Solar vs. Wilderness In Mojave Desert Protection Act
There are a zillion places in Southern California where solar farms can be developed other than areas proposed for wilderness designation, like the roof of every massive warehouse and industrial park from the Inland Empire to the Coachella Valley, or the tens of thousands of acres of desert outside of cities and recreation, conservation, and military areas.
California State Parks Held Hostage By Big Oil
The latest dilemma facing the integrity of California State Parks can be found in Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which includes a scheme to fund all 279 state parks from oil revenues collected from a long-delayed, controversial offshore drilling plan in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Houston Chronicle Endorses Big Bend Wilderness Designation
The Houston Chronicle steps up in support of wilderness designation for Big Bend National Park. Established in 1944, Big Bend is one of the nation’s largest national parks outside Alaska at over 800,000 acres, encompassing mountains, desert, and a southern boundary which makes it particualrly unique: following the sinuous course of the Rio Grande along the nation’s border with Mexico.
San Bernardino National Forest Association
Podcast: Download (Duration: 31:17 — 28.6MB)
Listener Neal Lenzen in the San Jacinto high country of the San Bernardino National Forest.
Sarah Miggins, the Executive Director of the San Bernardino National Forest Association, talks about hiking the high country of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto ranges (including a one-day ascent of 11,400 ft. Mt. San Gorgonio) and living the mountain life, along with the history and development of the San Bernardino National Forest Association, and similar park and forest conservancies.
A native of Cleveland, and like Tommy a fellow Bobcat and graduate of Ohio University, Sarah also talks about the San Bernardino National Forest Association’s role in the funding and operation of the Big Bear Discovery Center and the National Children’s Forest, re-planting burned forest areas, wildfire awareness and prevention, and preserving the historic network of fire lookouts in the San Bernardino National Forest, from the drive-up Strawberry Peak lookout to the hard-won trail to the top of Tahquitz Peak above Idyllwild.
Learn more about how to see bald eagles wintering at Lake Hemet and Big Bear Lake, where you can find the nation’s biggest Lodgepole Pine, and how you can volunteer with the San Bernardino National Forest Association in a variety of roles, from planting trees to maintaining trails.
Big Bear Lake after a winter snowfall.
More about this post at:
- San Bernardino National Forest Association
- Big Bear Discovery Center
- National Children’s Forest
- Forest Care, page at SBNFA website
- San Bernardino National Forest Fire Lookout Program
- Fire Safety Information, MAST / San Bernardino County
- San Bernardino National Forest
- San Bernardino National Forest Association, Facebook page
- Americorps Crew Members Sworn In (Riverside Press-Enterprise; 12/5/09)
- Morton Peak Lookout Reopens in San Bernardino Forest (Riverside Press-Enterprise; 6/24/07)
Time to End Interior’s ‘No More Wilderness’ Policy
While Congress and the Obama administration designated thousands of acres’ worth of new wilderness areas shortly after the new administration came into office, many of those wilderness areas were pulled together from proposals and plans drawn up by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management years, if not decades earlier. Why the wait?
Preserving San Diego’s El Capitan
Rob Hutsel from the San Diego River Park Foundation returns to Treehuggers International to discuss efforts to organize the purchase of 385 acres along the summit crest and base of San Diego’s own El Capitan.
Consequences of the Station Fire
Wildland firefighter, fire ecologist, and California Chaparral Institute founder Rick Halsey talks about the lingering effects of the Station Fire, and the need to understand the role fire plays in Southern California ecosystems.
Commerce Department Hearing Regarding Trestles: Monday, September 22nd, Del Mar Fairgrounds
The Department of Commerce hearing regarding the proposed southern extension of the Foothill South 241 toll road at San Onofre State Beach and Trestles is Monday, September 22nd, from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm. The hearing will be held at the same place as the California Coastal Commission hearing in February: O’Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Turnout is EXTREMELY important; please make time to attend.
