Registration opened today for all the 2012 Field Seminars. The great selection of classes include birding, photography, kayaking, natural history, pastel painting, botany, geology, basket making, and much more! Check out the seminars and sign up today—spaces are filling quickly.

Just up the road from Mono Lake, Bodie State Historic Park is an incredible place to visit. Bodie’s cemetery is full of monuments, but park staff have always known that there are many more graves than those that are still marked. The Bodie Foundation recently brought forensically-trained dogs to Bodie to find unmarked remains, as shown in this short Animal Planet video.

The dogs are trained to sniff for human remains and indicate the locations of those remains to their handlers. After the dogs have done a search the sagebrush landscape near Bodie’s cemetery is dotted with small flags. As ranger Terri Geissinger says, “Those people matter. They matter just like we do today.”

The Bodie Foundation is the partner non-profit for state parks at Bodie, Mono Lake, and Grover Hot Springs. They recently stepped up to implement a fee collection strategy at Mono Lake’s Old Marina, which helped get Mono Lake’s state park off the closure list!

The complete list of all the Mono Lake Committee’s 2012 Field Seminars is now available online here.

Take a look at the offerings, read up on the expert instructors, and plan your summer schedule. Then be ready to sign up at 9:00am on Wednesday, February 1!

Any questions? Call (760) 647-6595.

Read “A fresh heir in Muir country” in today’s Los Angeles Times—the article features Robert Hanna. Robert wears many hats, including that of California state park advocate, board member of the John Muir Association, and oh yes … he’s John Muir’s great-great-grandson.

Robert Hanna, third from left, celebrates the removal of Mono Lake's state park from the closure list on December 1, 2011. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Robert’s enthusiasm and help was instrumental in getting the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve removed from the park closure list in December. He’s now working with other state parks around California that remain on the list; he says “66 state parks still need all the help they can get.”

Take a look at the article’s accompanying video, which features footage of Mono Lake on a typical windy fall day.

Keep an eye on the Mon0-logue for news about the new John Muir quote T-shirt we’re working on with Robert’s company, Range of Light!

Mono Lake winter shoreline. Photo by Rick Knepp.

There are only three spaces left in the Mono Lake Committee’s annual winter photography field seminar coming up January 13–15 … sign up now to take advantage of the photo opportunities this quiet, beautiful season offers! Instructor Rick Knepp is a Mono Basin winter veteran and knows exactly where to lead the group for scenic photo options. In addition, the seminar includes a special dinner catered by Chef Linda Dore! To sign up visit our field seminars web page or give us a call at (760) 647-6595.

It has been a cold, dry fall and winter so far in the Sierra Nevada, which means that Tioga Pass (Highway 120) has opened again! When snow has been forecasted the pass closes, but those snowstorms have dropped less than a dusting each time. This is good news for travelers and intrepid winter hikers wishing to reach the high country.

The lack of snow is not such good news for Mono Lake—after last winter’s impressive snowfall the lake rose two feet over the summer. We need it to keep rising, so take a minute and do your snow dances this holiday season!

A Varied Thrush spotted in Lee Vining in December 2009. Photo by Justin Hite.

As the holiday season approaches it’s nearly time for a wonderful winter tradition—Audubon Christmas Bird Counts. Join in on one of these local counts:

• Mono Basin—Tuesday, December 27. Contact: Kristie Nelson
• Yosemite National Park—Sunday, December 18. Contact: Sarah Stock
• Bishop—Saturday, December 17. Contact: Chris Howard

Christmas Bird Counts are one of the oldest and largest citizen sicence events in the world; this year the 112th annual counts will take place. The results (more…)

With snow falling gently outside the office tonight, and more snow predicted for the next few days, Tioga Pass (Highway 120) has closed again. No word yet on whether this closure will be in effect for the rest of the season, but for now, plan to cross the Sierra Nevada on Highways 88, 50, or 80.

Yesterday—Wednesday, December 7—Tioga Pass (Highway 120) reopened through Yosemite National Park. Last week’s high winds blew a number of trees down in the high country, but the trees have now been removed from the road.

With snow predicted for this coming weekend it is unlikely that Tioga Pass will remain open for long. As always, when traveling across the Sierra Nevada in winter, check weather forecasts and road conditions before you go. Safe travels!

On Thursday, December 1, California State Parks announced that the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is off the closure list—wonderful and long-awaited news!

Smartphones are key to working during a power outage: Arya found the State Parks' press release on her phone as Bartshe and Geoff work on theirs in the background.

In a strange twist of fate, we got the call via cell phone since we had lost power along with much of the Eastern Sierra a few hours before. Relying on the few smartphones in the office, (more…)