LA Times Story: House Passes Bill to Expand Wilderness

House Passes Bill to Expand Wilderness
In California–which now has 14
million acres of wilderness (second
only to Alaska, which has more than
57 million acres) — the bill would
protect about 700,000 additional
acres from new roads and most
commercial uses such as new mining,
logging and energy development.
Included in the legislation is $88
million to help fund a project to return
year-round flows [...]

BLM Testimony of Elaine Downing: “Employees are fearful of retaliation”

This is the public testimony of Elaine Downing, whose union represents over 600 employees of the US Bureau of Land Management in California. Mike Pool, the director of the BLM in California, has recently been named acting director of the national office of the BLM in Washington, DC. Although this is quite long, the testimony [...]

Solar Power: Eco-Friendly or Environmental Blight?

There is an interesting article in Time Magazine on solar proposals involving the Carrizo Plains.
Solar Power on the Carrizo: www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1887120,00.html?imw=Y
By Matt Kettmann / Carrisa Plains Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2009
California wants to run on sunshine. The state is forcing utility companies to provide 20% of their output by way of solar power and other forms of [...]

Celebrate Spring on the Carrizo

It’s a good time to visit the Carrizo Plain.
[Petition for Transparency and Justice in the Case of Marlene Braun Please sign by clicking on this link. Thanks.]
Spring is a wonderful time in Central California, when the dry inland areas come to life:
t’s difficult, if you’re interested in the natural world, not to try to imagine [...]

Obama Restores Key Provision of Endangered Species Act

This is not about the Carrizo specifically, but since the Carrizo has more endangered species than any place in California, it seems particularly apropos. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/03/obama_restores_endangered_spec.html?hpid=topnews
Obama has restored a key provision of the Endangered Species Act.
Obama is scheduled to visit the Interior Department this afternoon, to
commemorate the agency’s 160th anniversary.
Kieran Suckling, executive director of the [...]

PEER Advice to Pres. Obama: How to Do Right by the Environment

I am posting this letter from PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, because it has some good suggestions for the Obama team about how to deal with the fact that Bush/Cheney left layers of bureaucrats in place when they left office. So far, Obama has not been doing the things PEER suggests, one example being [...]