History

In 1908, biologist Joseph Grinnell began leading hundreds of research expeditions throughout California to collect animals as museum specimens and catalog the wildlife in the forests, mountains and deserts. The meticulous notes he and his colleague took over four decades captured scientific snapshots of the wildlife in the first half of the 20th century, including surveys of birds in many areas of the Mojave Desert. 

From the Los Angeles Times:

The first six months of 2014 were the hottest January-through-June on record in California, the National Weather Service said Monday — nearly five degrees warmer than the 20th century average and more than a degree hotter than the record set in 1934.

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From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):

The U.S. Geological Survey joins its many partners in other federal agencies, at universities, and in state and local governments in recognizing the importance of the Water Resources Research Act (WRRA) of 1964.

Signed into law 50 years ago by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 17, 1964, the WRRA established a Water Resources Research Institute in each state and Puerto Rico.

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From the Associated Press:

A group of U.S. Bureau of Land Management interns trekked three days this week across a blistering stretch of Utah desert, recreating part of the 1846 path of the ill-fated Donner Party.

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From the San Jose Mercury News:

[Jim] Walker and construction crews building a new 220-foot-high dam at Calaveras Reservoir in the remote canyons east of Milpitas have been digging up a prehistoric treasure trove: the teeth of an extinct hippopotamus-like creature called a Desmostylus, clams, barnacles and the giant teeth from a 40-foot-long shark — and what could turn out to be an entire whale skeleton.

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From KPCC:

Rainfall for the July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014 data collection season ended with Los Angeles receiving a total of 6.08 inches of rain.

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From the Chico Enterprise-Record:

It comes as no shock that the 2013-2014 rainfall year, which ended Monday, was seriously dry, but records show it was nowhere near a record.

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From The Fresno Bee:

California got just enough rain to avoid the driest winter in memory, but Fresno still will reach an all-time landmark — the worst three-year drought since record-keeping began in 1878.

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From NPR:

Yosemite National Park, in California’s Sierra Nevada, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the law that preserved it — and planted the seeds for the National Park system. At the same time, the park faces the challenge of protecting the natural wonders from their own popularity.

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