At lunch on Tuesday I sat with Lynn de Frietas, Executive Director of the Friends of Great Salt Lake, Wayne Martinson, Utah’s Important Bird Area Coordinator for Audubon, Bob Jellison, and Kim Rose. We talked about a proposed potash extraction project threatening Great Salt Lake that would remove 365,000 acre-feet of water, which (more…)

The International Symposium on Terminus Lakes has a subtitle on the program: “preserving endangered lakes through research.” Gathering reliable information really is the first step in saving a lake—with Mono Lake, the 1976 ecological study laid the groundwork for the formation of the Mono Lake Committee and its early work, and the fight to save the lake over the years benefited from the many other studies of the ecosystem.

With the Walker Lake watershed north of Mono Lake, (more…)

“We must prepare for a change toward dryness” said Wally Broecker in his keynote address Warming Planet, Shifting Rainfall, Lessons from the Past.

Broecker, from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and well-known in the climate science field, was Tuesday’s keynote speaker at the International Symposium on Terminus Lakes. He first visited (more…)

I arrived in Reno, Nevada on Monday, about two and a half hours after leaving Mono Lake. The best year ever for fall color was moving downhill, and while the Mono Basin still held pockets of intensely colored leaves, Topaz was now the epicenter of the color with the beautiful giant cottonwoods along the highway blazing with color and dropping many yellow leaves on Highway 395.

I checked in to the International Symposium on Terminus Lakes at the (more…)

Canoes for the climate at Mono Lake

This morning 18 boats and almost 50 people gathered at Navy Beach under cloudless blue skies for a brand new paddling adventure. The Mono Lake Committee and friends participated in the international grassroots campaign dedicated to creating an equitable global climate treaty that lowers carbon dioxide below 350 parts per million by forming a three, five, and zero with canoes and kayaks on Mono Lake.

Joining the photos already posted at 350.org from around the world, we got out our paddles for this important action. Inspired by the journey to protect Mono Lake, and the positive outcome, we add our hopeful voices and energy to this important movement. Just like with Mono Lake, climate change needs our perseverance and the courage to do what’s necessary for a livable future. Climate change is important everywhere around the world, including at Mono Lake, and the Committee is keeping up on the latest science affecting the Mono Basin.

In December, government leaders will be convening in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in order to create a new climate treaty. The International Day of Climate Action on October 24, is the best chance the global public has to influence the treaty before negotiating positions solidify. Today more than 5200 groups are gathering in over 181 countries to draw attention to the need for a dramatic international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and set us on a rapid path to 350.

Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and energy to be a part of this day.

Patagonia, the clothing company, has a well-deserved reputation for supporting environmental causes and Mono Lake is no exception. From designing our logo back in the 1980s to helping with the remodel of the Information Center & Bookstore in the 1990s, to providing life jackets for the canoe program in 2007, Patagonia has most certainly lived up to its reputation, and we’re proud to have a legacy of working with this innovative company.

Last weekend Patagonia hosted their 11th Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference, and I was lucky to (more…)

Calling all professional and serious amateur photographers who have taken recent photographs of Mono Lake! The Committee calendar team has announced the December 1 deadline for Mono Lake Calendar submissions for the 2011 calendar. (more…)

Brilliant fall days now have snowy peaks added to the mix after Tuesday’s storm.

WEATHER
It rained 1/4 inch per hour all afternoon and evening on Tuesday, with a snow level around 8,000 feet. The Mono Basin ended up with 2.2–2.8 inches of rain and Tioga Pass ended up with two feet of wet slushy snow that melted rapidly during the warm days that followed. Gorgeous days in the 60s will cool off a bit early next week. Click here for current conditions.

FALL COLOR

One of the best years ever for fall color along lower Lee Vining Creek. Photo by Greg Reis.

Middle and low elevations are peaking right now! This is one of the best years for fall color that I can remember along the Lee Vining Creek trail—so many red dogwoods and roses and fireweed, and yellow aspen, cottonwoods, willows, and serviceberry. There are many green trees also that will be getting colorful next week. There are a lot of tinges of orange amidst the yellow. Snowy peaks and brilliant blue (more…)

Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) reopens today, Thursday October 15, 2009, at noon. It was closed since Monday due to snow. Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) remains closed, as well as the road to Bodie (Hwy 270). On the Tioga Pass Webcam there appears to be less than a foot of snow at the 9,945′ pass.

On Tuesday October 13, 2009, Tioga Pass closed once again due to snow. The major winter storm that brought over 2 inches of rain to Lee Vining and up to 6 feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain dropped about 2 feet (with 3 inches of water content) of heavy wet snow at Tioga Pass Resort that was reportedly (more…)