Just in time for fishing season, hatcheries operated by the Central Valley California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) have completed the final release of Chinook salmon. These smolts are raised in state-run hatcheries and released yearly into the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the Delta and San Pablo bay. In two years or so, they return as adults to Central Valley tributaries to spawn.
In one of those “it’s about damned time” moments, The Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and utility companies Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison have finally started working together to to mitigate wildfire risks in California.
While you’ll find me over in the Jeep camp when it comes to FCA, I believe in credit where credit is due:
Dodge has become the first domestic automobile brand EVER to score a No. 1 ranking in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study – up from No. 8 in last year’s IQS results. Having watched (and participated) in the recent growing pains as FCA has built up the brand, I can certainly say that I’ve seen significant improvement in the overall quality as well as the focus on the customer over the last few years.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a federal program was established by Congress in 1964 through a bipartisan commitment to safeguard our public lands – the natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage for all Americans – and provide funds and matching grants to federal, state, and local governments to acquire land, water, and easements. Through funding provided from offshore oil and gas leasing, the LWCF has protected and expanded habitat and preserved access to outdoor recreation in all fifty states, which makes it our nation’s most successful conservation program.
The U.S. Forest Service Pacific has launched what they’re calling a “GIS map” (for those of us – like me – who are acronymically deficient, you can just call it the “geographic information system map) that provides information on the current status of campgrounds, day-use, picnic, and other designated recreation sites on national forest ground throughout California.