Tag Archives: eastern seirra news

Inyo Forest Road, Campground Update

April 13, 2015 Gary Young

Inyo National Forest planning for early road, campground openings

The Inyo National Forest is planning to open recreation facilities on the Mammoth and Mono Lake Ranger Districts early this year based upon warm, dry conditions throughout the winter months.

The forest is coordinating with the Town of Mammoth Lakes, National Park Service, Eastern Sierra Transit Authority, Cal Trans, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Inyo Recreation, and other valued partners to open roads, campgrounds, recreation facilities, and services in the Mammoth Lakes Basin and Reds Meadow Valley for the upcoming fishing season and Memorial Day holiday.

For Fishing Opener – Most lakes below 9000 feet are currently free of ice. Weather dependent, roads in the Mammoth Lakes Basin will be open prior to the 2015 Fishing Opener, with a tentative opening date of Saturday, April 18th. Convict Lake, Sherwin Creek, Mammoth RV Park, Oh Ridge, June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake, Big Springs, and Lower Lee Vining campgrounds will be open by April 24th.

Restrooms in the Mammoth Lakes Basin on water systems are not designed to function during winter conditions, including night-time freezing cycles. The Town of Mammoth Lakes is working with the Forest Service to provide temporary restroom facilities and trash service until normal summer services are established.

For Memorial Day – The road into the Reds Meadow Valley will open prior to Memorial Day, with a targeted opening date of Saturday, May 16th. The Eastern Sierra Transit Authority will operate the mandatory Reds Meadow Shuttle bus system Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of Memorial Day weekend. Normal operations will begin Saturday, June 13th and continue through Labor Day. Twin Lakes and New Shady Campgrounds are scheduled to open on May 8th. Lake Mary, Reds Meadow, High Sierra Camp, Glass Creek, Deadman, Hartley, Aspen, Big Bend, Junction, Tioga, and Ellery campgrounds should be open by May 22nd.

All other national forest campgrounds will open by June 13th and Devil’s Postpile Campground (NPS) will open in mid-June.

All established opening dates are subject to change pending weather conditions.

inyo national forest, eastern sierra news, mammoth news, bishop news

Community News, Local News

ES Guide Puppies Growing Fast

March 9, 2015 Gary Young

New Additions added to Eastern Sierra Guide Pups

Three new Guide Dog Puppies join the local pack
Eastern Sierra Guide Puppies, the local puppy raising club for Guide Dogs for the Blind, has three new members.

Black Labrador Retriever Remus is the most recent arrival. This eleven week old puppy is being raised by Anne Parkes of Mammoth Lakes, and is her third Guide Dog puppy. Remus has unusual and distinctive brindle markings on his legs, making him something of a novelty in the Guide Dog puppy world.

Yellow Labrador/Golden Retriever cross Eliza is being raised by Leigh Gaasch, also of Mammoth Lakes. Eliza is 13 weeks old, and is the fourth puppy Gaasch has raised. She is also the first Lab/Golden cross in the club, making her something of a novelty as well.

Seven month old Yellow Labrador Retriever Pilsner rounds out the puppy trio. He is being raised by Rick and Ramona Delmas of Bishop, and is their second Guide Dog puppy. Pilsner was “started” by Anne Parkes, and then transferred to the Delmas family is January.

Eastern Sierra Guide Puppies club meets regularly in Bishop, and takes the puppies on socialization outings all around the Eastern Sierra. Puppy raisers receive the pups when they are between 8 and 10 weeks of age, and raise them for approximately a year, at which time they return to the organization for their advanced training.

The club is always looking for new puppy raisers, puppy sitters and club volunteers. “Raising a Guide Dog puppy is such a fun and rewarding experience,” said club leader Betsy Thomsen. “You can actually make a wonderful difference in the life of a visually impaired person by being involved in our program.”

Puppy raisers teach their pups basic obedience, socialize them and train them to be good canine citizens by introducing them to new experiences.

The pups are returned to Guide Dogs for formal guidework training when they are 14-18 months old. Eiger, a pup raised in Bishop by Thomsen and her husband Peter, and Marion and Nona Davis, is currently in the final phase of his advanced training at the San Rafael, CA campus.

Following the completion of the training, the dogs are matched with their visually impaired partners. The new person-dog teams completes an intensive in-residence course culminating with a graduation ceremony at which the puppy raiser presents the dog to their new partner.

Guide Dogs for the Blind has been creating life-long partnerships by providing Guide Dogs free of charge to visually impaired individuals since 1942. The organization receives no government funding, but depends entirely on private donations.

For more information on the local puppy raising club, contact Betsy Thomsen at 760-920-8891 or betsythomsen@hotmail.com

Additional information on Guide Dogs for the Blind may be obtained by visiting www.guidedogs.com

eastern sierra guide puppies, bishop news, mammoth news, eastern sierra news

Local News

Inyo Supervisors Approve 7 AT routes

January 23, 2015 Gary Young

Inyo Adventure Trails System gets the Green Light

After nearly 11 hours of testimony and public comment Thursday, the Inyo Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 approving the Eastern Sierra ATV Adventure Trails System Project. The primary goal of the project is to link off highway vehicle users with goods and services located in Inyo County communities. Inyo County Administrative Officer Kevin Carunchio indicates that the action taken by the board of Thursday gives the OK to a plan that was substantially reduced from the projects original plan

Thursdays public hearing began at 10am in the Independence legion hall and continued throughout the day, wrapping up just before 9pm. After receiving several reports and hearing from the public the board took formal action to move forward with the seven routes.

Routes include, Bishop #5, Brown’s Town to Poleta OHV area, Bishop #6, Pleasant Valley Campground to Horton Creek Campground, Bishop #7, Pleasant Valley Campground to Tungsten City, Bishop #9, Brown’s Town to Bir Road, Bishop #15, Britt’s Diesel to Poleta OHV Recreation Area, Independence #1, Independence Inn to Betty Jumbo Mine Road, and Lone Pine #1, Boulder Creek RV Park to N. Fork Lubken Canyon/BLM road.
Carunchio says that adding future routes would require a lengthy process

The link to the Inyo County Planning departments Adventure Trials Web site

http://inyoplanning.org/projects/AdventureTrails.htm

inyo county news, adventure trails project, bishop news, kevin carunchio, eastern sierra news

KIBS/KBOV Announcements, Local News

Cook Introduces Alabama Hills Bill

January 22, 2015 Gary Young

Cook’s Bill would designate Scenic Area

Press Release:
Rep. Paul Cook Introduces Bill to Create Alabama Hills National Scenic Area
WASHINGTON –Earlier today, Rep. Paul Cook (R – Apple Valley) introduced the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area Establishment Act, legislation that would establish the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. This designation would encompass 18,610 acres of the scenic Alabama Hills and would preserve it for recreational use by the public and future generations.

This bill guarantees that all recreational activities currently taking place in the Alabama Hills will continue. This includes not only hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing, but hunting, fishing, and authorized motorized vehicle use as well. Additionally, recreational prospecting (rock-hounding) will continue in the historic mining areas under this legislation.
This bill is the culmination of months of work by Rep. Paul Cook and the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group to draft legislative language acceptable to all key local stakeholders. The stewardship group is dedicated to promoting the long term vision, conservation, use, enhancement, and enjoyment of the Alabama Hills . Groups and organizations that have worked with the stewardship group include Inyo County, the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce, the Lone-Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, local business owners, and other key stakeholders.

Cook said, “The Alabama Hills are a natural treasure, and I’m excited to introduce this bill to help guarantee our children and grandchildren can enjoy them the same way we do. The level of local input has been incredible and should serve as an example for how land use decisions are made.

“Last year, I introduced legislation to establish the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. While it didn’t become law last year, it provided local stakeholders and conservation groups the opportunity to suggest changes to make this a better bill. I’m excited to incorporate these changes in the new version of this important legislation this year. My constituents in Inyo have been working to get this done for years, and I’m hopeful that 2015 will be the year the Alabama Hills get the protection they deserve.”