LANDMARK EVENT FOR LIGHTHOUSE LANDMARK

"Landmark lighthouse goes public" (San Luis Obispo Tribune, 06/05/2003)
"People who have waited for decades to tour the Piedras Blancas Light Station north of San Simeon will have their chance. In the lighthouse's 128-year history, it has never been formally open to the public, according to research done by the [BLM], which has owned the light station for a year and is restoring it.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotribune/6019367.htm

"Piedras Blancas Light Station Open to Limited Public Tours" (BLM California news release, 06/05/2003)
For the first time since it was built in 1875, the historic Piedras Blancas Light Station, near San Simeon on California's scenic central coast, is being opened to limited public tours.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/06/nr/CCnews25_Piedras_Blancas_limited_tours/Conv.htm

"Piedras Blancas Light Station" (BLM California Web site)
Much more information on this historical site: Photos, history, volunteer opportunities, research projects at the U.S. Geological Survey station that shares the parcel.
http://www.piedrasblancas.gov/

GOING COASTAL

"North Edgy" (Metro Santa Cruz, 06/04/2003)
"It was a hard-won, costly battle to preserve the Coast Dairies property a few years ago. Now, the federal government [BLM] is coming in to help manage the 7,500 undeveloped acres north of Santa Cruz. Some say the land is well-protected, but others worry about loopholes in the terms of preservation and the idea of entrusting the Bush administration with some of Santa Cruz County's most beautiful open space." (Cover/feature story: "Meet your new neighbor")
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/06.04.03/dairies-0323.html

"Coast Dairies property, Santa Cruz County California" (BLM California Issue Update)
The BLM has agreed to co-manage, with the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), 7,000 acres of the Central Coast in northwestern Santa Cruz County near Davenport. This unique parcel of land, referred to as the "Coast Dairies Property," has remained intact as a privately owned land unit for more than a century. (This is on the secure Web server - see note under "Selected Upcoming Events" below.)
https://doi1.ios.doi.gov/newsbytes.nsf/siteurl/1098650?OpenDocument

"Mendocino ranch preserved" (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 06/05/2003)
In one of the largest undertakings yet to protect the Mendocino Coast from development, the state Coastal Conservancy voted unanimously Wednesday to move ahead with a $7.8 million deal to acquire the historic Stornetta Brothers Coastal Ranch, a dairy near Point Arena. Under the joint state-federal plan, a 2-mile stretch of stunningly rugged coastal bluffs, sand dunes and wildfowl habitat that includes a small offshore island will be acquired and turned over to the [BLM]."
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/05stornetta_b1.html

Related: "Mineral materials in California" (BLM California Web pages)
The Materials Act of 1947, as amended, separates petrified wood, common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, cinders, and some clay from "location and leasing" programs on public lands.. These materials may be acquired by purchase only and are referred to as "salable" minerals.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/caso/materials1.html

CEMEX SAND AND GRAVEL MINE PLANS

"Cemex gaining ground" (Los Angeles Daily News, 06/10/2003)
"[Santa Clarita] City leaders are concerned that Los Angeles County officials are poised to settle a lawsuit filed by mining company Cemex Inc. and will allow a massive sand-and-gravel quarry to be built in Soledad Canyon." The company has a mining permit from BLM.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20949%257E1440376,00.html

"County, Cemex deal may be near" (The Signal, 06/10/2003)
"County officials refused to confirm Monday whether they have reached an out-of-court deal with Cemex S.A. de C.V., the Mexican cement giant that hopes to mine sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon."
http://www.the-signal.com/News/ViewStory.asp?storyID=2590

WILDFIRE

"Taking the heat ... and proud of it" (Bakersfield Californian, 06/04/2003)
"The Kern Valley Hotshots are a firefighting machine made of human muscle. For 24-hour shifts, the Bakersfield-based crew can run on water, fuel and the steel tools they carry with 40-pound packs. They call the work 'rough.' They say it's 'miserable.' They also gush about it like lovestruck poets." Interested in signing up? See the next item.
http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/3239258p-3269257c.html

"Bakersfield fire program" (BLM Web pages)
Learn what the firefighters in this area do, see photos, learn how to sign up.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/bakersfield/fireindex.html

"How Circle Oaks cuts its fire risk" (Napa News, 06/04/2003)
"The conditions this fire season...seem dramatically similar to those which existed over 20 years ago, when Napa County experienced a major catastrophic wildfire..." One homeowner group trying to prevent a repeat, "was one of two homes associations, state-wide, to receive a grant award from the community-based wildfire prevention fund of the Sacramento Regional Foundation. The grant funds are provided to the Sacramento Regional Foundation by the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management as a part of the National Fire Plan."
http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=28D17AA1-8C5C-49A1-B056-CE1FC97366CB

"Rule Change to Federal Regulations Will Streamline BLM Wildfire Management Decisions" (BLM national news release, 06/05/2003)
The Bureau of Land Management may now implement wildfire management decisions on rangelands and forest lands with a minimum of delay, thanks to changes in federal regulations governing hearings and appeals. The final changes are effective July 7, 2003.
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2003/pr030605_wildfire.htm

"The thin red line: Debate rages over best way to curb forest fires" (The Christian Science Monitor, 6/12/2003)
Last year's Biscuit Fire burned four months in Oregon and California, involved 7,000 firefighters, cost $153 million and eventually stopped only with December rains. Scars from that fire serve as backdrop for this story on plans to manage wildfires on public lands. "It's more than just partisan politics...These questions could affect millions of Westerners living in or near potential fire zones...[an] insurance company recently told customers in wildfire-prone areas of six Western states that they have two years to remove excess brush and trees from around their properties or risk losing coverage."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0612/p01s02-usgn.html

ENERGY: Rights of way = controversy

"Power lines rejected again" (Riverside Press Enterprise, 06/06/2003)
"State regulators dealt the death blow ...to plan to build a high-voltage line through southwestern Riverside County. The California Public Utilities Commission refused to alter its December decision to kill San Diego Gas & Electric's proposed 500,000-volt Valley Rainbow Interconnect. It was the third time the commission struck down the proposal, and the last time SDG&E could bring it before the panel." BLM was tasked with rights-of-way permits for the power line.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/southwest/stories/PE_NEWS_nslines06.fa43.html

"U.S. judge refuses to halt Mexican electricity imports" (Ventura County Star, 06/04/2003)
"A federal judge on Wednesday rejected an environmental group's petition to halt imports of Mexican electricity from two new plants whose environmental practices are under review." BLM California involved through issuance of rights-or-way permits for power lines across public lands.
http://www.staronline.com/vcs/state/article/0,1375,VCS_122_2012673,00.html

NATIONAL NEWS

"Trying for balance at Interior Dept." (New York Times, 06/08/2003)
Various groups evaluate how Interior Secretary Gale Norton has implemented policies of "free-market environmentalism" and "the four C's: communication, consultation and cooperation, all in the service of conservation" that "are the basis of what she and President Bush call the new environmentalism, which emphasizes cooperation at the local level rather than federal edicts." (This newspaper requires registration to view articles. Registration is free.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/politics/09NORT.html

"Conservancy from the grass roots" (Washington Post, 06/07/2003)
Department of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton describes private-landowner alternative to government-bought wildlife conservation areas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26648-2003Jun6.html

"Little old law, big new conflicts" (Denver Post, 06/08/2003)
Columnist: "For such a little old federal law, RS-2477 can sure cause some big controversies. It's an old law because Revised Statute 2477 was passed in 1866. It's a little law because it's only 19 words long: 'The right of way for construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted.'"
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E150%257E1438219,00.html

• June 12, Hearing HR 762, Reasonable Right-of-Way Fees Act of 2003, by Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands & Forests. Tom Thompson, Deputy Chief, FS, is the Witness. Ray Brady, BLM Lands & Realty Group Manager, is the Technical Backup.
• June 12, Hearing HR 1472, Don’t Feed the Bears Act of 2003, by House Resources Subcommittee on Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans. Matt Hogan, Deputy Director, FWS, is the Witness.
• June 18, Oversight Hearing on Native American Sacred Places by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Chris Kearney, DOI Deputy AS, Policy/International Affairs, is the Witness.
• June 19, Oversight Hearing on Grazing by the Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Land and Forests. Jim Hughes is the Witness.
• June 24, Hearing on EPCA/Energy Access by the House Resources Subcommittee on Energy & Minerals. Rebecca Watson is the Witness.
• June 24, Hearing HR 1658 on California Railroad Right-of-Way Conveyance by the House Resources Subcommittee on Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. Bob Anderson is the Witness.
• June 26, Hearing on Healthy Forest Initiative by the Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Lynn Scarlett is the Witness.
  

ANSWER TO WILDLIFE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What period is known as the "Age of Amphibians?"
(a) Carboniferous, about 360 to 290 million years ago The name "Carboniferous" comes from deposits of coal that formed as a result of the vast swamps of the period, and...

...speaking of swamps - they attract this amphibian, familiar to many Eastern U.S. residents. But this creature has also invaded the West - and threatens several of our own California frogs. In fact, some face a threat to their very existence. Learn more about this invader on our BLM California Wildlife Database. (photo credit: John H. Tashjian, California Academy of Sciences)
(Note: the Wildlife Database is hosted on the Department of Interior's secure Web server - see note under "Selected Upcoming Events" below.)
https://doi1.ios.doi.gov/blmcawildlife.nsf/siteurl/82618449?OpenDocument