Friends of the Inyo eNewsletter
Get monthly updates on what’s happening with the organization and more information on public lands issues in the Eastern Sierra.
Policy
Join a meaningful,
science-based conversation
about protecting public
lands in the Eastern Sierra.
Exploration
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vehicle, exploring these lands
is an important part of sharing
the Eastern Sierra’s story.
Stewardship
Partner with local agencies
and fellow Friends of the Inyo
volunteers to maintain trails,
restore habitats and more.
On June 28 the Senate passed (86-11) a bipartisan Farm Bill that is free of attacks on the environment. The passage of a clean Senate bill is an important step forward, but we are not out of the woods yet as a conference committee still needs to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills. The Senate’s work has just begun, as they begin meeting with the House to come to a resolution. The bipartisan Senate bill rejected numerous attacks on our national forest and public lands that were present in the House Farm Bill. That bill narrowly passed just last…
The Trump administration announced plans for the largest roll back to the National Environmental Protection Act in its 48 year old history. The backbone of NEPA is the public review process allowing scientists, non-governmental organizations like Friends of the Inyo and the public to have a say on federal projects that impact public lands, air, water and wildlife. We know the current administration is no friend to the environment, but this is a step too far. NEPA underpins the requirement for thorough environmental analyses of every federal project. Although NEPA is not as well-known as the Clean Air Act and…
California’s State Mining and Geology Board (SMGB) is under pressure from the mining industry to weaken regulations that could pave the way to expanded open pit mining—including industrial-scale cyanide heap leach mining at Conglomerate Mesa. Current California mining laws are some of the strongest in the nation and include stringent backfill requirements which result in many mining proposals being economically infeasible. The SMGB (which has no environmental representative), has issued a “Notice of Pre-Rulemaking Workshop and Public Comment period” to “review, and possibly revise, state policy pertaining to Performance Standards for Backfilling Excavations and Recontouring Lands Disturbed by Open Pit Surface Mining…