The Information Center & Bookstore will be closed today, Tuesday, January 15 for our annual inventory. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause. We will be open all other days this week from 9:00am to 5:00pm, so come on by!

Number 1 on our Top Ten highlights list is the remodeled Committee storefront—a multi-year process culminating in the construction and grand re-opening this past summer!

The crowd gathered for the storefront grand re-opening in August! Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Among the many highlights and wonderful moments (more…)

The Committee aspen tree will draw its water from the new greywater system. Photo by Elin Ljung.

Number 8 on our Top Ten highlight list are the great strides we made toward efficiency and reducing our ecological footprint.

In February, Sierra Watershed Progressive installed a greywater system that connects the public restroom sink and our swamp cooler with the landscaping out front. It’s only the fourth commercial project in California, and this summer visitors and staff watered the trees by washing their hands!

After the busy remodel summer, we squeezed in one more project before the snow arrived: adding 33 photovoltaic solar panels to the south-facing roof of the bookstore. Sierra Solar came back to help us max out our solar panel capacity after installing 9 panels on the ice house roof back in 2010. Making use of our high-altitude, consistent sun, our 42 solar panels will help us cut our grid electricity consumption by more than 50%.

Sierra Solar staff installed 33 panels on the Committee's bookstore roof in October. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

Photo by Jessica Ashley.

Number 10 on our Top Ten highlight list happened on a Thursday back in July, when we got a surprise visit from a young man named Jasper, who played his violin in the doorway of the bookstore to raise money for Mono Lake.

He delighted visitors, passersby, and Committee staff with his musical talent, and his donation cup filled right up.

Months later, we’re still smiling about his very thoughtful donation to Mono Lake. Thank you, Jasper!

If you’ve been in the Information Center & Bookstore in the past few years you’ve seen the brine shrimp tank in the hallway. Directly on the other side of that tank is the hallway that leads to the room that Geoff McQuilkin and I call our office. In the summer we get used to the din of people checking out the brine shrimp, and in the winter it’s pretty quiet. So, yesterday my ears perked up at the sound of a small herd of snow-boot-wearing kids. It was the Lee Vining Elementary Kindergarten class paying us a visit.

I think I probably don’t need to say much more than, especially right now, it was a really heartwarming moment that I thought Mono Lake Committee members and friends would enjoy too.

For over 30 years, visitors to Lee Vining have been lured off of Highway 395 and into the Mono Lake Committee by the iconic storefront and mural—and for many the colorful front with its deep steps has become the lasting image of the Mono Lake Committee and the town of Lee Vining.

Left to right: The Mono Lake Committee storefront in 1978, 1982, and 1990. Archive photos.

But visitors this past summer arrived to find a sight not seen since the Committee first moved into the building more than three decades ago: a complete renovation of the building-front and (more…)

Lee Vining is covered in a blanket of snow, making the approaching holidays seem all the more present. As you’re finishing up your shopping lists this week, consider handmade gifts from Eastern Sierra local artisans. Miniature Sierra wildflower notecard sets are the perfect gifts for those on your list with an appreciation for nature and art. Each set features a beautiful painting of a wildflower native to the Sierra sure to be recognized and well-loved by anyone who has spent time exploring these mountains and meadows. Shooting stars, corn lilies, penstemon, lupine—Susan Greenleaf of Bishop has done a beautiful (more…)

With work, appointments, and errands, we live in an on-the-go society. Meals are often eaten in the office or the car with plastic utensils and containers that are used once and tossed in the name of convenience. Luckily, the Mono Lake Committee online store has gifts to help you and your busy loved ones break free from the use-and-toss lifestyle.

The snack stack tiffin and To-Go Ware bamboo utensil set are popular items that are perfect for those on your shopping list who frequently eat meals away from home. The tiffin set is a great (more…)

Jim Cokas’ Tuolumne Meadows Poetry Festival broadsides can now be found on the Mono Lake Committee online store! If you missed your chance to purchase one of the pieces currently hanging in our gallery while you were in the Mono Basin, shop online and we will ship the prints to your front door. These broadsides also make the perfect gift for that person who has everything. Curious about broadsides?

Jim explained the concept of a “broadside” while hanging his show in the Mono Lake Theater & Gallery this past fall. Broadsides were common in (more…)

Water is a subject near and dear to us here at the Mono Lake Committee. It is the source of all life on our planet and the cause of both success and struggle for human beings. Newly added to the Committee’s online store are two books that take a look at water and what a changing climate means for this precious resource. (more…)