Mono Lake Committee staff, members, and volunteers gather native plant seeds at Old Marina. Photo courtesy of Bob Finch.

Over the past several years, a dense monoculture of invasive sweet clover has grown up around the David Gaines Memorial Boardwalk at Old Marina. Along with the Mono Lake Committee, Friends of the Inyo, and California State Parks, local residents, summer visitors, and students from Los Angeles donated over 300 hours of their time to removing sweet clover this past summer, and we successfully cleared nearly the entire boardwalk of this troublesome weed.

Yet invasive plants removal cannot be accomplished through a single management technique. This year, instead of simply uprooting the sweet clover, we decided to give it something to (more…)

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

As head of the California Department of Fish & Game’s Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, Dr. Tom Stephenson has a job which takes him all over the range, from Mt. Langley to Dunderberg Peak. On Wednesday, August 31, it brought him to the Mono Lake Committee’s Theater & Gallery, where he gave a presentation as part of our “Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists” summer lecture series.

Bighorn sheep are the only federally-listed endangered species in Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, and the only federally-listed endangered mammal on the Inyo National Forest. The species has been (more…)

The Mono Lake water story is featured as a central component of the new exhibition, “Water: H2O=Life” at the Qasr Al Hosn Cultural Quarter Hall in Abu Dhabi. The exhibition, which first opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, treats the relationship between water and life through a variety of interactive displays. Mono Lake’s inclusion in the exhibition speaks to the global significance of the environmental successes that have been achieved here. Read more in The National‘s article.

Starting Friday, September 23rd the Information Center & Bookstore will be open from 9:00am–5:00pm, seven days a week.

We are open throughout the winter with the exception of major holidays, so come visit us for information on fall colors and Mono Lake, or to do your holiday shopping.

We have an excellent selection of books, maps, cards, T-shirts, jewelry, and locally-made items.

After a cool spring and a late summer we are eagerly awaiting the leaves changing here in the Mono Basin. Right now there are a few spots of color on Conway Summit, in Lundy Canyon, and along the June Lake Loop, but not much has changed yet.

Fall colors blaze on Conway Summit last October 21st. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

Stay up to date on the latest fall color news by checking the informative California Fall Color website. You can also give us a call here at the office at (760) 647-6595 and we’ll tell you what we’ve seen. Happy autumn!

Calling all photographers! The call for submission for the 2013 Mono Lake Calendar is here. If you are interested in submitting, click here for the submission information and read on for details. The submission deadline is Monday, October 31, 2011.

Since 1986, the magnificent geological and ecological wonders of Mono Lake have been celebrated in the Mono Lake Calendar, published by the Mono Lake Committee. Sales of the calendar help to fund the efforts (more…)

In 2011, with decreased funding and increased visitation, volunteers were more important than ever. Volunteers answered questions for visitors at the lake shore and at the Forest Service Visitor Center, led tours at South Tufa and Panum Crater, and helped out with numerous special events.

In late August we celebrated another great summer season of volunteering with the annual volunteer appreciation party. Thank you, volunteers, for your countless hours talking with visitors and enriching their experience in the Mono Basin!

Our 2011 volunteers celebrate the end of a successful season.

A special thank you to this year’s Volunteer of the Year, Jo Bacon. Jo is trained and ready for anything, from (more…)

The Great Sierra River Cleanup is one of the largest and most successful annual volunteer stewardship events in the Sierra Nevada. Last year, over 4,000 volunteers cleaned up 265 miles of rivers throughout the region. The Mono Lake Committee looks forward to participating again this year, and we need your help! Please join us this Saturday, September 17, at 9:00am at our Information Center & Bookstore. We will carpool to June Beach and spend the morning cleaning trash, cigarette butts, and fishing line from the lakeshore. If it’s more convenient, you can also meet us at the first June Beach parking lot at 9:30am. Please wear long pants and close toed shoes, and bring water. Snacks will be provided. Please contact Office Manager Rose Catron if you’re interested in coming along!

Researcher Sarah Dalrymple of UC Davis spoke at the Mono Lake Committee on Wednesday, August 4 as part of our “Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists” lecture series. Dalrymple is a PhD candidate in biology whose work centers in the Jeffrey pine forest just south of the Mono Basin on the Deadman Plateau.

If you’ve ever taken a stroll in the woods near Obsidian Dome or Wilson Butte, you may have noticed distinct rings around certain pine trees where the ground has been cleared of needle litter. Intrigued by this phenomenon, Dalrymple did some preliminary investigation and discovered a strong correlation between the presence of these cleared rings and the survival of trees during a forest fire. In one recently-burned area, trees with clearings around their trunks had a 60% reduction in mortality compared to trees without clearings. Dalrymple set out to determine what creates and maintains these clearings and what role they play in the fire cycle of the forest.

The cleared area around a Jeffrey pine. Photo courtesy of Sarah Dalrymple.

First, Dalrymple compared clearings in forests that had and had not experienced a recent regime of prescribed burns. She found (more…)

The National Park Service is extending the “Stars Over Mono” program through September 19 this year, so you still have a chance to learn about the night sky with the help of an interpretive ranger.

The night sky at South Tufa. Photo courtesy of Bristlecone Media.

The program meets every Monday at 8:00pm at the South Tufa kiosk. Mono Lake is a particularly good stargazing venue as the horizon is not obscured and there is very little light pollution. Bring a pad to sit on and your sense of wonder! Each program lasts an hour and a half.