#blmcalifornia

[thefreckledtumor]

Call

Call Redding Police Department and report this, ive tried to report it 3 times, and the police department hung up on me! My brother and I and several other peaceful protesters were all most assaulted and he walks free! One woman was trampled and injured while people ran! A child fell in feont of us! Fuck this mother fucker! He is dangerous and violent and needs to be in prison!

[mypubliclands]

Piedras Blancas Light Station hosts second annual “Meet the Scientists”

On Sunday, April 29, the Piedras Blancas Light Station celebrated National Volunteer Month by hosting the second annual “Meet the Scientists” event for local volunteers, agency and non-governmental partners.

Biologists from a variety of agencies and non-governmental organizations were on hand to present their research and answer any questions visitors might have about their work.

Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach from the NOAA Satellite and Information Service demonstrated the drones they use to take aerial photographs of gray whales and check on the health of the cows and newborn calves on the migration north. 

Participants also heard from Melissa Clark with Ventana Wildlife Society on the California Condor Recovery project. Karah Ammann of UC Santa Cruz presented on Abalone Recovery, and Carolyn  Skinder of NOAA discussed Zooplankton. Brian Hatfield of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) presented on California Sea Otter Recovery.

Heather Liwanag of California Polytechnic State University showcased the pilot elephant seal surveys she and her graduate students are working on. 

The event attracted visitors from Friends of the Elephant Seal, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center -..., California State Parks, Caltrans HQ, as well as BLM volunteers and their friends and families. A few whales and otters even made an appearance!

Story by Jodie Robb Nelson, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner at Piedras Blancas Light Station. Photos by Piedras Blancas Light Station volunteers.

[mypubliclands]

Monterey Off-Road Cycling Association volunteers complete 1,020 hours at Fort Ord in 2017

The Monterey Off-Road Cycling Association (MORCA) has been actively volunteering at Fort Ord National Monument since 2009. They currently have around 30 active members, with 20 who regularly participate in monthly trail work days. At one of these monthly trail days they had reached out to the local mountain bike teams to reach a total 41 volunteers, many of whom were from the Salinas High Mountain Bike Team. 

Throughout the year, they work with Salinas High, Palma School and the Monterey Lightfighters mountain bike teams. These opportunities for the student athletes to come out and help give them the chance to learn what it takes to build and maintain the magnificent trails that they get to ride and race on throughout the year.

Over the past year MORCA volunteers have completed 1,020 hours of trail work at Fort Ord, and this total does not include the time that they spend planning and coordinating the trail work. The have rerouted, restored and maintained 18 of the 72 BLM-managed trails, or 25% of the single track trails, making them more sustainable for the recreationalists of Fort Ord.

Thanks to the amazing volunteers of MORCA!

[mypubliclands]

Making a difference: Mendocino 4x4 Club volunteers with BLM Ukiah Field Office.

The Mendocino 4x4 Club has been close partners with the BLM-California’s Ukiah Field Office for over 40 years. They have been strong supporters of BLM’s mission by always helping BLM staff improve the safety, education and accessibility to  OHV recreational areas. Any time BLM staff needed support or an extra pair of hands, the Mendocino 4x4 Club has always been there and answered the call.

At these events and volunteer work days, they communicate and contribute to the areas recreational and natural resources. Over the past year, the Mendocino 4x4 Club has contributed over 350 hours of volunteer work and labor and donated over $6,000 in labor, mileage, fuel, and materials. Their volunteer work has been fundamental in the Ukiah Field Office maintaining our recreation opportunities in our OHV areas. The Club has been a fundamental building block in helping create a safer, more educational, exciting and diverse recreation program in the Ukiah area.

During #NationalVolunteerMonth, we celebrate the selfless work of our volunteers. The BLM values the thousands of volunteers who offer their time, skills and service to help care for the nation’s natural and cultural resources. Volunteers contribute to many BLM program areas, including recreation, wild horses and burros, cultural and historical resources and environmental education and interpretation. Our volunteers work with us to be good neighbors in the communities we serve.

[mypubliclands]

Chukar Hunting Provides a Challenge on Public Lands

With cold winds, icy roads and single-digit temperatures, most think of January in the high desert as a time to settle indoors in front of a warm fire. Nevertheless, there is a group of public land users who flock to the frigid hillsides during January. They are upland bird hunters, the most dedicated of whom pursue the chukar, a partridge little known outside of the Great Basin.

A chukar is larger than a quail, smaller than a pheasant and tough enough to inhabit the steepest, most rugged terrain that the high desert has to offer. Some hunters call these black-masked birds “devil birds” because they are so difficult to hunt. They prefer running to flying, but when in the air, their speed exploits even the best shooter’s weakness, making them seem “bulletproof”.

A chukar hunter is no slouch, either. Many see these men and women as “crazier than the birds they are chasing”. Most chukar hunters are slender and built like long-distance trail runners, the result of covering eight to 12 miles per day trudging over rocks and steep hillsides. It is common for chukar hunters to wear out a pair of boots within a season. 

Then there are the dogs! Labradors, pointers, wirehairs, springers, setters and Brittany spaniels are just some of the diverse breeds used. Well-trained chukar dogs are worth their weight in gold to these hunters because they can flush out birds that camouflage themselves into the landscape perfectly hiding in the thickest brush and rock crevasses. 

The sport sounds like abuse to most, but the hunters often refer to chukar as their favorite quarry to hunt. Even though most hunters only come home with a few birds, the challenge and the beautiful public lands bring them back season after season. Roasting up a couple delicious chukars for dinner while enjoying pictures and stories of past hunts make it all worthwhile.

Watch a video of this hunt on BLM California’s Facebook page.

Story and photos by Dan Ryan, Realty Specialist for the BLM California Eagle Lake Field Office.

[mypubliclands]

#FindYourWay: The North Fork American River

The North Fork American River is the poster child of what a Wild and Scenic River should be. It has gorgeous tourmaline blue waters that are crystal clear; its location in a deep gorge makes accessing the river a little tricky so despite being quite close to modern civilization the river channel remains quite wild and unchanged from the way it looked back in the mining days of the late 1800s and probably even before the first human beings arrived in North America. The river lies in the region of California that attracted gold rush seekers back in 1849. You can find remnants and artifacts from that time in this region; things like abandoned mine shafts and domestic fruit trees that have long since turned wild are all over if you know where to look. You can even still find people gold panning along the river today, trying their luck like all those before them.

Besides its water quality and scenic characteristics, other outstandingly remarkable values of the river that made it eligible for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act include its fish and wildlife species and vegetation. The canyon throughout which the river runs is home to a healthy population of many native birds, mammals, fish, and plants. The river supports a variety of habitat types including higher elevations of forested land and more grassland and chaparral in the lower elevations.

There are many opportunities for recreation here as well – hiking and rock scrambling, fishing, camping, gold panning, biking, and of course boating. There are numerous trails that can take you down to the river and in the summer nothing beats a swim in the cold clear water of the American River after a hike down to the bottom. Just remember, if you go down, you still have to go back up! Make sure to bring plenty of water and a shade hat if you’re planning a trip in the summer.

One great trail to explore the North Fork American River on your public lands is The Steven’s Trail. This trail is registered on the National Register of Historic Places. Built and run by Truman Allen Stevens during the Gold Rush era, the trail connected Iowa Hill and Colfax, two gold mining towns on opposite sides of the river. There was a suspension bridge back in that day to cross the river. This bridge was run by Stevens and essentially operated as a toll road between the two mining towns at that time. You can still see many of the original rock retaining walls that were built along the trail.

This trail was regularly trafficked in the 1870s but eventually as the mining became less profitable it became disused and was mostly forgotten about despite remaining on some maps. In 1969 it was “rediscovered” by a boy scout of the name Eric Kiel, and since then has become a recreation trail managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  

Story and photos by Alex Studd-Sojka, American Conservation Experience Intern.

[rie-k-photo]

Elk River, California by mypubliclands http://ift.tt/2vnKqSA

[mypubliclands]

BLM California presents: Backyard Biologist!

Story by Alison Lipscomb, Environmental Protection Specialist. Photos by Alison Lipscomb, Environmental Protection Specialist and Rebecca Brooke, Associate Field Manager.

Last month, a team of BLM California employees and volunteers spent the morning with the Shafter Youth Center to talk about backyard biology. The event takes place inside the gymnasium at the youth center and is part of the camp's Nature Week. The age of the children range from 8-12 years of age, with approximately 40 children present. Backyard Biologist is an educational public outreach program that is designed to educate children about typical animals found in their own backyards, as well as the different classes of vertebrates. 

Prior to the event, BLM California employees trapped common animals, such as black widows, cockroaches, crickets, and western toads, that were all released after the event. BLM volunteer Athena Quan brought her rabbit, Snickers, to the event. Snickers is cottontail mixed rabbit, so he looks very similar to wild rabbits seen in a backyard!

The children are given a RIMBA (reptiles, invertebrates, mammals, birds, amphibians) bingo card to complete, where students must go table-to-table to learn about each animal class and fill out the card.

Once all the students completed the RIMBA bingo card, BLM California employees led a quick feeding session, as the crickets were dumped in the western toad aquarium. The students had to be very still and quiet for the toads to catch some of the crickets!

BLM California has done this program with the Shafter Youth Center every year since 2004. Every year is different, all depending on the variety of species we are able to catch. We love putting on Backyard Biologist for all of the kids are really excited and we get the chance to educate children about science!