The California National Guard on Monday joined more than a
dozen other agencies to help the Yurok tribe combat rampant
marijuana grows that have threatened the reservation’s water
supply, harmed its salmon and interfered with cultural
ceremonies. …
The breakthrough came in April when governor’s office staff was
discussing the drought with tribal officials.
The idea that the grizzly bear might someday roam California’s
Sierra Nevada again warms the heart a little. … But like
so many romantic notions, the reality, well, it’s a bear.
From The Sacramento Bee, in a commentary by Erin Hauge:
While a proposal to reintroduce grizzly bears to the Sierra
Nevada sounds thrilling, it may be too ambitious for at least
three reasons: Human encroachment on habitat, climate change and
the fact that these bears would be a non-contiguous population in
a limited range.
Bald eagles have expanded their range in the Channel Islands off
the coast of California, where a nesting pair has been found on
San Clemente Island for the first time in more than 50 years, an
official said Thursday.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the number of breeding ducks remaining in
California this season is 23 percent below the long-term average.
The decline speaks to the significant degradation of habitat in
the Central Valley due to lack of precipitation.
From The Sacramento Bee, in a commentary by Zeke Grader:
Our nation’s fisheries are recovering, in stark contrast to much
of the rest of the world, where fish stocks are overfished and
continue to dwindle, science on sustainable catch levels – if it
even exists – is ignored, and illegal fishing runs rampant.
From the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW):
California now has an official state amphibian: the California
red-legged frog (Rana draytonii),a state species of special
concern. … Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 2364 (V.
Manuel Pérez, D-Indio) into law June 28.
A federal judge has cleared the way for water transfers from
Northern California to the thirsty south San Joaquin Valley,
overruling environmentalists who argued the transfers would harm
threatened fish.
Long accustomed to dealing with bad news “garbage” bears that
become hooked on improperly stored trash at homes and businesses
around Lake Tahoe, Nevada wildlife officials say they’re
increasingly responding to a new kind of troublemaker they’ve
started calling “drought” bears.
Eric Ward went to one of his regular fishing spots near the
Oroville Dam Friday morning, and the scene was far from serene.
… The word from the Department of Water Resources is that
the rubber booms were deployed to capture any hydraulic oil that
spilled into the water when a valve was tested, explained Mark
Anderson, assistant State Water Project deputy director.
The panoply of eagles, ospreys, beavers, otters and other
critters that paraded before our gaze over our nine hours
(including 30 minutes for breaks) on the Sacramento River between
Hamilton City and Butte City far exceeded our hopes.
From The Sacramento Bee, in a commentary by Mariel Garza:
Not that long ago, grizzly bears ruled the wild places of the
western United States, ranging the length of California from the
coastal mountains in the south to the Cascade Range in the north.
The researchers
found a strong correlation between pesticide concentrations
measured in surface freshwater and lower or negative local
population growth rates of 14 species of birds since the
introduction of the pesticide imidacloprid in the Netherlands in
the 1990s, according to a study published online Wednesday in the
journal Nature.
From the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW):
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is hosting
its third speaker series with a presentation on the effects of
climate change on salmon and steelhead trout in the American
River. The event will be held at the Nimbus Hatchery Visitor
Center in Rancho Cordova on July 17 at 7 p.m.
It looks as if the last oyster may finally be shucked at the
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. by the end of December, judging by what
both sides in the long legal fight over the future of the farm
said in federal court Monday. Then again, maybe not.
Seventy-plus years later, [Whitey] Rasmussen is still tying his
own feathered flies and crafting his own lures, still using them
to catch his own trophy fish, and still telling some great
stories in a way that only an ex-Navy man can. But Rasmussen
is more than a storyteller.
From the Los Angeles Times, in a commentary by Karin Klein:
The fans of today’s wild horses are petitioning the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to list the animals as an endangered species
because open rangeland is reduced and also less fit to graze.
From the Los Angeles Times, in a commentary by Jeff Burrell:
Today, working as a wildlife conservation scientist in the
Northern Rockies, I see grizzly bears regularly. … Every
sighting is gratifying, especially since the grizzly bear has
been listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act for most of my
life.”
