Hoar frost clings to pine needles on a branch that holds a now open cone.

Events

Gull protection fence to go up in 2023

Low lake means California Gulls will need protection from coyotes next spring As California weathers another drought and Mono Lake’s level continues to drop, the landbridge from the mainland to one of the world’s largest California Gull nesting colonies is…

Fall 2022 Mono Lake Newsletter now online

This issue of the Mono Lake Newsletter contains a hard question: Will I see Mono Lake rise to the healthy, mandated level in my lifetime? We’ve been hearing that question, and others, from members. As Geoff writes in his article…

Wild horse activity at South Tufa

Last winter, wild horse activity sharply increased at and around South Tufa, with upward of 100 horses regularly seen on the trail to Mono Lake, near Navy Beach, and at the freshwater spring along the shoreline. Wild horses used to…

Drought worsens at Mono Lake

Drought forces reduced diversions, causes problems for nesting birds and air quality Mono Lake is suffering from a severe drought. The lake has dropped more than three feet in elevation since 2019, exposing more lakebed. Dust storms have become more…

Raising Mono Lake requires a new plan

Stream diversions holding back lake rise On the wall of the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore is a vertical blue tube representing Mono Lake’s level, with a yellow sliding arrow pointing to the present-day surface elevation. It is…

Summer 2022 Mono Lake Newsletter now online

It felt like a grim spring here at Mono Lake. It was too dry. No snow to speak of in January, February, or March. Meager storms in April that barely dampened ground that had been drying out for months. It…

Protecting California Gulls at Mono Lake’s low levels

Each autumn Mono Lake Committee staff optimistically hope for a wet and snowy winter, but cautiously prepare for drought. Last fall, drought contingency planning included the possibility of re-deploying the mile-long temporary electrified fence to protect California Gulls; no small…

Traditional burn in the works at Parker Creek

The Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe is currently working on a number of projects aimed at reviving the uses of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of the Indigenous peoples of the Mono Basin. These efforts confront the dispossession of Indigenous peoples from…