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Each summer, over 70 volunteers each commit to eight hours a month, June through August, speaking with visitors at Mono Lake. These volunteers are the eyes and ears at Mono Lake during the busiest season, and the visitor experience wouldn’t be the same without each volunteer.

Volunteers celebrate their graduation from training last June. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

We are now recruiting volunteers for this coming summer. In addition to roving at the lake, volunteers also assist the Mono Lake Committee with membership mailings, give talks at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center patio, pull invasive plant species, and much more.

One of the benefits of volunteering for Mono Lake is the (more…)

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Whether you are a seasoned birder or new to the delightful joy of watching birds, you can help gather data for the Christmas Bird Count, one of the largest citizen science data sets in the world! Every December and January, thousands of bird enthusiasts across the world count individual birds in specific areas to get a general idea of the population shifts throughout the years.

An Audubon’s Warbler in winter plumage. Photo by Santiago Escruceria.

The three local counts are coming up this weekend and next week:

Bishop CBC: Saturday, December 16
Contact Chris Howard by email.

Mammoth Lakes CBC: Sunday, December 17
Contact Santiago Escruceria by email.

Mono Lake CBC: Tuesday, December 19
Contact Kristie Nelson by email.

Do you want to volunteer where you live? The National Audubon Society has a stellar map to show you where all the count circles are and who to contact. If you’re not great at bird identification, you can help by taking notes and keeping track of numbers. You will be assigned to an experienced birder so you can learn a lot along the way.

The weather is looking cold and dry, so the counts will be accessible by hiking rather than snowshoes or cross country skis like in years past. Happy birding!

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Each year printed copies of the Mono Lake Committee Annual Report are sent out to Defense Trust level members and Guardians of the Lake monthly-giving club members, but it is has information that is important to members at all giving levels, friends, anyone who is curious, and the general public. So without further ado, click here to see the Mono Lake Committee 2017 Annual Report.

Did you get a yearbook in high school? The Annual Report feels a little bit like the grown-up version of getting the yearbook … (more…)

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This post was written by Michael Morris, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

Last Sunday, September 10, 132 runners and walkers challenged themselves to ascend the 12.4 miles of the Tioga Pass during this year’s annual Tioga Pass Run. This was another successful year for the epic event, where the participants start in front of the Mono Lake Committee in Lee Vining and finish at the entrance to Yosemite National Park, gaining 3,165 feet of elevation along the way to the top.

Runners make their way up Highway 120 west with the horizon dominated by the Dana Plateau. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

Kenny Palmer of Mammoth Lakes won the overall race this year with a time of 1:37:31. Jessica Francois, a Lee Vining local and (more…)

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This post was written by Michael Morris, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

The Mono Lake Committee’s invasive removal project has been running all summer long, and there is one more opportunity to get involved!

Committee Restoration Field Technician, Robbie, demonstrates how to identify white sweet clover during an invasive plant removal workday near Old Marina. Photo by Michael Morris.

Ava and I have been leading invasive plant removal workdays at Old Marina—focusing on removing invasive white sweet clover. Join us on Wednesday, August 30 from 9:00am to 12:00pm for the last restoration day of the season! We will meet at the Mono Lake Committee, then carpool to the location we’ll be weeding. Please bring close-toed shoes, sun protection, plenty of water, and a snack. And of course, be sure to stick around afterwards for a picnic lunch. (more…)

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This post was written by Aviva North, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

While Mono Lake Volunteer Janet “JB” Barth might be new to living in the Mono Basin, she certainly is not new to volunteering, environmental activism, or her love for the Eastern Sierra.

JB taught in the Napa school system for more than 20 years before retiring and moving to Benton, California. Photo courtesy of JB.

In high school in Napa, California JB participated in a camping and outdoors club and their first-ever outing trip was to Mono Lake around 1970—that’s when she claims, “the first time I saw this place I knew this was where I wanted to be.” (more…)

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Thank you to botanist Ann Howald and all the volunteers who joined us on August 8 to remove invasive white sweet clover at Mono Lake!

The large pile of pulled Melilotus albus is nearly obscured by the hard-working removal crew at Mono Lake’s Old Marina. Photo by Ava Stavros.

The event was incredibly productive due to all of your hard work and effort. Together we pulled 177.75 pounds of white sweet clover, Melilotus albus, at the Old Marina boardwalk. Luckily (more…)

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This post was written by Charlotte Johnston-Carter, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

Each year millions of people visit the Mono Basin, and most leave only footprints, but some leave a bit more…. Litter is common throughout the basin, but Lee Vining Creek often gets the brunt of it since it’s one of Mono Lake’s most popular tributary streams for fishing and camping.

Volunteer Janet Barth picking up litter at the Lee Vining Creek diversion pond during the Great Sierra River Cleanup. Photo by Charlotte Johnston-Carter.

Every year the Mono Lake Committee helps clean up Lee Vining Creek as part of the Great Sierra River Cleanup, a Sierra-wide event organized by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (more…)

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This post was written by Aviva North, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

“Volunteering has always been a part of my life, ever since I joined Girl Scouts,” says Mono Lake Volunteer Jo Bacon. Part of the original class of volunteers in 2004 and named Volunteer of the Year in 2011, Jo is a stalwart volunteer with a passion for engaging the public and protecting the Mono Basin.

Mono Lake Volunteer Jo Bacon, left, with Volunteer Coordinator Janet Carle. Photo by Rose Catron.

She originally discovered the wonders of the Eastern Sierra in the 1970s on a trip to cross country ski and eventually moved to Mammoth Lakes full-time in 2002 after more than 25 years in Riverside, California. Since her move, Jo has certainly made her mark on the Eastern Sierra community. She served on the Mammoth Lakes Town Council for eight years, including two as mayor, then another two on the planning commission, along with doing interpretive work for the Mammoth Ranger District and some naturalist work in the area.

She was drawn to the Mono Basin originally by (more…)

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Cathy & Rich Foye, left and center, with fellow Mono Lake Volunteer Rosemarie Willimann. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

This post was written by Aviva North, 2017 Mono Lake Intern.

If you have taken a Saturday canoe tour this summer you will probably recognize our awesome volunteer Cathy Foye, who, every weekend, is prepped with a scope set on an Osprey nest perfectly perched on a tufa tower in Mono Lake.

Born and raised in Southern California, Cathy had actually never explored the Eastern Sierra until her now husband, and fellow volunteer, Rich Foye, took her on vacation. Their favorite parts of visiting were the guided canoe tours and weekly star talks offered during the summer. During their 25 years together in Fullerton they became frequent visitors to the Eastern Sierra, initially attracted to Mammoth Lakes, where they permanently moved to in 2009. (more…)