Tomorrow, March 22, California State Park supporters will be traveling to Sacramento to meet with state legislators urging them to support legislation that will help stabilize the future for our state parks system.

Even if you can’t be there in person, you can help by sending a quick letter of support to this email address, and copy in your legislator. These letters will be delivered along with the message that our 278 state parks in California are a resource to be protected, preserved, and funded.

Yes, the California state budget crisis poses challenges, but big challenges require creative solutions. Awareness of the importance of our state parks is a fundamental message that legislators will hear tomorrow from our Park Advocacy Day representatives. Let’s help them deliver the message by adding our voice to theirs!

Today we’re asking for your help. We need you to call or email Buck McKeon today related to an upcoming vote that could affect Mono Lake and many of our favorite places in the Eastern Sierra.

The Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps program (SNAP) is in jeopardy of becoming the next victim of Congressional budget cuts. This proposed budget measure will immediately eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Services and all its programs, which includes the AmeriCorps program.

Several environmental organizations in the Eastern Sierra depend on staffing support from this program. These include organizations such as the Eastern Sierra Land Trust, Friends of the Inyo, and the Sierra Nevada Alliance. (more…)

Last week the office buzzed with phone calls and inquiries related to the NASA announcement that bacterium from the bottom of Mono Lake has replaced phosphorus—once believed to be an essential element for life—with arsenic, which has huge implications for our understanding of life on earth and beyond.

For decades, Mono Lake has attracted scientists who have studied almost every aspect about this place. Much of that research was used to inform the 1994 State Water Board decision that “saved” Mono Lake from (more…)

Just four days after the fire occurred, California State Park construction crews started repairing the fire-damaged boardwalk at Mono Lake County Park. Saturday’s fire charred a section of boardwalk approximately 45 feet long and an acre of adjacent meadow vegetation. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The burned section of the boardwalk at County Park, which is being replaced this weekend. Photo courtesy of Dave Marquart.

Update: the Boardwalk reopened ahead of schedule on Friday July 9 at 4:00 pm Currently, the boardwalk is closed due to unsafe conditions and to (more…)

Even though the snow continues and summer seems a long way off, Mono Lake Committee staff are busy planning for the California Society for Ecological Restoration Annual Conference, which will be held in Mammoth Lakes, May 19–22, 2010. Plenary speakers will include David Nahai, former General Manager of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and our Executive Director, Geoff McQuilkin. Don’t miss (more…)