Related: "Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument" (BLM California Web site)
Learn more about the monument.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/palmsprings/santarosa/santa_rosa_national_monument.html

BOOKSTORE ITEM: "Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument lapel pin"
A bright and colorful pin illustrating the beauty of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. Along with the pin comes a bookmark which provides an overview of the monument's history and geography. (Limited quantities)
http://store.ca.blm.gov/cgi-bin/webc.exe/st_prod.html?p_prodid=1461

MEET YOUR ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS: William A. Betterley
William A. Betterley of Hesperia is a public-at-large representative on the California Desert District Advisory Council. He is a former San Bernardino County planning commissioner and supervisor, member of the County Supervisors' Association of California, and local businessman. Learn more in our weekly News.bytes feature at:
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/rac/dac/member_profiles/betterly.html

PROFILE: Sky Zaffarano
Sky Zaffarano's enthusiasm is exhibited in his voice as he talks about his new position as the off-highway vehicle recreation coordinator for the Redding Field Office. He has been with BLM for two months, but he comes with experience. "It is a delicate balance between protecting resources and providing legitimate recreation opportunities," he says. Read more in this week's News.bytes Profile.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/newsbytes/profiles/zaffarano.html

"Federal Register Notice: Notice of intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate wind energy development on western public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management" (Reprinted on BLM California Web site, 10/21/2003)
Two sessions in Sacramento 11/3/2003: The public is invited to this regional scoping meeting to help identify issues and criteria in the development of the programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) through public comment. The PEIS will include public lands administered by BLM located in the western states. The PEIS is in response to recommendations of the President's National Energy Policy that encourages development of renewable energy resources.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/10/fr/wind_energy_noi.html

"California energy: Drilling in a sacred site?" (Sacramento Bee, 10/19/2003)
"The rugged Medicine Lake Highlands, just 30 miles northeast of Mount Shasta, are situated above an active volcano. Deep below the Highlands, underground pools of boiling brine sit atop volcanic rocks. It is the steam energy in these underground cauldrons that attracted energy companies in the early 1980s, when they first acquired drilling rights to these public lands. For Indian tribes throughout the Western United States, the Highlands are important for very different reasons: They are sacred and for healing, where the tribes come to pray and gather medicinal herbs and learn the secrets of the Earth's creation."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/forum/story/7629558p-8570131c.html

HEADLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS

"New Dunes Season sees 'Zero Tolerance' and Expanded Fee Area" (BLM California news release, 10/22/2003)
With the approaching Halloween weekend kicking off the 2003-2004 Imperial Sand Dunes season, Dunes recreation enthusiasts will see a continuation of the "Zero Tolerance"law enforcement policy, interim lawsuit closures temporarily remaining in effect and an expanded fee area.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/10/nr/CDDnews04_new-dunes-season.html

"Army, residents ready for Ord burn" (Monterey Herald, 10/21/2003)
U.A. Army officials are hoping weather conditions this weekend will allow for a prescribed burn to clear 490 acres of "thick, towering maritime chaparral" that will eventually be turned over to the BLM. "Officials say the site is laden with grenades, mortars and rockets lurking below the brush" which the burn will help in clearing. The Army is paying for more than 300 area residents to move to hotels during the burn, if they are concerned about the effects of the smoke.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mcherald/7083269.htm

"Outdoors briefs: Address corrected for women's hunt" (Redding Record-Searchlight, 10/21/2003)
"Women interested in applying for the DFG, Shasta Country Sportsmen Association, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management cosponsored women's pheasant hunt which will take place on Nov. 22, on the 'Bend area' of the Sacramento River Recreation Area should send postcard applications to Department of Fish and Game, P.O. Box 188, Paynes Creek, CA 96075-0188, not 601 Locust Street, Redding, CA 96001, as previously directed by the department." Application postcards must arrive by Oct. 30, for the Nov. drawing.
http://redding.com/outdoors/stories/20031019ou069.shtml

Related: Earlier story corrected by the item above (from News.bytes 126, 9/16/03): http://redding.com/outdoors/stories/20030914ou062.shtml

TRASH: Dumping, cleaning up

"Illegal dumping creates tax burdens, safety hazards; Residents can get $1,000 for reporting dumpers" (Barstow Desert Dispatch, 10/16/2003)
"Along a dirt road ..., old refrigerators, televisions, chairs, mattresses, old tires and other pieces of junk are piled where people have illegally dumped them." The City of Barstow and BLM California's Barstow Field Office both must pay for cleanup of the desert junk. "'You throw a lot of money at this -- money that could be spent on something else,' ...the city of Barstow's solid waste coordinator said."
http://www.desertdispatch.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1066314446,1035,

"Creeks to be cleaned up this Saturday" (Lake County Record-Bee, 10/22/2003)
"The West Lake and East Lake Resource Conservation Districts are once again sponsoring the annual countywide creek cleanups. This year's event will be held on National Make-a-Difference Day, Saturday, Oct. 25. This national event is recognized as a day to get involved and make a contribution to your community, and under the RCD's guidance that's exactly what's happening in Lake County....'This is a great example of cooperation at its best,' said [the] watershed coordinator for both of the RCDs. 'Not only do we work with the watershed groups, but we partner with the Bureau of Land Management, people from the Department of Public Works, and local businesses to make this all happen.'"
http://www.record-bee.com/Stories/0,1413,255%257E26901%257E1715014,00.html

WILDLIFE ISSUES

"Owners of Joshua Hills land plan development" (Palm Springs Desert Sun, 10/22/2003)
"The owners of nearly 9,000 acres of land between Joshua Tree National Park and the Coachella Valley Preserve say they intend to develop the property now that a proposed sale to conservationists has floundered." State officials have rejected a land appraisal by the Nature Conservancy, which would have handled a purchase of the property for a wildlife corridor between the Park and the Preserve (jointly managed by BLM, among several partners). Observers disagreed on whether development at the site would threaten the upcoming Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, in which BLM is also a partner.
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2003/local/20031022010933.shtml

Related: "Watchable wildlife site: Coachella Valley Preserve" (BLM California Web site)
For thousands of years, particles of sand from the San Bernardino Mountains and Indio Hills washed into the Coachella Valley, forming a system of dunes. Today, these dunes are part of the Coachella Valley Preserve System, a 20,000-acre sanctuary that is home to several species of increasingly rare wildlife.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/caso/wf-coachella.html

"Officials say California behind Nevada in tortoise protection" (Associated Press, in San Diego Union-Tribune, 10/20/2003)
"Environmental officials are calling southern Nevada a model for protecting the endangered desert tortoise, but say efforts in California are moving as slowly as the creatures themselves. [The] executive director of the nonprofit Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, a 1,300-member group based in Riverside, Calif., said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dragging its bureaucratic feet in putting into action a 9-year-old recovery plan."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20031020-1339-nv-deserttortoise.html

ANSWER TO WILDLIFE TRIVIA OF THE WEEK:
(See question near the beginning of this issue of News.bytes.)
Answer: (c) The greater sandhill crane (as well as the closely related lesser sandhill crane) have the largest breeding territories of these three birds. Although some territories have been reported to be as small as 3 acres, the average size is 40 to 60 acres. Some individuals have even been reported to protect territories as large as 200 to 400 acres during breeding season! Although the only breeding ground in California is located in northeastern California, these birds spend their winters throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. (Photo credit: Gerald and Buff Corsi, California Academy of Sciences).
Learn more about the sandhill crane in our BLM California online wildlife database - for example: Sandhill crane pairs are monogamous, and many remain paired for life. (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/72535592?OpenDocument

Related: "Sandhill crane festival"
The City of Lodi hosts and annual Sandhill Crane Festival, to celebrate the birds' arrival. This year's festival is November 7, 8 and 9 - - with family activities, workshops, guided nature walks, wildlife demonstrations, hands-on exhibits, and more.
http://www.lodichamber.com/cranefestival.html