-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Reis
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 10:02 AM
Subject: Mono Basin Clearinghouse Updates for 10/03

 

Dear Friends,
Sorry for the almost four-month gap in this update, however we've been busy. In addition to coordinating a Conservation Work Camp for three weeks in September that eradicated almost all the known Tamarisk in the Mono Basin (2 were subsequently found and one was removed), we've been studying and preparing our comments on the Caltrans EIR (see first item below--comments due 1 week from today!) since the end of September. We'll try to get the next update out after the holidays, in January or February.

ONLINE REPORTS
Mono Lake Shoulder Widening Environmental Assessment / Draft Environmental Impact Report, September 2003. Comments due December 1, 2003. http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/. For the Mono Lake Committee's Action Alert, analysis of the project, project background, photos of the project area, agency comment letters, links to newspaper editorials, a surveyed lake-to-highway profile containing projections of the future lake level and the proposed highway, and a form that allows you to submit your comment letter to Caltrans automatically through our Website, see http://www.monolake.org/caltrans/mlwidening.htm.

Songbirds Connecting Communities 2003, A report to USFS Region 5, Partners in Flight, and Inyo National Forest. By H. River Gates and Melissa Pitkin, PRBO Conservation Science Contribution # 1157. See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/esrscp.htm.

Troubled Waters of the Sierra: California and Nevada's Threatened Water Supply, by By Kerri Timmer, Sierra Nevada Alliance. Aside from the error of putting Bodie Creek in the Mono Basin, this is a good report. See our link to it at http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/.
 

CURRENT RESEARCH
Prescribed Fire Study by USGS and BLM
Link to the EA and a map showing the locations of the plots in the North Mono Basin. Also posted are pinyon-related proposals (an invasion threshold and a thinning study).

See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/research/

Links to Spring 2003 Mono Lake Newsletter Articles
PRBO ESRSCP http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/esrscp.htm
and California Gull Research http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/gulls.htm

In Press: Desulfonatronum thiodismutans sp. nov., a novel alkaliphilic, sulfate-reducing bacterium capable of lithoautotrophic growth and

Spirochaeta americana sp. nov., a new haloalkaliphilic, obligately anaerobic spirochaete isolated from soda Mono Lake in California

See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/research/nasamars.htm

 

RAW DATA
August 23, 2003 Mono Lake Shorebird Count
Excel file data compiled by River Gates of PRBO. Over 12,000 American Avocets, a new record!
See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/research/mlsc.htm

Monthly Weather Summaries for August and September and October
No precip in October for the first time since 1988 (for our NOAA reporting, the last day in Oct. after 8:30 AM is reported on Nov. 1)

See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/weather.htm

Compilation of 2002 discrepancies between MLC and NOAA Weather Station Max and Min temperatures, by Bob Gregg.
See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/weather2002.htm

Tioga Pass Opening and Closing dates: 2003 closure October 31. Open for 153 days (since May 31), shortest period since 1998.
See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/tiogapass.htm.

New weather station at 14,246' on White Mountain Peak (WMRS and DRI)
Not linked from the Clearinghouse, but from here: http://www.monolake.org/visiting/roadinfo.htm
Access it directly here: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/weather/wmtn.html

 

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
US Marines Training at Mono Lake in 1950s
A retired Marine reminisces…
See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/historical/
 

LINKS
Impacts of Birdwatching on Human and Avian Communities

PRBO Bird Species of Special Concern List

See http://www.monobasinresearch.org/links/

 

UNSUBSCRIBE
If at any time you decide that you no longer wish to receive these occasional (approx. monthly) updates about additions to this Website, please email unsubscribe@monobasinresearch.org and ask to be removed from the list. If you know of anyone who would be interested in these updates, please forward them this update and tell them to email updates@monobasinresearch.org to receive future updates.

Thanks for your interest in Mono Basin research,
Greg
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Greg Reis, Information Specialist, (760) 647-6386 x41
Mono Lake Committee, ph (760) 647-6595, fax 647-6377
Hwy 395 & 3rd St., P.O. Box 29, Lee Vining, CA 93541 USA
Websites: monolake.org - monobasinresearch.org -
leevining.com - livinglakes.org - birdchautauqua.org
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The Mono Lake Committee is a non-profit citizen's group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin Ecosystem; educating the public about Mono Lake and the impacts on the environment of excessive water use; and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas.
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