Yes on Proposition 84
On California’s November 7 ballot, Proposition 84—the Clean Water, Parks & Coastal Protection bond measure, provides $5.4 billion for all of California’s major natural resource protection and water programs. The Mono Lake Committee has endorsed Proposition 84, and Frances Spivy-Weber is on the executive committee for the bond.

No on Proposition 90
Hidden in the fine print of California’s Proposition 90 are unrelated and far-reaching provisions that will undermine land use regulations such as zoning, thwart beneficial environmental laws, and cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

While seasonal staff migrate during the year, two Mono Lake friends deserve recognition for the long-term work they are doing on Mono Lake’s behalf

Along with providing visitor information on the busy front counter, leading naturalist walks and canoe tours, and supporting the Committee’s core policy and education work in the busy season, Interns complete focused, individual projects. Following is a list of highlights from the summer 2006 Naturalist Intern projects.

The Free Drawing is an annual Mono Lake Committee fundraiser. Send in your tickets today (find them in the center of this Newsletter) for a chance to win one of these amazing prizes donated by generous supporters of the Mono Lake Committee. Call (760) 647-6595 to request tickets.

January 12–14, 2007 - $220 per person/ $200 for Mono Lake Committee members
There is a visual quiet that complements the silence marking this season in a most remarkable place. A lifting morning poconip fog, tufa towers jacketed in snow and reflected in the mirror of the lake’s surface, ice sculpting crystalline filigree along creek and lake banks. Come share in the wonder that provides a very different photographic opportunity.

Eight pages of merchandise in color from the Mono Lake Committee Bookstore in Lee Vining! Call (760) 647-6595 to place your order!

David Gaines Memorial Boardwalk photos:
May 23, 2006 (lake level 6383.5')
August 23, 2006 (lake level 6385.1')

Sixteen years ago, under clear late evening skies, I walked down the wooden planks of the State Reserve boardwalk. The walkway ended at a mudflat; farther out lapped the waves of Mono Lake.

Between April 1 and August 1, 2006, Mono Lake rose from 6383 feet above sea level to 6385.1 feet. This high point equals the high point reached in 1999, which was the highest level since 1972. This also puts the level back on the “average rise per year” line to reach 6391 feet by the year 2014.

2006 is the fourth “Wet” or “Extreme-Wet” year since the 1994 Water Board Decision 1631. A “Wet” year is defined as 136.5%–160% of average runoff and an “Extreme-Wet” year is defined as over 160%. We have had no dry years yet. Interestingly, the dozen years since 1994 have been the fourth wettest 12-year period on record in terms of total runoff volume. All three wetter periods included the incredibly wet 1978–1984 period.

At a local public meeting last July, Molly Brown, Deputy District Ranger for the Inyo National Forest, shared with the group recent developments affecting the Black Point Cinder Mine operation in the Mono Basin.

Birders, music fans, and minds with eclectic interests convened at the Fifth Annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua this past June. This year’s Chautauqua included a presentation by Scott Stine on the “blinding allure of lore” surrounding Joseph Rutherford Walker’s crossing of the Sierra Nevada, along with Stine’s theory of the Walker Brigade’s actual route.

Every Saturday in July and August, the doors to the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center were open late. The building was empty except for the auditorium, which was filled with people interested in learning about a variety of topics: climate change, volcanism, Mono Lake’s wetlands, Mono Lake’s tributaries, vertebrate surveys in Yosemite, birds of the High Sierra, mountain meadow bugs, the California water situation, and the status of water worldwide.

Mono Lake’s rapidly rising waters caused some last minute trail changes at the South Tufa Area this past summer. Mono Lake rose over two feet between April 1 and August 1, 2006, inundating parts of the former trail through the South Tufa grove. At times the lake rose ¼ foot per week, setting a challenging pace for the trail movers.

It didn’t surprise me that a high school student who grew up in Los Angeles had never climbed a 12,000-foot peak. I was surprised, however, when a 12 year-old student in the Mono Lake Committee’s Outdoor Experiences (OE) program claimed that he had never cracked an egg.

The summer field season has ended for researchers living in the Mono Lake Committee’s Field Station in Lee Vining. As part of its mission to support scientific research in the Mono Basin, the Committee runs the Field Station to provide a place for visiting scientists to live and work.

Mill Creek awaits FERC ruling; New trail to Mono Lake; Strange signs surface at the "Cunningham property"; Inyo National Forest to have designated OHV route system by 2008

As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews voluminous public comments of concern about its proposal to eliminate air quality health standards in rural areas, the Mono Lake Committee is preparing to litigate on behalf of Mono Lake if necessary. The decision is in the hands of the EPA, with a final standards announcement expected in September.

In 1976, a dozen undergraduate students used a National Science Foundation grant to conduct the first comprehensive ecological study of Mono Lake. In June 1977 the UC Davis Institute of Ecology published their report, “An Ecological Study of Mono Lake, California.”

September has brought long-planned changes to the Executive Director leadership of the Mono Lake Committee. Co- Executive Directors Frances Spivy-Weber and Geoffrey McQuilkin have merged the two positions, with Geoff taking over as Executive Director and Fran becoming a senior advisor to the Committee in Los Angeles.

The phrase “land development” evokes images of sprawling cities, urban growth, or perhaps the iconic bulldozer in a pasture. The sweeping high desert landscape of the Mono Basin does not immediately come to mind. In fact, it is a place where many visitors come to get away from the very picture painted by the word “development,” and where local residents have chosen to live for the same reason.

Sometimes it’s really good to sit. With what feels like a million things to do and places to explore, it’s easy to forget just how good it is to be still. An old friend came to town recently and a group of us got together for the afternoon. The list of possible things to do was endless, but we knew we had chosen well as we sank comfortably into the grass on the south shore of Mono Lake.

Last June the Mono Lake Committee Board of Directors gave their highest honor, the Defender of the Trust Award, to Andrea Lawrence, founder of the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers (ALIMAR). Doug Virtue, Committee Board member, spoke eloquently about Andrea’s inspiring life and vision for the Sierra before a gathering of over fifty members, friends, and staff enjoying the Committee’s Wine Flight fund-raiser at the annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua.

Thank you to all of you who send contributions in memory of your friends and loved ones—we appreciate these gifts that help us carry on the work that will keep Mono Lake a special place for
many generations.

We appreciate all the hard work that our many volunteers contribute on behalf of Mono Lake—we couldn’t do it without you! Thank you to all of the volunteers who have donated time to projects such as helping at the Committee’s front counter, leading South Tufa tours, pulling invasive weeds, cleaning up trash along our adopted section of Highway 395, and planting and watering Jeffrey pine seedlings along the creeks.