From the LA Times Outposts blog, “California state parks said to face biggest threat in 150-year history”

Now, facing a projected $24.3-billion budget shortfall, his back is against the wall and he has again aimed his bazookas at those vast parcels of wilderness that afford such a treasured refuge for millions of citizens seeking to escape the chaos of civilization, if only briefly, to rejuvenate body and mind.

Beginning July 1, the governor plans to cut core funding for 279 parks in half (by $70 million), and during the next fiscal year he intends to cut all funding. If the cuts are approved by the Legislature, more than 200 parks could be forced to close.

With the budgetary threats to education, health care, welfare, infrastructure, and everything else, this state is in real trouble. And not the kind of trouble that’ll work itself out at the end of a two-hour action movie, either. It’s just depressing as hell.

• Collections index of the 50 states
• California index
• All California items, sorted by date added (2,800+ items, 50 items per page)

One tip — use the string “collection:usgs_ca” (minus the quotes) in the search form, and then add any other terms, like say san gorgonio to look for individual maps.

Via the IA collections team’s post “Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map”.

“Camping Tips”

Summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s almost time for fun in the great outdoors. Here are some tips to make your next camping trip safe and enjoyable

My personal favorites:

• When facing an enraged grizzly bear, be sure to wear comfortable, waterproof shoes and thick socks.
• To hike, put one foot in front of the other, propelling yourself forward at a steady, workmanlike pace. After repeating this action thousands of times, you will theoretically begin to experience “fun.”

There’s a Severe Weather Alert going out at the moment, with crazy-hot temps hitting inland SoCal this weekend. So if you were planning on a lot of strenuous exercise outdoors, you might want to rethink it. Or at least stay hydrated.

ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS-SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS- SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS- COACHELLA VALLEY-SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS- 156 PM PDT THU MAY 14 2009

…NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES INLAND THIS WEEKEND…

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING HOT WEATHER INLAND THIS WEEKEND WITH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES GETTING NEAR RECORD LEVELS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE HOTTEST DAY WILL BE SUNDAY WITH TEMPERATURES ABOUT 12 TO 18 DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES INLAND.

HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE 90S TO NEAR 100 DEGREES IN THE INLAND EMPIRE AND INTO THE MID 90S IN THE SAN DIEGO INLAND VALLEYS. THE LOWER DESERTS WILL BE IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE SUNDAY. THE WARMER MOUNTAIN AREAS WILL REACH THE LOW TO MID 90S. THE MARINE INFLUENCE AND ONSHORE FLOW WILL MODERATE HIGH TEMPERATURES NEAR THE IMMEDIATE COAST WHERE THEY WILL REMAIN IN THE LOW TO MID 70S.

It was back in 1992 when the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan went into effect, setting course for the city of Los Angeles to preserve the historic 1924 drive through a set of land use regulations and improvements. Among those was the Core Trail, some 22 miles in length, roughly from near the Hollywood Bowl to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Approaching 20 years since it became law, some are wondering why nothing has been done.

Continue at “What Happened to Los Angeles’ 22-Mile Hiking Trail?”

Meanwhile, Alex McInturff is off on a real adventure.

“Stanford grad student walking 320 miles in John Muir’s footsteps”

Alex McInturff, a 23-year-old earth sciences student, finds that much has changed as he retraces the conservationist’s trek from San Francisco to Yosemite Valley in 1868.

McInturff, walking through Central California, says his spirits began to lift once he hit the Sierra foothills. The mountain range that changed Muir’s life 141 years ago hasn’t lost its magic. “Returning to the forest today, I rediscovered the freedom I love about walking, which was lost a little in the San Joaquin,” McInturff wrote on his blog.

Not sure how they managed to mangle his blog California Transect’s URL so badly in the online version of the article, but it should be muirwalk.blogspot.com. Alex describes himself and his journey thusly:

On April 6, Alex McInturff is setting off to retrace Muir’s path across California. Alex is a master’s student in the Earth Systems Program in the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University. He has been researching the history of and current state of conservation in California in conjunction with the Bill Lane Center for the American West and our collaborator iMapData. Alex envisions his own walk as a way to examine the history, current state, and future prospects of a wide range of conservation efforts on public and private lands, across a telling transect of California, from urban areas, through suburbs and parks, across the large parks and ranches of the Coast Range, the irrigated industrial agriculture of the Central Valley, Kesterson Wildlife Refuge, up the Merced River, across the Don Pedro Reservoir and Lake McClure, through historical mining towns, and national forests to Yosemite National Park.

I’ll definitely be adding his blog to my RSS reader.

Cool article in the Sun tracing the early history of local railroads in the San Bernardino/Redlands area: “Inland Empire used to run on rails”.

There were no swaying palm trees, well-manicured parks, or stately columns greeting the new arrivals at San Bernardino’s first downtown train station. In fact, the unattractive station provided a fitting end to the dingy “back door” corridor that brought passengers into the city’s business district of the day.

In spite of the unimpressive entrance, downtown merchants celebrated the arrival of the San Bernardino and Redlands Railroad (SB&RR) in 1888. The narrow-gauge (36 inches between the inside edge of the rails) steam line ran on established roads between San Bernardino and Redlands.

When the line began regular service on June 4, 1888, the ride between the two cities took about 40 minutes, and the fare was 30 cents one way and 50 cents for a round trip. The train ran every two hours since the new company only had one locomotive.

That station was on Third Street between E and F, right about where the virtually vacant Carousel Mall and its acres of empty parking lots are now.

View Larger Map

Hopefully we’ll be surpassing the 19th century again soon with some sort of light rail service between San Berdoo and Redlands. Funny, too — I can make that run in about 15 more minutes than the old train on my bicycle. Depending on the winds that day, of course. ;)

The Path Less Pedaled is an exploration of what it means to live outside the lines. In March 2009, Laura Crawford and Russ Roca made the decision to drop out of the status quo and find others around the world who have done the same. Paring down their lives to just what will fit on two bicycles, Laura and Russ are embarking on an extended bike tour throughout the US and beyond – with the goal of connecting with and collecting the stories of people who followed a calling to live their lives in unique ways. Through photos, interviews, sketches, hand-bound books, and an extensive web presence, Laura (an art jewelry maker) and Russ (a photographer) will compile example after example of lives less ordinary – independent artisans and makers, small business proprietors, community activists and more.

Via Cyclelicious

Hoping to have time to get out and about. :)

“Loma Linda to consider honoring mountaineer”:

The Loma Linda City Council on Tuesday will discuss awarding a contract to a San Bernardino artist to create a statue of Crooks.

The life-size bronze sculpture would be placed on a concrete base near the entrance to Hulda Crooks Park at the southern terminus of Mountain View Avenue.

UPDATE: Looks like the statue is a go.

In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.

Via Amsterdamize.

The aptly named “Staff Writer” has the details on snakes in the local area, thanks to the Redlands Conservancy and the Daily Facts, “Snakes on the trails”:

Hikers on Redlands’ rural trails already have noticed the snake tracks crossing the trails. It’s the time of year when snakes of all stripes come out of hibernation and take to the trails.

“Snakes on the rural trails in the canyon areas are just a part of life in the country,” said Sherli Leonard, executive director of the Redlands Conservancy.

“Anyone who uses the trails must be aware that they may encounter a snake, and use the trails with caution. Keep all dogs leashed so they don’t encounter the snake, either. If this is intimidating, people should probably wait until later in the year to use the trails.”

These suggestions apply no matter where you’re at in the SoCal area.

You’ll need to get up early, as it starts at 5 AM, but you can join 15,000+ other riders on the 22-mile course.

• Acura LA Bike Tour info, including course map and registration
• ThinkCure! Launches Teams to Ride to Fight Cancer

(Also posted on Trolley Dodger.)

IE 24/7: “Loma Linda approves trails map”

The City Council recently approved a map of trails in the South Hills Preserve, which encompasses nearly 1,700 acres of undeveloped city-owned land. “This is a milestone,” said Jim Walling, chairman of the city Trails Development Committee, which spent many hours researching and coming up with names for the trails.

In November, city voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure designating the land as permanent open space.

“The goal here is to make the hills accessible to people, so they have an idea where they’re going,” said Councilman Robert Ziprick, an avid hiker who has pushed for the trails network.

Loma Linda’s efforts, not to mention those of the adjacent Redlands, are quite awesome for the local outdoors folks.