Bat Exclusions

Abandoned mines can be hazards to human health and safety as well as essential maternity and hibernation habitat for bat species. Balancing these two issues can be a challenge. With the expertise of Dr. Pat Brown, we're able to plan mine closures that keep people safe and maintain habitat for the bats. Bat gates are installed on addits and shafts with larger numbers of bats. Some mine features don't appear to have any bats using them, and we're able to "hard close" the portals. They're either filled with rocks and dirt or polyurethane foam (PUF). To prevent any bats from being trapped inside, we first exclude them by covering the portals with chicken wire after any fly out. Bats are able to crawl out through the chicken wire if we miss them, but are unwilling to put in the effort to crawl back in and will find another hole that won't be closed. However, we need to finish the hard closures before hibernation season, since that's a good enough reason for the bats to make the effort to re-enter. Timing is everything!

excluded shaft

unrolling the exclusion

mounting a large exclusion

night sky through IR goggles

Fall Color!

Despite our unseasonably warm temperatures, fall is here and the aspen at higher elevations are changing to gorgeous colors. We took a quick drive up to Lake Sabrina and were rewarded with views of yellow, orange, red, and green patchwork on the slopes.

Fall Color Hot Spots - link to current updates by our BLM Bishop botanist

Speaking of color, we came across this impressive wasp while walking down the street in town. Best I can tell, it's Chlorion aerarium (Sphecidae), or steel-blue cricket hunter. Certainly the genus is at least correct, since she's carrying a cricket! Like the tarantula hawk I've posted a picture of previously, she'll place the paralyzed cricket in a burrow and lay an egg on it. When the larva hatches, it will feed on the still-living cricket. Creepy! The adults only feed on sap or nectar, but can give a painful sting.

Revitalizing River Springs

For National Public Lands Day, volunteers and employees from BLM, Forest Service, and Fish & Game spent the day on a number of projects to improve River Springs in Adobe Valley. Along with the spring providing water for wildlife, it is also the site of a historic stage coach stop. Projects included installing a kiosk, putting up a new fence around the spring, rebuilding the rock corral, and weed and garbage removal. A big thanks to everyone who came out to help!

the troops gather

Greg gives us the history

Troy digs a hole

the boys discuss the finer points of augering

here comes the weed crew!

Jeff shows off the fence work

repairing the woodwork

rebuilding the corral

hauling out

conquering the barbed wire beast

Grouse Tracks!

Sage-grouse tracks in Long Valley's sandy soil.
I love their chicken-dino-feet!

Semester in the West

On tuesday, a few of us met Whitman College's Semester in the West class out in the Bodie Hills. Semester in the West is an amazing environmental studies program where the students travel all over the west, seeing tons of places and meeting with people from a variety of organizations to talk about public lands conservation. The students complete four courses while on the road, along with camping most nights and cooking their own meals.

Jeff told the students all about range management for the BLM, and they helped us install stays on our Bodie Creek fence. They wouldn't stop until all 500 were installed! Their work really helped us out, and they had great questions! An impressive group of students from an awesome program.

ready to help!

Professor Jefe

Crater Mountain WSA

Crater Mountain is a cinder cone located outside of Big Pine and is a Wilderness Study Area (WSA). Only Congress can designate wilderness, but areas meeting many of the wilderness characteristics were evaluated as Wilderness Study Areas. These areas can be designated wilderness, released, or not addressed. Until WSAs are addressed, management should not decrease their wilderness value.

Part of my job is simply to learn our resource area, so on monday I decided to take a visit to Crater Mountain. I hiked the 700 feet to the top, over areas of volcanic rock...not a hike for the weak of ankles! I was hoping to see the introduced tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) herd, but didn't come across them. There were some baby lizards running around and a few bird species, including Rock Wren, Western Scrub-jay, and what appeared to be a migrating group of Black Swifts.

Crater Mountain from Highway 395

volcanic rock

summit registry

looking down from the top

Bodie!

Since I make the 1.5 hour drive to the Bodie Hills at least once a week for work, it's hard to be motivated to visit on my days off. Fortunately, my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew decided to visit Yosemite Valley (did you know that Yosemite Falls is completely DRY this time of year?!), so once we were back on 395 we were closer to Bodie than to Bishop, and we decided to make a visit. We spent the night beneath Mt. Biedeman at a dispersed site along a 4WD road. The stars were absolutely amazing! In the morning, we enjoyed views of Mono Lake while we watched the sun rise, drank warm tea, and mewed back at the Green-tailed Towhees.

not a bad campsite

rabbitbrush and Mono Lake

On our way into Bodie State Historic Park itself, we came across one of the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) herds. Since the truck chased them behind a ridge, we decided to drive ahead and walk out to see how close we could get. We almost walked right into them, and they ran by us at about 100 feet away!

Bodie was even better than I expected. Many of the buildings are filled with artifacts, and the museum has a good collection along with labels and explanations. I particularly liked the pharmaceutical products, like A Scientific Powder for Men and a Diphtheria Remedy that also cures syphilitic sore throat!

In 1859, Waterman S. Bodey discovered gold at the site. By 1879, the town had a population of about 10,000 and was known for wickedness, badmen, and "the worst climate out of doors". Fires reduced the size and the gold rush waned; eventually the town fell into decay. It was dedicated as a state historic park in 1962. Well worth a visit if you're on the east side! And do pay the extra $2 for the guide.

Methodist church

Boone Store window

opium bottles

anti-venom (yikes)

historic hops! (Humulus lupulus)

historic booze

Standard stamp mill

this looks like a fun place!

Mountain Bluebird

in the cemetery

I wanted to show Brent some more of my "office", so we took the long way out, up Geiger Grade and out Aurora Canyon. Most of the drive was uneventful (aside from the road itself), until we ran into a herd of cattle being driven out along the road. Nothing like a little cattle driving from the truck to end our day in the Bodie Hills!

Aspen Regeneration Transects

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) reproduce by clone sprouts off of their root systems. Livestock can do a number on aspen groves, browsing the young shoots (or suckers) until the root system has no energy to produce more. The adult trees eventually die out with no suckers to replace them. A number of our livestock exclusion fences protect aspen groves. To measure regeneration we survey the groves annually, counting the number of mature trees and suckers within three feet on either side of a 100-foot transect. We also measure canopy cover simply using point-intercepts, giving a percentage for the entire transect.

setting up a transect

suckers ready to be counted

Dear California Chukar Hunters

The 2010-2011 California chukar season closes January 30. Good luck, hunters!

Most of the Google searches leading to this blog lately are about chukar hunting. I'm not a chukar hunter. But as part of my job I am responsible for managing wildlife, including game species, on public lands. So I'll try to provide something of use. This post won't be exhaustive, but I'll update it whenever I have new information to share.

10/14/2010 - Quail, chukar season looking fantastic, an article in the San Bernardino Sun predicting "This will be an upland bird season to remember."

Where to Find Them (Mono and Inyo Counties)

9/9/10 - One of our employees returned from the Inyo Mountains Wilderness and said that he was seeing chukar everywhere!

Inyo Mountains Wilderness (5 miles east of Lone Pine) - If you choose to explore this remote area, please respect all rules, bring plenty of water, and only drive on designated routes. Leave No Trace!

Crater Mountain Wilderness Study Area (2 miles south of Big Pine) - The WSA report claims that this area is a popular chukar hunting spot.

Rules and Regulations

2010-2011 Upland Game Hunting Season Summary (California Department of Fish and Game)

2010-2011 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations (State of California Fish and Game Commission)

Do you have anything to add? A lot of people end up at this post and I'd like to make it as helpful as possible! Feel free to add comments of your own observations.

Sierra Nevada Red Fox...Found!

The Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) is not listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act, but is California state Threatened. The only known current population is found around Lassen...or was until last month. Forest Service biologists had set up cameras for a potential project near Sonora Pass and were surprised by photos that appeared to be one of the elusive foxes. DNA from slobber on the bait (chicken parts inside a sock) confirmed it to be a Sierra Nevada red fox from the southern population, not recorded since the 1920s. A very cool find, not far from my backyard!

San Jose Mercury News article from September 4, 2010

National Public Lands Day, September 25

This September 25 is National Public Lands Day, a coordinated volunteer effort across the nation to improve and enhance your public lands. I encourage you to participate! Our office will be conducting a historic site cleanup and stabilization at River Springs in Adobe Valley.

If you can't make it to the east side, a list of other BLM projects in California is available here. Opportunities with other agencies and outside California can be found here. Projects include trail maintenance, invasive plant removal, tree planting, and more!

Late Summer Seed Collecting

Today, Martin and I completed four seed collections for the Seeds of Success program. We aim for 10,000 seeds from 50 different plants for each species. Not a small undertaking. Success! Neither of us had been up to Cowtrack Mountain before, and it was absolutely beautiful. The photo below looks out over Adobe Valley between Granite Mountain (left) and Antelope Mountain (right of center).

Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intermontanus curl-leaf mountain mahogany

itchy success!

Note: I've always found mountain mahogany to be particularly beautiful. The hair-lined extensions of the fruits glow in daylight, giving the entire plant a soft haloed appearance. Well, today I found out that those pretty little hairs are like fiberglass. I'm not sure I can ever look at the plant in the same way again...

hopefully viable success!

Leymus cinereus Great Basin wild rye

Erioganum umbellatum sulfur flower

umbellievable success!

delirious success!

Grayia spinosa spiny hop-sage