BLM California News.Bytes Issue 796

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Title: Your Public Lands, BLM's E-Newsletter

Cadiz Dunes Wilderness
ISSUE 796 - FEBRUARY 22, 2018     

- Your Public Lands
- Headlines and Highlights
- BLM and DOI Highlights
- Wildlife Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events

YOUR PUBLIC LANDS

Hope Already Wilting for Wildflower Season at Carrizo Plain National Monument this Year

Avid wildflower followers eagerly anticipating another spectacular “super bloom” at the Carrizo Plain National Monument are expected to be disappointed this season. Last year, unusually wet weather created an explosion of colorful native blossoms blanketing the plain and surrounding foothills of the Temblor and Caliente Mountain Ranges. (BLM California Facebook)

Hollywood’s Hidden Star: America’s Public Lands

Have you ever watched your favorite movie or television show and thought, “Hey, that place looks beautiful. I wish I could go there.” Well, you just might have that chance! America’s public lands have been the backdrop for countless movies and television shows. Visit public lands across the country to venture to the planets of Vulcan and Endor, explore the land of Jurassic Park and even time travel back to the Wild West. So turn off the screen, get off the couch and start exploring some of the nation’s public lands that have starred on the big screen! (DOI blog)

#FindYourWay On a BLM-managed National Trail with NEW Story Map

This year the Bureau of Land Management, alongside multiple agencies and nonprofit organizations, will celebrate the creation of the National Trails System by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968. There are currently 30 congressionally designated National Scenic and Historic Trails within the National Trails System, and BLM manages nearly 6,000 miles of 18 designated trails within 15 states. National Scenic Trails provide outdoor recreation opportunities as well as conservation of significant geographic characteristics, such as desert lands and forests. (BLM California Facebook)

#MakeYourSplash On a BLM-managed Wild and Scenic River

Signed in 1968, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protects more than 200 rivers in 40 states and Puerto Rico. Wild and Scenic Rivers are designated into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System to preserve their free-flowing condition and to protect and enhance their outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish, wildlife, historic, cultural and other similar values. The Act provides three levels of river classification: wild, scenic and recreational. (BLM California Facebook)

HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS

AmeriCorps NCCC Team Learns about Natural Resource Management on Public Lands

AmeriCorps, specifically AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region team, Green 7, has been working with the Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office, from January 8 through February 24.  Green 7 consists of eight young adults from around the United States, brought together to serve with BLM for the next six months. Over the past two months while working at the Redding Field Office, Green 7 has been supporting BLM’s multiple-use mission and learning a lot what the Redding Field Office natural resource programs. (BLM California Facebook)

BLM Plans Burn Project as Part of Coastal Prairie Restoration Effort

Fire management specialists with the Bureau of Land Management will be burning piles of brush and small trees in the coming weeks as part of a project to restore a coastal prairie near the community of Petrolia in southern Humboldt County. Crews will burn the piles in late February and March, on days when weather and fuel moisture conditions allow for safe and successful burning and smoke dispersion. (BLM news release)

Please Remember to Tread Lightly and Practice Leave No Trace Ethics on Your Public Lands

Courtesy of our amazing volunteer Scott Hubbard, we were able to recycle almost a ton of recyclables yesterday. The recyclables have been collected over the last two months from recreational areas popular for target shooting in our Central Coast Field Office. Mostly collected from Tumey Hills, Panoche Hills, Griswold Hills and Williams Hill recreation area. Recyclables included everything from scrap metal to brass spent shell casings -- over 300 pounds of brass shell casings, almost 100 pounds of plastic and aluminum cans, and a half-ton of scrap metal. (BLM California Facebook)

Join the Imperial Sand Dunes Team

BLM's El Centro Field Office is hiring seasonal staff to work in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area! We are looking for a variety of job skills for multiple vacancies. Apply today on USAJOBS! (Imperial Sand Dunes Facebook)

Remember for all current job vacanices, search "BLM" on USAJOBS.gov.

Not Your Ordinary Job: Apply to be a Wildland Firefighter

Do 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: NEW BLM California fire job vacancies (BLM California Facebook video)

Over 129 Million Dead Trees in California

Do you have questions about what to plant or not plant? Learn more about reforestation and steps landowners can take to help create healthier forests from the California Tree Mortality Task Force's Esri Story Map. (CAL FIRE website)

Related: CAL FIRE tree mortality recap video (BLM California Facebook)

BLM AND DOI HIGHLIGHTS

Interior Announces 2017 Drone Mission Report

With a fleet of 312 unmanned aircraft, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Aviation Services supported bureau operators, who flew nearly 5,000 missions in 2017, ranging from fighting wildfires to monitoring dams and spillways and mapping wildlife. The accomplishments of its unmanned aerial systems, or drone program, can be found in a report announced today by DOI that summarizes flights made by more than 200 certified pilots in 32 states nationwide. (DOI news release)

Interior Announces Date for Largest Oil and Gas Lease Sale in U.S. History

In support of President Donald J. Trump's ‘America-First Offshore Energy Strategy,’ Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the Department will offer 77.3 million acres offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for oil and gas exploration and development. The region-wide lease sale, which is the largest in U.S. history, is scheduled for March 21, 2018, and will include all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In 2017, offshore leases helped the Department raise a billion dollars more in revenue for the year than was made off energy revenues in 2016. (DOI news release)

Interior Seeks Public Comment on Draft List of 35 Minerals Deemed Critical to U.S. National Security and the Economy

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it is seeking public comment by March 19, 2018, on a draft list of minerals considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States. President Donald J. Trump directed the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and in consultation with the heads of other relevant agencies, to publish a list of critical minerals in the Federal Register in Executive Order 13817, which was issued on December 20, 2017. Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey compiled the list—prepared with the Bureau of Land Management’s cooperation— and is seeking comments including the rationale for potential additions or subtractions. (DOI news release)
WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK

True or False 

Diminutive owls posed a safety threat to supersonic F/A-18 Superhornet fighter jets.

Keep reading for answer below.

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 24 and 25: Alabama Hills Film, Geology and Natural History Hikes Offered

The Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office, Alabama Hills Stewardship Group and Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association will be hosting two-hour, guided hikes about the film, geology and natural history of Alabama Hills. Hikes will begin at 10 a.m., leaving from the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center, at the intersection of U.S. Route 395 and State Route 136, Lone Pine. (BLM news release)

February 26, 27, 28 and March 1, 2, 5, 6, 7: BLM to Host Public Scoping Meetings to Consider Changes to Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan

The Bureau of Land Management will host eight public scoping meetings in the process to consider amending three land use plans that underlie the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The BLM invites members of the public to attend meetings at the following dates and locations. (BLM news release)

- Monday, February 26 in Lone Pine, CA     
- Tuesday, February 27 in Ridgecrest, CA
- Wednesday, February 28 in Hesperia, CA    
- Thursday, March 1 in Joshua Tree, CA
- Friday, March 2 in El Centro, CA
- Monday, March 5 in Sacramento, CA
- Tuesday, March 6 in Bakersfield, CA
- Wednesday, March 7 in Palm Desert, CA

Now - April 30: Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Announces Winter Visitor Center Schedule

As 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)

2018: Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Events

Have you checked our schedule of wild horse and burro events taking place across the country this year? In addition to 17 permanent adoption and sale centers that are available year round, BLM is hosting nearly 50 special events aimed at finding new homes for wild horses and burros. Learn more about adoption and sale programs and find an event or facility near you. Please call the Wild Horse and Burro Information Call Center at (866) 468-7826 for the most updated information. (BLM website)

March 3: Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival

Every Spring the wildflowers bloom in the Coachella Valley and the 11th Annual Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival is the best place to enjoy all that Spring has to offer. The Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival is a City of Palm Desert First Weekend Featured Event and is hosted by Friends of the Desert Mountains. The event will be held on Saturday, March 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center in Palm Desert. The day of the event, shuttles will run from St. Margaret's Church on Highway 74, as there is no onsite parking for the Wildflower Festival. (Friends of the Desert Mountains website)
WILDLIFE QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER
True.
"You’d think a little burrowing owl would be no match for a supersonic F/A-18 Superhornet fighter jet, but at Naval Air Station Lemoore, in Kings County, California, the diminutive owls posed a safety threat. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, in 2013 alone there were 11,000 bird strikes at 650 airports across the country." (USFWS Pacific Southwest Region blog)

News.Bytes is a publication of the Bureau of Land Management California.

Bureau of Land Management
California State Office
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W1623
Sacramento, Ca 95825
(916) 978-4600
www.blm.gov/california


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