Blog Archives for California

By Adam Rissien - May 10, 2010    The folks at ORV Watch Kern Co. have been documenting illegal off-road vehicle use on the Pacific Crest Trail for a number of years, and due to their hard work local authorities have been stepping up patrols.

By Bethanie Walder - February 23, 2010   New Study Points to Off-Road Vehicle Activity as Primary Source of Air Pollution at Nipomo Mesa, California The San Luis Obispo Air Control Board released a study yesterday (Feb 22) on the impacts of off-road vehicle use at the Oceano Dunes and the resultant air pollution at the nearby Nipomo Mesa.  The study was initially slated for release in December 2009, but was postponed until this week.

By Adam Rissien - January 26, 2010    A few days ago I blogged about our friends at ORV Watch Kern Co. who sent us a couple of You Tube videos documenting illegal motorcycle use on the Pacific Crest Trail. Well it seems that the perpetrators didn't like being caught in the act so they complained to You Tube management about their images appearing online and changes had to be made "to protect THEM."

By Bethanie Walder - January 20, 2010    Maybe it’s because I live in Montana and the small town of Libby has been declared a federal superfund site due to asbestos contamination from a nearby vermiculite mine.  With extremely disturbing stories about the Libby, MT asbestos situation a mainstay of state and even national news for practically a decade, Montanans tend to take asbestos seriously.  And one of the prime questions about Libby relates to responsibility…  when did the W.R.

By Adam Rissien - November 19, 2009    Our friends with Kern Co. ORV Watch recently sent us their most recent monitoring results. They write:

By Bethanie Walder - October 7, 2009    I spent the last two days at the Western Governor’s Association (WGA) Wildlife Council (WGWC) meeting in Helena.  The meeting focused on progress toward implementing a resolution for improving wildlife connectivity and linkage zones across the western states.

By Sarah Peters - October 7, 2009    Last week a federal judge determined that the Forest Service did not adequately evaluate the effects of allowing road building and other activites on almost 1 million acres where that activity had previously been restricted. You can read more about the decision here.

By Josh Hurd - April 14, 2009    A while ago I did a searching with UC Davis' Natural Resource Projects Inventory, trying to understand where most California restoration projects get their funding. In the process, however, I discovered that I could map all of the watershed restoration projects as well.

By Josh Hurd - April 9, 2009    General obligation bonds, approved through ballot initiatives, finance the majority of California’s restoration activities. Since 2000, the state has raised over $13 billion for water-related projects through the issuance of these bonds (see Table). Of this, $3.3 billion has gone to watershed restoration and protection. However, the general public appears increasingly less willing to support bond-funded restoration programs, as the margin of victory for the measures has steadily decreased, from 30-percent in 2000 to 8-percent in 2006.

By Sarah Peters - January 28, 2009    The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is threatening the county that manages the Rubicon Route with fines if the county doesn't fix severe water quality problems caused by use of the trail.  Segments of the route are experiencing rates of erosion 50 times greater than that of nearby logging roads, causing problems for downstream trout populations and other water users.  Fines would be $10,000/day per violation.