The New York Times reports
Some Florida panthers and bobcats appear to have a nerve disorder that inhibits coordination of their hind legs.
State wildlife officials are sharing video of disabled animals in an effort to identify the ailment and save the beloved, endangered cats.
Read full story and see video at Florida’s Panthers Hit With Mysterious Crippling Disorder
Posted in Animals | Tags: Florida’s Panthers Hit With Mysterious Crippling Disorder
SmarterTravel report
AccuWeather says warm late-summer temperatures seem likely to delay foliage displays in the Northeast, one of the most popular destinations for leaf-peepers. Noting that “warm weather is predicted to stick around across much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic this September,” AccuWeather foresees a “delayed foliage season in the Northeast–though, generally, a vibrant display is predicted, thanks in part to dryness anticipated before the turn of the leaves.”
Read full story at Where Fall Foliage Colors Are Predicted to Peak Late This Year | SmarterTravel
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage, New England Fall Color
Marin CNPS has photos from a hike this past Sunday on the Miwok and Bobcat Trails at (4) Marin Native Plants
August 24, 9-11am: the Bristlecone Chapter Annual Plant Sale at the White Mountain Research Center:
This is the largest native plant sale of the year, and yes, we can accept credit cards! Open to the public at 9am. Members can start at 8, and if even you become a member that morning, you can get in at 8am! A wonderful array of native plants is offered every year. A variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees adapted to our area will be for sale. Here is a list of plants currently growing for the 2019 plant sale (updated in June 2019).
Prices: Plant prices are $5.00 for small tree pots, $8.00 for gallon pots, and $10 for large tree pots. If you have any of the black plastic pots from last year’s sale we would love to recycle them for you.
Proceeds from the annual native plant sales provide funding for our Mary DeDecker Botanical Grants. The grant program is a fitting way to remember Mary DeDecker’s many contributions to the people and plants of the Eastern Sierra.
Posted in Garden | Tags: Native Plant Sale
CNN reports
Scientists say they are bidding farewell to Okjökull, the first Icelandic glacier lost to climate change, in a funeral of sorts.
Researchers will gather Sunday in Borgarfjörður, Iceland, to memorialize Okjökull, known as Ok for short, after it lost its status as a glacier in 2014. The inscription, titled “A letter to the future,” on the monument paints a bleak picture.
“Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years, all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and know what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,” the plaque reads in English and Icelandic.
Read full article at Iceland: Scientists bid farewell to glacier lost to climate change. If more melt, it can be disastrous – CNN
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change, Glaciers, Iceland
California Wildflower Report has photos from the South fork of Bishop Creek. Trail to Brown and Green Lakes at about the 10000 ft level and above
California Wildflower Tipline has new photos from Mormon Immigrant Trail, Woods Lake, and Blue Lakes.
Also check out Henry Coe State Park to see what is blooming there. It is not always clear when they update their site but it has been a while since I mentioned it so things have changed there quite a bit.
Photos from the 2019 Dahlia Society of California’s 2019 Show
Posted in Garden | Tags: Dahlia Show
ScienceDaily reports
Early snowmelt increases the risk of phenological mismatch, in which the flowering of periodic plants and pollinators fall out of sync, compromising seed production.
Read article at Early arrival of spring disrupts the mutualism between plants and pollinators — ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment | Tags: Pollincation, Snowmelt
Saguaro National Park reports
many pincushion cactus blooming in the park lately
See photos at Saguaro National Park – Home
The subalpine meadows are moving past peak bloom, but there are plenty of unique wildflowers worth a second look. One “locally common” wildflower – if your location is a drier, high elevation meadow – is Perry’s Catchfly (Silene parryi). They have a distinctive look, with a striped calyx protecting the petals. This flower also looks like it has numerous white petals, but it really only has five! Each petal divides into 4 rounded lobes with 2 smaller petal-like appendages at the center of each petal.
Please Note: As snow melts away, it may be tempting to skirt remaining patches of snow that are covering trails. However, by going off trail you are walking on and damaging the wildflowers that you may be coming to see! It is better to stay on trail even if that means crossing snow, particularly in the high-visitation meadows around Paradise and Sunrise.
The New York Times an opinion piece on Trump’s appointment of William Perry Pendley to be in charge of U.S.public lands.
Trump’s pick to be the steward of America’s public lands doesn’t believe in public lands.
Read story at The Great Western Public Land Robbery
Posted in Environment, Park | Tags: Threats to Public Lands, William Perry Pendley
Bay Nature reports on the current progress and history of the San Francisco Bay
Thirty years after the project officially began, the idea for the San Francisco Bay Trail seems both delightfully obvious and considerably difficult. To link Bay Area communities across nine counties and 47 cities with one multiuse, 500-mile trail is an ambitious dream. And as with other major social initiatives, fully building out the Bay Trail is an ongoing endeavor, decades into its existence.
Read more at Explore | The Trail Around the San Francisco Bay – Bay Nature Magazine
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: San Francisco Bay Trail
Headline has been corrected. The Feds did not grant protection
The Desert Sun reports
The Joshua tree does not require protection under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Servicesaid in a decision announced Wednesday.
Conservationists had petitioned the service in 2015, seeking to have the iconic desert plant and namesake of Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California listed as a threatened species. On Tuesday, the petitioners, a group called Wild Earth Guardians, filed a lawsuit complaining that the service was long overdue to respond to their petition.
Read more at Federal officials reject petition to list Joshua tree as threatened under Endangered Species Act
Posted in Environment, Park | Tags: Joshua Tree Protections
Homestead Valley has a new wildflower update. See photos Homestead Valley August 15
NEW
– Pennyroyal*, a mint, native to Europe, is blooming purple near the creek below Cowboy Rock.
– Pincushion flower*, native to Europe, is blooming in a variety of colors from lavender to burgundy in the meadow at Cowboy Rock.
– Spicebush, a shrub with frilly burgundy flowers is blooming below the upper bridge in Three Groves.
Capitol Public radio
There Are Trillions Of Mysis Shrimp Living In The Depths Of Lake Tahoe. Here’s How They’re Impacting The Lake’s Clarity.Mysis shrimp, an invasive species introduced into Lake Tahoe in the early 1960s, have gobbled up the tiny creatures that help keep the lake clear. Can the shrimp population be controlled enough to fix the problem?
Read story at TahoeLand: Trillions Of Tiny Invasive Shrimp Are Degrading Lake Tahoe’s Clarity. Now Researchers Are Trying To Stop Them.
Posted in Environment | Tags: Invasive Shrimp, Lake Tahoe, Mysis shrimp
Eldorado National Forest Interpretive Association has new photos for Carson Pass
Marin CNPS has new photos from Samuel P. Taylor State Park
Carson Pass Information Center has new photos for the Meiss Lake area
Botanical Wanderings – California has new photos for Clover Springs Preserve in Clover Springs in Sonoma county
BirdLife reports
Scientists reviewed more than 900 studies and found that seabirds face big threats both on land and at sea. This helps explain why they are one of the most threatened group of vertebrates.
Seabirds are in danger. Taken as a whole, they are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates in the world. Steep declines in seabird populations have been noticed almost everywhere, from albatrosses in the southern ocean to puffins in the North Atlantic. Even once abundant species, including some penguins, are now facing extinction. What is causing these declines? A new study is providing some answers.
Read findings at Top threats to seabirds identified | BirdLife
Posted in Birds | Tags: Threats to Seabirds
EarthSky reports
Overwintering monarch butterflies rely on a temperature-sensitive internal timer to wake them up to make the trip back north, researchers report.
Each fall, millions of North American monarch butterflies fly thousands of miles and somehow manage to find the same overwintering sites in central Mexican forests and along the California coast.
Once they get there, monarchs spend several months in what’s called diapause, a hormonally-controlled state of dormancy that helps the butterflies survive the winter. An internal timer – like an alarm clock going off – rouses the insects out of diapause, weeks before warming temperatures and longer days, to mate and begin spring’s northward migration.
Read full story at How do monarch butterflies know when it’s time to migrate? | Earth | EarthSky
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Monarch Butterfly Migration
There is a 2-year vegetation fellowship position open for applications from now until Aug 22 at Valley Water, open to those currently in an MS program or MS degree holders. The major work of the fellow will be to perform reference habitat assessments at some of the best preserved areas in Santa Clara County (think oak woodlands, riparian forest, serpentine. A very nice way to spend one’s time.) A secondary task will be a synthesis and gap analysis of the stewardship projects and policies of the District, with the aim of strengthening the environmental stewardship mission of the organization. The main contact/mentor for the fellow will be Zooey Diggory, whom many of you know, and who is an excellent coworker. Excellent pay and benefits. Please share this announcement with any networks you think are appropriate; we are hoping to have a good pool of strong candidates but have only a few known interested parties at this point.See job description, salary and benefits at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/scvwd/jobs/2531070/fellowship-opportunity-vegetation-study-and-stewardship-principles
Posted in Environment | Tags: Vegetation Fellowship Position
Carson Pass Information Station has new photos for Carson Pass Trail
Marin CNPS has new photos from the Sonora Pass Rd./Hwy108 area
California Wildflower Tipline also has Sonora Pass photos
Center for Biological Diversity News Release
Rollback Threatens Wildlife Across Country, Will Face Legal Challenge
WASHINGTON— In a massive attack on imperiled wildlife, the Trump administration today finalized rollbacks to regulations implementing key provisions of the Endangered Species Act. The changes, which could lead to extinction for hundreds of animals and plants, are illegal and will be challenged in court.
The three rules finalized today were developed under the supervision of David Bernhardt, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and a former fossil fuel industry lobbyist. They severely weaken protections for threatened and endangered species across the country.
“These changes crash a bulldozer through the Endangered Species Act’s lifesaving protections for America’s most vulnerable wildlife,” said Noah Greenwald, the Center for Biological Diversity’s endangered species director. “For animals like wolverines and monarch butterflies, this could be the beginning of the end. We’ll fight the Trump administration in court to block this rewrite, which only serves the oil industry and other polluters who see endangered species as pesky inconveniences.”
One set of regulatory changes weaken the consultation process designed to prevent harm to endangered animals and their habitats from federal agency activities. A second set curtails the designation of critical habitat and weakens the listing process for imperiled species. A third regulation would eliminate all protections for wildlife newly designated as “threatened” under the Act.
The changes are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to undercut protections for the nation’s air, land, wildlife and water.
“These regulations are totally out of touch with the American public, which broadly supports endangered species protections,” Greenwald said. “We’ll do everything in our power to get these dangerous regulations rescinded, including going to court.”
Under a change relating to federal consultations, impacts to critical habitat will be ignored unless they impact the entirety of an animal’s habitat. This disregards the cumulative “death-by-a-thousand-cuts” process that is the most common way wildlife declines toward extinction.
The new rules will also prohibit designation of critical habitat for species threatened by climate change, even though, in many cases, these species are also threatened by habitat destruction and other factors. The rollbacks will also preclude designation of critical habitat for areas where species need to move to avoid climate impacts.
The new rules will sharply limit wildlife agencies’ ability to designate critical habitat in unoccupied areas needed for recovery. That ignores the fact that many threatened and endangered species have lost substantial range and need their historic habitats preserved to provide living space for recovering populations.
Posted in Animals, Environment | Tags: Trumo's Threat to Endangered Species
California Wildflower Report has new photos for Lake Winnemucca and Round Top Lake trails at Carson Pass.
CNN reports
The Environmental Protection Agency told staff scientists that it was no longer opposing a controversial Alaska mining project that could devastate one of the world’s most valuable wild salmon fisheries just one day after President Trump met with Alaska’s governor,
Read story at EPA drops protection for wild salmon Alaska Bristol Bay – CNN
Posted in Animals, Environment | Tags: Alaska Salmon, Bristol Bay
Here are SFist’s dozen recommended vantage points to watch this year’s Perseid meteor shower in the Bay Area.from:
For more information on the meteor shower check out the earlier post: When to View the 2019 Perseid Meteor Showers
Posted in Astronomy | Tags: Perseid Meteor
California Wildflower Report has new photos for the Eastern Sierra and 395
California Wildflower Tipline has some new photos for Squaw Valley High Camp and Big Meadows, Sequoia NF.
Botanical Wanderings – California has new photos for Rock Creek Canyon, Mono Lake and Lassen National Park.
NPR reports
Sandhill cranes were once on the verge of extinction. That influenced the U.S. to implement laws in 1916 to protect the species. But now that these migratory birds have made a steady comeback in recent years, Alabama has decided to permit hunters to kill three sandhill cranes each.
Read news story at Sandhill Crane Hunting Returns To Alabama For The First Time In 103 Years : NPR
Posted in Birds | Tags: Sandhill Crane Hunting
9news.com reports
Colorado’s wildflower capital puts on its best show in yearsSeveral trails are offering amazing summer scenes. There’s even a place to camp in the middle of the wildflowers.
Source: Colorado’s wildflower capital puts on its best show in years | 9news.com
Botanical Wanderings has posted wildflower photos from Clover Springs Preserve in Cloverdale in Sonoma County at (6) Botanical Wanderings – California
Carson Pass Information Center has posted new wildflower photos.
Subalpine meadows throughout the park are still colorful with numerous wildflowers. Even as some species fade, others are just beginning to bloom. Look for wildflowers like rosy spirea, Sitka mountain ash, and lupine. Please remember to stay on trails to protect these delicate plants. There are plenty of opportunities for the perfect mountain + wildflower photo from the trails! of cloves, are often buzzing with bees, hover flies, and other pollinators.
Please Note: As snow melts away, it may be tempting to skirt remaining patches of snow that are covering trails. However, by going off trail you are walking on and damaging the wildflowers that you may be coming to see! It is better to stay on trail even if that means crossing snow, particularly in the high-visitation meadows around Paradise and Sunrise.
Wildflower Reports
See photos at Mount Rainier Flickr group!
Plan Your Visit
Paradise and Sunrise are two of the main visitor center areas at Mount Rainier National Park. Both areas are well known for their impressive wildflower meadows. The park also maintains dozens of trails perfect for wildflower viewing.
Center for Biological Diversity News Release
The National Park Service released a draft plan today that calls for shooting native elk to allow for expanded cattle ranching and commercial agriculture at Point Reyes National Seashore. The plan would allow the killing of tule elk, damage to wildlife habitat, harm of endangered species, degradation of water quality and create new conflicts with other native wildlife species.
The Park Service’s proposed alternative for an amendment to the park’s General Management Plan would enshrine cattle grazing as the primary use of a huge swath of the National Seashore, at the expense of native wildlife and natural habitats.
Natural History Wanderings 