I hope you get to visit Mono Lake this summer. I hope you walk through the sagebrush down to the shoreline to say hello to the alkali flies. I hope you get to see a sunset, or a sunrise, or the march of puffy clouds across the quiet sky. I hope you fish one of the streams, photograph a tufa tower, see a bird you’ve never seen before, go for a float.

Why do I hope this for you? There are two reasons: the first is that there is a small, but dedicated staff that has been working tirelessly through the chilly winter months to prepare for your visit. We’ve been working to make sure that this special place is protected, that water flows down the creeks, that there are tours and seminars to be taken, that new books are available (more…)

Road construction on Mono Lake Avenue in Lee Vining. Photo by Rose Catron.

Have you visited Lee Vining lately? If so, you may have noticed construction equipment and torn up roads. In addition to the Digital 395 installation that is happening in Lee Vining, the Mono County Department of Public Works is rehabilitating the streets of Lee Vining from now through (more…)

According to today’s most recent update from the National Park Service, Tioga Pass will indeed open tomorrow, May 11. While the road opening will cut hours off travel time from the Eastern Sierra to Yosemite, visitors should be prepared for very few amenities and services on the road to Yosemite Valley. Read the (more…)

For the last week the streets of Lee Vining have been overtaken by heavy equipment and construction workers, all to complete one of the last stretches of Digital 395, the stimulus-funded project that will provide high-speed broadband internet to communities between Barstow and Carson City.

This view from the Lee Vining Webcam on May 8 at 11:55am shows Digital 395 construction in the center of Highway 395 ... along with much-needed rain clouds!

In fact, if you’ve logged into the Lee Vining Webcam recently, you will have seen the “ditch witch” drilling right in the middle of (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee recently received the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power’s (DWP) forecast for Mono Lake levels for the 2013 runoff year (April 1, 2013–March 31, 2014). The lake level forecast is primarily based on the preliminary April 1 runoff forecast of 66%, which makes this year officially “dry.”

Despite the 2013 runoff year being officially "dry," the area around Tioga Pass still has quite a bit of snow, as this photo from April 22 shows. Photo by Angie Glaser.

Median levels of precipitation and evaporation are assumed, so after September the accuracy depends on how wet next fall and winter will be. The elevations in the table below are in feet above mean sea level. (more…)

Just now we got a press release from the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District about the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power’s recent air quality lawsuit. The first sentence reads:

“Today, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s high-profile lawsuit against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and other environmental agencies was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.”

Here is the rest of the press release: (more…)

Over 80 people joined Mono Lake Committee staff and Andrea Lawrence’s family for the annual Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner, held last Friday at Parallax Restaurant on Mammoth Mountain.

Quentin Lawrence speaks at the podium (far left) at the 2013 Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

It was a beautiful evening, with perfect light for viewing the newly named Mt. Andrea Lawrence. With great food, beautiful views, and inspirational speakers, the evening was (more…)

Volunteers count California Gull nests at Mono Lake. Photo by Russ Taylor.

You are on a rocky volcanic island surrounded by an alkaline sea. Your only protection from the high-desert sun is your khaki-colored Mono Lake Committee logo bucket hat. It’s also your only protection against the frenzied California Gulls flying every which way and trying, as you suspect, to whitewash you with an airborne “splat!” (more…)

The Mono Lake Story, the Mono Lake Committee’s documentary about the natural and political history of Mono Lake, is now available on our website.

Released in June of 2011, the 27-minute film was a much-needed update from the slideshow that had been (more…)

The combination of spring’s arrival and the opening of fishing season on April 27 is prompting many visitors to ask when campgrounds and business will begin to open in the Mono Basin. Now that Sonora Pass (Highway 108) is open as of April 24, with the possibility that Tioga Pass may open before Memorial Day weekend, Lee Vining will again be swarming with activity in no time! Here are recent updates (more…)