Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 by Bartshé, Education DirectorcloseAuthor: Bartshé, Education DirectorName: Bartshé Miller Title: Education Director About: Bartshé directs the Committee's Outdoor Experiences Program, Canoe Program, and Interpretive Programs, and manages the Mono Basin Field Station. He has been an Eastern Sierra resident since 1993.See All Posts by Bartshé (22) Contact Bartshé
Have you heard? Mono Lake is for the birds … the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua planning team is hard at work putting together the eleventh annual weekend. Make sure June 15–17, 2012 is marked on your calendar.
Wilson's Phalaropes in flight at South Tufa. Photo courtesy of Marie Read.
Check out the recent updates to the website, and stay tuned as we add this year’s program and schedule. Remember to get up early to register on Sunday, April 15 since spaces fill so quickly.
Monday, February 6th, 2012 by Carolyn, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Carolyn, Project SpecialistName: Carolyn Weddle Title: Project Specialist About: Recently graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Environmental Policy, Carolyn loves the outdoors and the Eastern Sierra and is known to make forays in the Nevada hills for further exploration. After spending a summer as a Retail Assistant in the Information Center & Bookstore, Carolyn is staying through the winter as a Project Specialist.See All Posts by Carolyn (14) Contact Carolyn
It’s that time of year again—time to start gathering prizes for the 2012 Free Drawing—one of the Mono Lake Committee’s largest fundraisers. Thanks to the overwhelming support from our members and visitors, last year’s Free Drawing was a huge success!
This year I have been diligently working on gathering a collection of fabulous prizes for the 2012 Free Drawing. The prize list for this fundraiser will go out through the mail as well as in our Information Center & Bookstore. Exactly how many people will (more…)
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin is an EMT on the Lee Vining Fire Department, loves sitting at Latte Da Coffee Cafe immersed in a good book, and watches English Premier League football (soccer) at any opportunity.See All Posts by Elin (97) Contact Elin
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.
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin is an EMT on the Lee Vining Fire Department, loves sitting at Latte Da Coffee Cafe immersed in a good book, and watches English Premier League football (soccer) at any opportunity.See All Posts by Elin (97) Contact Elin
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 inthis 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!
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 by Carolyn, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Carolyn, Project SpecialistName: Carolyn Weddle Title: Project Specialist About: Recently graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Environmental Policy, Carolyn loves the outdoors and the Eastern Sierra and is known to make forays in the Nevada hills for further exploration. After spending a summer as a Retail Assistant in the Information Center & Bookstore, Carolyn is staying through the winter as a Project Specialist.See All Posts by Carolyn (14) Contact Carolyn
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Elin, Communications CoordinatorcloseAuthor: Elin, Communications CoordinatorName: Elin Ljung Title: Communications Coordinator About: Elin's job consists of some of her favorite things: finding typos, experimenting with layouts, and figuring out how best to communicate the Committee's work to the world. She also oversees the Field Seminar program. Elin is an EMT on the Lee Vining Fire Department, loves sitting at Latte Da Coffee Cafe immersed in a good book, and watches English Premier League football (soccer) at any opportunity.See All Posts by Elin (97) Contact Elin
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.
Thursday, December 29th, 2011 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Degenhardt Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. When she's not in the office you might find her running with her dogs Dublin and Poco, volunteering with the Lee Vining Fire Department, listening to any music with a banjo in it, or willing the plants in her garden to grow. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (70) Contact Arya
In 2011 the Mono Lake Volunteers, in addition to their regular work helping Mono Lake visitors have a great experience, played a critical role in helping get the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve off the state park closure list. It is partnerships programs like the Mono Lake Volunteer program that show everyone from legislators to budget keepers that a strong, well-organized, and effective group of volunteers can play a critical role in supporting the work of state parks in protecting resources like Mono Lake while providing essential visitor services for agencies like the Reserve, the National Forest Scenic Area, and non-profits like the Mono Lake Committee.
Under the expert guidance of Volunteer Program Coordinator Janet Carle, the Mono Lake Volunteers (more…)
Monday, December 26th, 2011 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Degenhardt Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. When she's not in the office you might find her running with her dogs Dublin and Poco, volunteering with the Lee Vining Fire Department, listening to any music with a banjo in it, or willing the plants in her garden to grow. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (70) Contact Arya
Invasive plant species removal is nothing if not a gigantic task—which is where a whole lot of good, old-fashioned, hands-on restoration stewardship comes in. In 2011 volunteers came out of the woodwork to help tackle the problem of invasive plant species (as well as tree-watering and garbage pick-up)—from participants in the Outdoor Experiences program to the official Mono Lake Volunteers to a group of staff from the Reno Patagonia store to spontaneous local and visiting family volunteers and Mono Lake (more…)
Sunday, December 25th, 2011 by Geoff, Executive DirectorcloseAuthor: Geoff, Executive DirectorName: Geoffrey McQuilkin Title: Executive Director About: Geoff's goals for the Committee are: assuring Mono Lake's continuing protection, restoring Mono Lake's tributary streams, developing a permanent education program, and assuring that the strong tradition of scientific research at Mono Lake continues. A graduate of Harvard in the history of science, Geoff has worked for the Committee since 1992 and was an intern and volunteer before that. He's happy to live close to the lake with his wife Sarah and their daughters Caelen and Ellery.See All Posts by Geoffrey (96) Contact Geoffrey
Best wishes for a joyous and peaceful holiday season….
….and a happy New Year from the Mono Lake Committee.
Sunday, December 25th, 2011 by Arya, Communications DirectorcloseAuthor: Arya, Communications DirectorName: Arya Degenhardt Title: Communications Director About: Arya oversees the Committee's communications program, which includes the Mono Lake Newsletter. She loves her job because she gets to share the inspiring work of the Mono Lake Committee with members and visitors alike. When she's not in the office you might find her running with her dogs Dublin and Poco, volunteering with the Lee Vining Fire Department, listening to any music with a banjo in it, or willing the plants in her garden to grow. Her favorite things to do in the Mono Basin include ice skating on nearby lakes, skiing the Mono Craters, and getting to smell the sagebrush when it rains.See All Posts by Arya (70) Contact Arya
You simply must read the fun and heartwarming post by Birding Intern Oliver James, who captures the spirit of the intrepid bird lovers responsible for this feat perfectly. Even if you’re not a birder this is a great story. As it turns out, the crew was so enthusiastic that just days later they did a second Big Day and beat the 150 species with 153, so that’s the new number to beat….
Justin, Chris, and Oliver celebrate a Big Day well done! Photo courtesy of Nora Livingston.
For this and more interesting bird sightings in the Mono Basin:
