U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
 
Print Page

BLM California News.bytes 
News.bytes Extra, issue 528

Desert Advisory Council Field Trip

Nine people face a BLM employee
As part of its April 2012 meeting, BLM California's Desert Advisory Council took a field trip wound through Mesquite Canyon to the crest of the El Paso Mountains southwest of Ridgecrest. Outdoor Recreation Planner Craig Beck briefs members of the public and the council on the complexities of route designation in the West Mojave. 

A sign on the Bonanza Trail indicating the Bonanza Gulch Post Office, which gives a quick history. It reads, "This structure served as the post office for this community. It is associated with several mines and claims that were worked during the Great Depression. It was most likely to have been constructed in the 1930s."

A wood structure in a sandy area with sparse vegetation. Several people stand outside it, near a van.
Volunteers and BLM staff maintain the old post office building. Emergency water and cots are available for anyone needing to overnight in the remote location.

The courtyard outside a red-roofed building has a flagpole near ornamental rocks and a fenced-off garden
The tour previewed the expanded Jawbone Visitor Station, which will open this Saturday, April 28, in special ceremonies. The station serves visitors to the Jawbone Canyon Open Area, as well as those traveling to the Eastern Sierra.

Three vehicles drive through hilly desert terrain. A pole in the foreground bears an emblem indicating the route is the Pacific Crest Trail.
From Jawbone Canyon, the tour headed northwest over designated routes to Dove Springs, later crossing the mile-high Pacific Crest Trail shown here.

A BLM employee in uniform listens to a man standing on a porch, with several people in the background also listening
Craig Beck listens to 87-year-old Keith Axelson describe the joys of converting an abandoned shooting gallery into his off-the-grid home surrounded by a bird sanctuary. Axelson meticulously records the return of wildlife to his Kelso Valley refuge.

A man stands behind a grill, holding one piece of meat in tongs and with more pieces on the grill.
DAC member Richard Rudnick, owner of the Onyx Ranch, shows his expertise barbequing ribs for the field trip BBQ.

A person playing guitar stands on the left while a happy DAC member is surrounded by smiling friends.
With DAC members April Sall and Meg Grossglass on her side, Barstow Field Office Manager Roxie Trost is serenaded by Margaret Goodro, Jennifer Wohlgemuth, and Bekki Lassell. Roxie will be leaving California BLM to become Arizona's Colorado River District Manager.

A woman smiles as she lifts the first piece out of a cake reading "Happy Trails, Roxie"
Happy Trails to Roxie.

- David Briery, Public Affairs Officer, BLM California Desert District (April 16, 2012)

BLM-California News.bytes, issue 528 -- To subscribe to News.bytes, send an e-mail to: mailto:Join-Newsbytes@List.ca.blm.gov OR visit our News.bytes subscription page.

 
Last updated: 04-27-2012