More than 400,000 acres of pristine, beautiful Eastern Sierra lands are now protected as wilderness. Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 146, which included the Omnibus Public Lands bill that our local Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act was part of. The bill–the largest conservation effort put before Congress in 25 years–is now on its way to President Obama’s desk. In Mono and Inyo Counties, new wilderness areas range from the Hoover, near Sonora Pass, to the White Mountains and the eastern escarpment of the Sierra. Congratulations to everyone who worked hard, wrote letters and attended…
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Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Inyo National Forest’s Travel Management Plan are due Tuesday, March 31. Friends of the Inyo has been very involved in the planning process, and as part of the Collaborative Alternative Team (made up of diverse community members and stakeholders) supports Alternative 6 in the DEIS. View maps, learn more about the alternatives and the process at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/projects/ohvroute5.shtml. Send comments to comments-pacificsouthwest-inyo@fs.fed.us. We encourage you to support Alternative 6, the Collaborative Alternative that represents community input and team effort. The following op-ed appeared in the March 19 edition of the Inyo…
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The Omnibus Public Lands Package, which includes the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act, has passed the Senate. Now it will be heard in the House of Representatives Wednesday, February 11. Please support the bill by asking your Representative to vote for the bill with no amendments. Go to house.gov to get your Representative’s phone number and email. Read on for an editorial from the Los Angeles Times urging lawmakers to pass this historic legislation. From the Los Angeles Times Editorial A win for wilderness The Senate has passed a public lands bill that will benefit California,…
Braving sunny wind-swept skies, temps hovering in the 50’s, and the possibility of missing the Superbowl, we managed once again to summit Chocolate Peak, in the Piper Mountains, on the FOI 2009 Chocolate Peak in Winter Expedition. Conditions made for easy walking – and challenging snowshoeing… Thanks whoever brought the chocolate torte!
Monday, January 12, 2009By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer Matthew Daly, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON – In a rare Sunday session, the Senate advanced legislation that would set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness. Majority Democrats assembled more than enough votes to overcome GOP stalling tactics in an early showdown for the new Congress. Republicans complained that Democrats did not allow amendments on the massive bill, which calls for the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats said the bill — a holdover from…
What is a weed? That’s the question I asked my group of high school students as we started a five day service learning program out at Eureka Dunes. Our work that week ranged from restoring illegal roads, helping to tune a barbed wire fence, campsite maintenance, and, yes, pulling weeds. I often wonder what the kids are expecting when they come on these trips. I the case of these kids, had they signed up only to fulfill a school requirement? Do the work, gimme my hours, thank you very much? The work done is what I think of as the…
This past weekend Friends of the Inyo was blessed to be the recipient of the first ever Andrea Mead Lawrence Award for Passionate Engagement in Community and the Land. As many of you undoubtedly know, Andrea is the matriarch of Eastern Sierra conservation – a long-time Mono County Supervisor, gold medal winning Olympic skier and constant local voice for preserving what makes the Eastern Sierra wild and free. This award recognizes the powerful work we have done together to reconnect people and the land through the Eastern Sierra Stewardship Corps – work that is made possible by you – our…
For the past few years, Furnace Creek, a unique perennial stream on the backside of the White Mountains near Dyer has garnered a lot of attention. Prior to 2004, a little-used off-road vehicle route caused disproportionate damage as it cut through a lush riparian desert stream, and, at higher elevations, facilitated proliferation deep into the White Mountains. Friends of the Inyo has been involved in preserving the Furnace Creek habitat and, most recently, worked with many partners to generate a formal protest to the Bureau of Land Management’s Environmental Assessment, which proposed rebuilding the washed-out road. The public comment period…
After a powerful and much needed winter storm things are finally starting to dry out and it has been pleasant enough these past few days to go out and walk around. One of my favorite hikes is out on the Tablelands, where the attractions include lots of open space, interesting and colorful rock formations and, after a big storm, plenty of water. In such an arid land desert streams provide such a strange and wonderful sound, temporary and oddly out of place. I often wander out to the Tablelands and a few favorit haunts out there right at the height of…