If you have arrived at Mono Lake and picked up this Newsletter, wondering “what is this place and who are these people,” you’re in good hands.
On page 16 you can find the Mono Lake story in a nutshell, and the essay on page 22 gives a brief history of this organization. There’s a map and things to do on pages 14–17. You can learn, like the students who come to the Outdoor Education Center, about the physical tie between Mono Lake and Los Angeles that is the Los Angeles Aqueduct. You can see the intricacies required to keep Mono Lake protected at an everyday, practical level—the comments we submitted on proposed fishing regulations, the temporary license change we negotiated to best benefit the recovering streams this year, how closely we monitor the lake level.
Most importantly—get yourself down to the lakeshore (use that handy map)! There are Osprey on nests perched on the tufa towers. Taste Mono’s salty, baking-soda-flavored water. Take a South Tufa tour to see tufa form right before your eyes.
Longtime members may recognize the Committee’s early days in Fran Spivy-Weber’s essay, or remember the State Water Board hearings when Tom Cahill and many other experts spoke up for Mono Lake. You may have known Andrea Lawrence, whom we celebrate each year by honoring those, like Elsa Lopez, who carry on her legacy.
If you know Mono Lake, you know the smell of its fresh briny air. You’ve watched phalaropes gliding and twisting in flight—the very same birds that fly to South America and back every year. You’ve felt the salty water dry to a white coating on your hands after a paddle on the lake, the same minerals that tinge saline lakes all over the world. You know Mono Lake is remote, unique, and yet truly connected via the 16,000 members who successfully shape its future.
Mono Lake is for everyone. If you’ve been with us for years—thank you. If you’re new here—welcome. We can’t wait to show you around.
Top photo courtesy of David J. Gubernick.