Jul 28

California State Parks Provides Tips on New Reservation System

Categories:

California, California's State Parks

ReserveCalifornia Goes Live August 1!

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California State Parks is offering the public tips on how to access the Golden State’s new reservation system – ReserveCalifornia™. Starting next Tuesday, August 1, visitors to California’s state parks will have a new platform for booking camping and lodging sites, and tours. Using the new system will be easy to plan adventures within state parks, since it is similar to booking hotels, airline tickets and other comparable services.

Supporting state park field operations and enhancing the experience of visitors with a modern platform was key for transitioning to a new reservation system. The outdoor public spaces and recreational programs supported by California State Parks are a gateway to connecting with families, friends and communities. Off-highway motor vehicle recreation, boating activities, horseback riding, on and off-road cycling, hiking, camping, rock climbing, tours, hikes, school group enrichment, and special events are just some of the activities enjoyed in 280 state park units organized into 22 field districts.

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Jul 12

Nicole Kozicki Recognized Nationally as Wildlife Officer of the Year

Categories:

California, California News

Pogue-Elms Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is proud to announce that Wildlife Officer Nicole Kozicki has been selected as the Pogue-Elms Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The award, which was formally presented to her at the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) annual conference on July 10, is considered their highest honor. Kozicki is also the first female recipient of the award.

CDFW’s Law Enforcement Division selected Kozicki as the 2017 Wildlife Officer of the Year, which led to her nomination for the WAFWA award. Kozicki has honorably represented CDFW in the San Francisco Bay Area and its communities for 27 years.

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Jul 05

CDFW Confirms Presence of Wolf Pack in Lassen County, Collars Adult Wolf

Categories:

California, California News, California Wildlife

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists have captured and fitted a tracking collar to a female gray wolf in Lassen County, and confirmed that the wolf and her mate have produced at least three pups this year.

During summer and fall 2016, remote trail cameras captured images of two wolves traveling together in Lassen County. There was no evidence they had produced pups at that time. While the female’s origins remain unknown, genetic samples obtained from scat indicated the male wolf originated from Oregon’s Rogue Pack. The famous wolf OR7 is the Rogue Pack’s breeding male.

In early May 2017, partner biologists from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) found evidence of recent wolf presence in the Lassen National Forest.

You can read more about our new wolf pack HERE.

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Jun 29

Park Ranger Sharon Miyako Receives Prestigious Award at Yosemite National Park

Categories:

California's National Parks

The Barry Hance Memorial Award is Park’s Highest Honor

Yosemite National Park is proud to announce that Park Ranger Sharon Miyako is the recipient of the 2016 Barry Hance Memorial Award. This ceremony was attended by approximately 300 people, including several past Barry Hance Award recipients.

The Barry Hance Memorial Award is a peer-nominated award that is named in honor of Barry Hance, a long-time employee of Yosemite National Park who died in an avalanche while plowing the Tioga Road in 1995. Recipients of this prestigious award are employees who exemplify the qualities and attributes of Barry Hance. These include team work, a positive attitude, concern for the public and fellow employees, public service, and a deep love for Yosemite National Park.

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Jun 08

Question: Do you think that novelists can write about what they don’t know?

Categories:

Questions and Answers, Writing

Answer: Nope. If you write what you don’t know it rings false, and that transfers directly to the page, and the reader will always pick up on it.

To correct some misconceptions:

  • How many submarines did Jules Verne ride in? None. But he was intimately familiar with the French submarine experimenters of the time – including the submarine “Le Plongeur” designed and built by Simon Bourgeois and Charles Brun, which (gee, coincidentally enough…) just happened to be around for seven years before 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published, and which Verne actually saw when he was writing the story.
  • Fiction isn’t about “what you don’t know” at all. It’s about storytelling. Good storytellers write what they know. They always have, they always will.
  • Those who claim you should write what you don’t know – using the “crusading knights” and “dragons” and “space travel” and all the Hogwarts stuff doesn’t exist argument – clearly don’t understand storytelling. A story isn’t about the inner workings of hyperdrive, the quantum physics of a witch’s spell, the anatomy of a dragon or any of that ancillary ‘color.’ A good story is about heroes and villains and love and hate and human emotion. THAT is what good storytellers always write about; they write what they know.

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Jun 07

What does NaNoWriMo mean to me?

Categories:

Patriotism, Writing

 

This morning I received an email soliciting funds from NaNoWriMo. 

NaNoWriMo was an annual writing challenge that took place every November. As it’s popularity has grown, it’s created NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo and other annual, Internet-based creative writing contests that takes place throughout the year. The challenge is to a novel (50,000 words is the minimum length of a novel( between a scheduled start date and end date. The winner (anyone who writes the minimum number of words) gets an internet badge they can put on their website or facebook page or whatever. I have several on my site here, as I have often participated, supported, and won the challenges.

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May 21

Comments needed on Antiquities Act review

Categories:

California News, California's National Forests, California's National Parks, Conservation

From John Stewart, Cal4Wheel Natural Resources Consultant:

The Department of Interior is taking public comments concerning its review of the Antiquities Act of 1906 and National Monuments created under this Act. BlueRibbon Coalition has made it very easy to submit comments. Go HERE

A review of National Monuments and the process to create them is long overdue. The Trump Administration has made it a reality. We must take advantage of the opportunity to affect the changes we want. Everyone who has an issue with National Monuments needs to weigh in on this. This action requires no money and no special expertise – just a couple of minutes of your time.

If this process comes back with nothing but opposition from environmental and preservationist interests, then we basically lose. This is put up or shut up time. Go out there and get everyone that you know to comment.

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