End Pavement

Thanks to the Press-Enterprise and Jennifer Bowles for yesterday’s story, “Public input sought on plan for preserve near Seven Oaks Dam”.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is narrowing down ways to protect endangered species living below the Seven Oaks Dam near Highland, and considering whether to truck water to a preserve area or build a dike to funnel water from the Santa Ana River.

The federal agency is holding a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in San Bernardino to get public input into ways to manage the 760-acre reserve for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat and two endangered flowers, the Santa Ana woolly star and the slender-horned spineflower, Megan Wong, an environmental coordinator with the Corps of Engineers, said Tuesday.

Details:

Thursday’s meeting will be held at the San Bernardino County Flood Control District, 825 E. Third St., San Bernardino.

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The Press-Enterprise had an article a couple of days ago describing current efforts to identify and preserve wildlife corridors across Southern California. A new report has been issued about various linkages missing from the overall network of routes.

“Essentially, if one of these linkages is lost, it reduces the ecological integrity of the entire network,” said Kristeen Penrod, conservation director for South Coast Wildlands.

In 2000, land managers, conservancy groups and academic and government scientists from such agencies as the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and state parks gathered at the San Diego Zoo. There, they identified 232 wildlife linkages in California, 69 of them in Southern California.

Some of those same scientists narrowed the critical list down to the 15 linkages released in the latest report, “South Coast Missing Linkages: a Wildland Network for the South Coast Ecoregion.”

A PDF of the report is available for download as well.

From the LA Times, a story in miniature of what the State of California hopes to do for the entire Salton Sea — and done by one determined woman.

“Part of Salton Sea’s desolate shore made into a lush oasis”

[Debi] Livesay is no scientist. She’s a former journalist with a gift for big ideas, a talent for securing grants and total self confidence.

As the Salton Sea dwindles, pesticide-laced sediments have blown over the reservation, exposing thousands of tribal members and other nearby residents to toxic chemicals. In 2001, Livesay, the tribe’s head of water resources, was charged with finding a solution.

“We can’t afford to have the Salton Sea dry out or people couldn’t live here anymore,” she said. “It would be 200 times bigger than Owens Lake. All you need is an inch of water to keep the dust settled. So I said, ‘Let’s make a wetland.’”

It wasn’t easy by any means, and despite the great success there are still challenges, especially from illegal hunters who prowl the outskirts of the new wetlands, killing birds indiscriminately and leaving their bodies. Not to mention the dumping that has been going on for decades, leaving the Torres Martinez reservation “one of the most polluted in the West.”

Even so, as the toxic cleanup continues, Livesay is navigating the jurisdictional issues to get poachers arrested…and amazing things are happening out there in the desert.

She cut the engine.

“Wait until you go around the corner,” she said. “You have never seen anything like it.”

A few feet away, birds were thick as mosquitoes. They floated in dark, choppy water and buzzed about like feathery missiles.

“You have birds here that shouldn’t be here, birds from Canada all the way down to Central America,” she said. “People come from all over the world to see this sight. There is no other place like it. And that’s why we have to preserve it.”

In an effort to highlight California conservation organizations, I thought I’d begin a series of posts (with accompanying links in the sidebar) on various folks working hard to keep the outdoors strong and safe. Sort of like Stephen Colbert’s “Better Know a District” but publicizing cool people doing good things rather than making fun of politicians. ;)

First up, a group working to help the only mammal that truly flies — the awesome bat. From what I’ve read, there are over 900 species of bats, and California has 27 of them. There’s a reason Batman chose his awesome mascot. :)

The California Bat Conservation Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of bats. The Fund’s major activities include:

• dispelling widespread misconceptions about bats through informative presentations and live-bat displays at schools, libraries, museums, and community centers
• restoring injured and orphaned bats to health and returning them to the wild
• working alongside major conservation efforts to replenish shrinking bat populations

Have a suggestion for a California conservation group? Please get in touch.