills near Santa Paula, California. Jeff Crump, a soccer coach, was refereeing a game in downtown Oak View, about 17 miles away. At home that evening, his power went out; there was no Internet, no cell service. He stepped outside to see an orange glow in the hills. When he woke the next morning, the sky was dark but the orange glow had grown larger. Already the fire had a name, he would learn from the radio as he drove around town that morning. There would be more fires, from all directions, soon to come. (Vogue Magazine) |
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Wildfires: Know Before You GoTwitter is a great place to see the latest news and information about fires.
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| HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS | ||||||
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Officer Babs, the Latest Addition to the Mounted Force and the Only MustangMeet Babs. Excuse me, Officer Babs. She is now the partner of Sergeant Jared Kiser of the Sacramento Police Department mounted unit. As she has only been on the beat for a little more than a month, she is still a rookie. Considering six months ago she was untouched, she has progressed handily. (BLM California Facebook) |
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Sharing a Hunting Tradition from Sacramento River BendFor 27 years, BLM's Redding Field Office, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Shasta County Sportsman's Assocation have partnered to provide a hunting opportunity for youth and women to experience America’s Great Outdoors. Each year, the annual pheasant hunt takes place at the Sacramento River Bend Outstanding Natural Area. Hunters are able to learn safe hunting techniques while enjoying traditional pheasant hunting. (BLM California YouTube) |
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Record 129 Million Dead Trees in CaliforniaThe USDA Forest Service today announced that an additional 27 million trees, mostly conifers, died throughout California since November 2016, bringing the total number of trees that have died due to drought and bark beetles to an historic 129 million on 8.9 million acres. The dead trees continue to pose a hazard to people and critical infrastructure, mostly centered in the central and southern Sierra Nevada region of the state. (Tree Mortality Task Force news release) |
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Showcasing Plants and Wildlife in the Mojave DesertLast month staff from BLM's Barstow Field Office met with a film crew from Living Planet – a nature cable channel based out of Russia – to showcase plants and wildlife of the Mojave Desert. They had a great couple of days filming some of the unique biodiversity of the area – Joshua Trees, Shoshone Pupfish and Desert Tortoise among others. We focused on the area in and around the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River and associated Amargosa North and South Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. This is a great way to highlight the natural resources that BLM is striving to protect while also providing economic opportunities for local communities. (BLM California Facebook) |
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December Means Restoration Season at Fort Ord National MonumentBLM California Maintenance Worker, Drew Way, was joined by California State University, Monterey Bay associates, Christopher Hart, Lucinda Landon, Alexander Mairs, and volunteer Philomene Smith in a good old-fashioned seed and straw throw. This annual winter ritual marks the restoration season and is important in preparing the newly resculpted sites for winter planting. In just a few weeks, this site along Skyline Ridge will be hosting hundreds of elementary school students from Monterey/Salinas area schools that will be planting native seedlings as part of the popular Return of the Natives Restoration Education Project. Since 1996, the BLM has restored 207 degraded sites into 140 acres of healthy native habitat. (BLM California Facebook) Related: Bands of goats helping native plant populations and controlling wildfire hazards (BLM California Facebook) |
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BLM Offering Firewood Cutting Permits in Lacks Creek Management AreaThe Bureau of Land Management is offering firewood permits for a designated wood cutting area in the Lacks Creek Management Area, northeast of Arcata. Permits can be purchased at the Arcata Field Office,1695 Heindon Rd., Arcata. The permits cost $10 per cord, with a two-cord minimum and a 10-cord maximum. (BLM news release) |
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Give the Gift of Fun and Adventure this YearThe annual America the Beautiful public lands pass pass provides free entrance to over 2,000 national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands locations -- making it the best bargain of the season and the perfect gift for family and friends. The money from pass sales goes directly to improving visitor recreation services. (USGS online store) |
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Interior Continues Steps Toward Department-Wide Culture Change with Release of Work Environment Survey ResultsU.S. Department of the Interior released results from a Work Environment Survey that shows 35 percent of its employees were harassed or discriminated against in the 12 months preceding the anonymous survey. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, who have been on the forefront of instilling a culture change through swift personnel actions, transparency and a zero-tolerance policy, have issued a call for action plans from all bureau and office heads across the Department. (DOI news release) |
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Secretaries Zinke and Perdue Host Inter-Agency Forestry & Wildfire Listening Session with Federal, Congressional and State StakeholdersU.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue hosted an inter-agency listening session with federal, congressional, and state stakeholders. "Wildfires affect all of us so it only makes sense that we all work together to prevent and fight them," said Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. "Our inter-agency and partner meeting was the first of what I hope will be many to identify and implement better practices to manage our forests and save lives and communities." (DOI news release) |
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| WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK | ||||||
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Fill in the Blank: By December, sage grouse have transitioned to a diet of strictly ___________. The leaves are very nutritious. In fact, unlike most animals, sage grouse tend to gain weight in the winter months! |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS | ||||||
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Now - mid-December: Repair Work to Begin on Bizz Johnson Trail Flood DamageConstruction crews will begin work Wednesday, Nov. 8, repairing flood damage on a seven-mile section of the Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail east of Susanville. Access through the construction sites will be closed during working hours, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but open during weekends and non-working hours. The Federal Highways Administration is funding and managing the $400,000 project. Site Works Solutions of Redding will complete the work. Officials at the Bureau of Land Management expect project completion in mid-December. (BLM news release) |
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Now - January: Wild Horse and Burro Adoption EventsThe BLM offers wild horses and burros for adoption or purchase at events across the country throughout the year. Upcoming wild horse and burro adoption events are planned into 2018. The most current adoption and purchase event schedule is provided on the BLM website. All times are in local time. Event information is shown in local time and subject to change without notice. Please call the Wild Horse and Burro Information Call Center at (866) 468-7826 for the most updated information. (BLM website) |
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Now - April 30: Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Announces Winter Visitor Center ScheduleAs the Coachella Valley begins to move into the winter months, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center will initiate its winter visitor center schedule. From October 1 to April 30, 2018, the visitor center will be open five days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday to Monday, and close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (BLM news release) |
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December 14: BLM Seeks Input and Host Public Meeting on Case Mountain Forest Health PlanThe Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield Field Office is seeking public input on the development of a vegetation and forest health plan for the Bureau’s giant sequoia groves on Case Mountain, southeast of Three Rivers. The 30-day scoping period started Friday, Dec. 1. A public meeting will be held on Dec. 14 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the St. Anthony Retreat, 43816 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers, California 93271. BLM specialists will be on location to provide an overview of the project, review maps and answer questions. (BLM news release) |
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| WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER | ||||||
| By December, sage grouse have transitioned to a diet of strictly sagebrush. The leaves are very nutritious. In fact, unlike most animals, sage grouse tend to gain weight in the winter months! (Sage Grouse: A Life Cycle in Photos via USDA NRCS) | ||||||
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