News.bytesNews.bytes Extra, issue 427

Carrizo visitors celebrate new plan, NLCS

With a backdrop of spring wildflowers, BLM managers signed the Record of Decision for the Carrizo Plain National Monument Resource Management Plan Saturday.

California Acting State Director Jim Abbott officially approved the document that finalizes the management plan, with concurrence from Johna Hurl, monument manager; Tim Smith, Bakersfield Field Office manager; and Kathy Hardy, Central California District Manager.

A man grins broadly as he signs a paper on a podium, and a man and woman nearby laugh
California Acting State Director Jim Abbott signs the document, as Bakersfield Field Office Manager Tim Smith and Central California District Manager Kathy Hardy enjoy the moment.

“I would like to thank each and every one of you for making this vision of the Carrizo Plain a reality,” Abbott said.

The event also was part of a series of events celebrating the tenth anniversary of the National Landscape Conservation System and was held in conjunction with a meeting of the Central California Resource Advisory Council.

Pilulau Khus, Elder of the Northern Chumash Bear Clan and the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, told of the importance of the Carrizo Plain to the Native Americans and described the relationships that they have built through the years in developing the monument plan. She opened the event with a blessing and traditional Chumash song.

A white-haired person speaks from a podium
Pilulau Khus, Elder of the Northern Chumash Bear Clan and the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, gives the opening blessing and remarks on behalf of the Native American community.

Carl Rountree, director of the Office of National Landscape Conservation System and Community Programs, gave an overview of the NLCS and the importance of the Carrizo. “This is one part of the 27million acres that is the NLCS,” he said.

Carl Rountree, director of the Office of National Landscape Conservation System and Community Progams, speaks to the crowd

A smiling woman signs a document on a podium, as two men smile nearby
Carrizo Plain National Monument Manager Johna Hurl signs the plan, as Jim Abbott and Tim Smith share a lighter moment.

Other speakers and participants in the program included representatives for Congresswoman Lois Capps and Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the California Department of Fish and Game and The Nature Conservancy.

A line of hikers heads out on a dirt trail among grasses, heading for a large rock formation
Visitors head out to Painted Rock, near the Carrizo Visitor Center

Orange, blue and yellow wildflowers boom among grasses
Buildings from the historic El Saucito Ranch can be seen in the distance, beyond a patch of wildflowers blooming near the Visitors Center. 

Not long after the event, BLM Central California Advisory Council member Jim Haagen-Smit took these photos of wildflowers from the Caliente Mountain Access Trail, several miles away:
Blue wildflowers and orange wild poppies bloom above the steep walls of a green valley with large patches of yellow wildflowers
Patches of yellow, orange and blue wildflowers dot the steep hills of a valley
A field of white wildflowers in the foreground; steep valley walls dotted with orange and yellow patches of wildflowers behind

- Dave Christy, BLM Central California District, 4/14/10


BLM-California News.bytes, issue 427