United States Department of Interior Updates September 19 2013

A publication of Bureau of Land Management in California

Issue 595- 9/18/13   -   Visit us on Facebook -- follow us on Twitter - Share us with friends and colleagues!

THIS WEEK IN NEWS.BYTES:
- Wildfires and Prevention
- Renewable Energy
- America's Great Outdoors
- BLM Social Media Pages
- Wildlife Trivia Question of the Week
- Upcoming Events
- Oil and Gas
- Headlines and Highlights: Assorted topics from your public lands in California
- National and Department of the Interior items

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www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/2013/595.html

WILDFIRES and PREVENTION Successful Sage-Grouse Habitat Protection in Spring Peak Fire Management  (BLM Extras) In all wildfire incidents, human safety, including firefighters and the public, is the highest priority. For the Spring Peak Fire another priority was preventing the loss of important cultural features, including the ghost towns of Bodie and Aurora. The Spring Peak area is also important habitat for the Bi-State greater sage-grouse, a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.blm.gov/publish/content/ca/en/info/newsbytes/2013/595_extra_-_successful.html RELATED: Sage-Grouse Lek Video (BLM YouTube) Video taken at the Mount Biedeman Wilderness Study Area in the Bodie Hills. The strutting grouse sound like coffee percolators. This is one of the larger leks; BLM wildlife crew counted 116 birds the day before. Video by Bob Wick, BLM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov9_72xLeF0 BLM to Lift Fire Restrictions on Northeast California Public Lands  (BLM News Release) Late summer rains and cooler temperatures have reduced dry conditions and fire dangers in northeast California's high desert areas, and the Bureau of Land Management will lift fire restrictions on public lands managed by the Alturas, Eagle Lake and Surprise field offices effective Thursday, Sept. 19. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/september/liftfirerestrictionsneca.html125 RELATED: BLM Partnering on the One Less Spark Campaign (PreventWildfireCA.org Website) Fire restrictions may be lifted in some areas, but fire prevention practices should be continued. http://www.preventwildfireca.org/OneLessSpark/

RENEWABLE ENERGY Residents Speak Out on Energy (Desert Trail, 09/11/13) The draft version of the desert conservation plan leaves room for disagreement, Jim Kenna, a Bureau of Land Management state director, pointed out, "Where are the core habitats? Where are the linkages? "he asked. "What is the best conservation strategy? How does it relate to all the other land uses in the desert? What's the longterm plan we can agree on?" Kenna said sources of energy generation are changing, noting the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is off-line and a coal generation plant on the Colorado River is going off-line. "It is important the public dialog continues throughout the process," Kenna continued. "Between the draft and the final, there will be changes. Some of those changes will be significant." http://www.ca.blm.gov/xcld RELATED: BLM California Renewable Energy Projects (BLM Website) The BLM is partnering with its fellow REAT agencies to develop a Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan for California. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/energy.html

AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS Rebuilding After the Flood - Big Morongo Canyon Preserve  (BLM Extras) Several volunteers, including seven soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, responded by helping to shovel mud, trim vegetation, and rebuild the boardwalk.  http://www.ca.blm.gov/5cld

BLM SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES BLM California Facebook Post: Get Ready for National Public Lands Day 2013marks the 20th Anniversary of National Public Lands Day, and there are many opportunities to volunteer on public lands in communities throughout California. Most events will occur on Saturday, September 28, but others will happen throughout the fall. Take a look at our list of projects at and join in to make your public lands a better place. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/res/volunteers/npld.html BLM National Facebook Post: Amazing photos of the BLM California's Folsom Lake Hand Crew this summer. http://www.ca.blm.gov/0cld BLM My Public Lands Photo Instagram Post: Do you have photos of your favorite wilderness spots to share? These are the last days to enter for a chance to be included in the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act Exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Start an entry page by 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on September 17! http://www.ca.blm.gov/zcld RELATED: Piper Mountain Wilderness (BLM Website) This wilderness area has alluvial fans that cover large portions of the eastern side of the wilderness. Desert bighorn sheep habitat can be found in three areas within this wilderness. Sagebrush and juniper-pinyon woodland are the common vegetation, with conifer trees on the higher elevations. At the base of the Inyo Mountains, can be found one of the northernmost stands of Joshua trees. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wilderness/wa/areas/piper_mountain.html - For more photo tips follow on Instagram: http://mypubliclands.tumblr.com/ INFOGRAPHIC from Visual.ly: Twitter Life of a Hashtag for #NationalPublicLandsDay http://bit.ly/1bpSYMs

WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION of the WEEK

What would happen to you if you are bitten by a lyre snake? Would you most likely: (a.) suffer from symptoms similar to a rattlesnake bite, such as dizziness and difficulty breathing? (b.) need to be airlifted to a hospital for antivenin treatments? (c.) not be severely injured by their venom? (d.) not be bitten at all, as lyre snakes cannot bite? (e.) develop an inexplicable urge to listen to ancient Greek music? See answer - and more wildlife stories - near the end of this News.bytes.

UPCOMING EVENTS Saturday, Sept 28: Volunteers Welcome on Historic Ranch Restoration Project (BLM News Release) Volunteers have the opportunity to help the BLM preserve a Homestead-era ranch, in a National Public Lands Day project, in far northwest Nevada. Work teams will tackle several projects, working on buildings and facilities at the historic Bitner Ranch and developing a campground and interpretive site that will be open to the public. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/september/historicanch.html Sunday, Oct. 6: BLM, Bike Club Sponsoring Kids Mountain Biking Day (BLM News Release) Mountain bike riders aged 6 to 16 are invited to participate in a free guided bike ride on Sunday, Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. until about 1 p.m. at the Swasey Recreation Area in west Redding. Parents can also participate in the two-mile ride offered by the Bureau of Land Management, Redding Mountain Bike Club and Healthy Shasta as part of Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, a national observance supported by the International Mountain Bicycling Association. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/september/kidsmountainbikingday.html Saturday, Oct. 12: Volunteers Needed for Cleanup Project at Clear Creek (BLM News Release) Help improve public lands along the Clear Creek Greenway south of Redding in a National Public Lands Day event. Working from the banks of Clear Creek and along Clear Creek Road, volunteers will remove old fencing, pick up litter, scour off graffiti and repair fire-damaged hiking trails in the day-long project. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/september/clearcreekcleanup.html

OIL AND GAS A Fracking Bill Gone Bad (LA Times, 09/12/13) Key regulatory elements of SB 4, passed by the Assembly, have been so watered down as to be useless. http://www.ca.blm.gov/ddld RELATED: BLM California Oil & Gas (BLM Website) The BLM manages 15.2 million acres of surface and 47 million acres of mineral estate in California. Every day more than 500,000 barrels of oil are produced in California. As a state, California is the fourth largest oil producer; only Alaska, Texas, and Louisiana produce more. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/energy/og.html

HEADLINES and HIGHLIGHTS A Whale's Life story is Recorded in Its Ear Wax  (NBC News, 09/16/13) From a fetid, foot-long rod of earwax, extracted from the skull of a dead blue whale, scientists have unspooled an in-depth life story of one member of the largest mammals on earth. These waxy diaries could give marine biologists a new way to study the lives of a free-swimming species, and a window into the health of the ocean at large. http://www.nbcnews.com/science/whales-life-story-recorded-its-ear-wax-8C11167240 RELATED: A Great View for Whale Watching  (BLM Website) Spanning the entire 1,100 mile length of the California coastline, the California Coastal National Monument is comprised of more than 20,000 BLM administered islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles. The Monument includes those public lands that are exposed above mean high tide, within the corridor extending 12 nautical miles from the shoreline between Mexico and Oregon. http://www.ca.blm.gov/9cld To Preserve and Protect: Deals Conserve 80 Santa Cruz Mountain Acres (Santa Cruz Sentinel, 09/15/13) Further filling in the conservation blanks between three of California's grandest state parks, Sempervirens Fund acquired 80 acres of redwoods, chaparral and sensitive habitat destined for the open market. They are nestled in a swath of the Santa Cruz Mountains sitting between Butano, Big Basin and Castle Rock state parks, and were acquired from the federal Bureau of Land Management. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/countyelections/ci_24101789/ RELATED: BLM Hollister Field Office (BLM Website) The Hollister Field Office administers approximately 284,000 acres of public land in Central California. Bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the San Joaquin Valley to the east. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister.html For North Coast's Rivers, Relying on Luck is Not a Plan (Eureka Times Standard, 09/13/13) In "Dirty Harry," Clint Eastwood memorably asked, do you "feel lucky?" It made for great theater, but it's no way to manage North Coast salmon. Unfortunately, that's been the policy of the U.S. Department of Interior toward the near-record run of Chinook salmon that is migrating up the Trinity and Klamath rivers. http://www.ca.blm.gov/ycld RELATED: Arcata Field Office (BLM Website) The Arcata Field Office is responsible for the administration of natural resources, lands, and mineral programs on approximately 200,000 acres of public land in Northwestern California. The Area includes the 60,000 acre King Range National Conservation Area and the 7,472 acre Headwaters Forest Reserve. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata.html

NATIONAL, OTHER STATE AND DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR ITEMS VIDEO: This Week at Interior September 13, 2013  (DOI YouTube Page) Here's what happened this week at Interior... http://youtu.be/kSf55XWP71Q

WILDLIFE TRIVIA answer and related websites What would happen to you if you are bitten by a lyre snake? Would you most likely:(c.) not be severely injured by their venom SOURCE: "California lyre snake - Trimorphodon biscutatus vandenburghi" (BLM California wildlife database) These snakes are venomous, but are not dangerous to humans. The venom is injected when these snakes bite down on their prey. The venom attacks the red blood cells of the victim and prevents oxygen from circulating through the body. http://www.blm.gov/ca/forms/wildlife/details.php?metode=serial_number&search=2731

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News.bytes published by
Bureau of Land Management
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