Activities, Conservation, National Forests

Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra Four Wheel Drive Club Partner for Recreation and Resource Protection

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Volunteers from the Eastern Sierra Four Wheel Drive Club have been lending elbow grease to maintaining and repairing established system roads on the Inyo National Forest.

The club, working on their weekends, provides maintenance for OHV road and trails under the direction of the Inyo National Forest. Their efforts augment the work done by forest staff in ensuring that a high-quality experience can be found on the forest’s OHV system roads.

“The club tries to have fun on these outings, mixing the volunteer work with an opportunity for club members to have an outing and enjoy the beautiful Inyo National Forest,” said Mike Johnston, president of the Eastern Sierra Four Wheel Drive Club. “The result is increased sense of stewardship for areas that many of us already know and love through recreational activities.”

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Dead Tree Books, eBook, Self Publishing

Kindle Scout has officially rolled out!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Kindle Scout is a “reader powered” publishing program offered by Amazon where authors can submit their new never-been-published books and be considered for a publishing contract by Kindle Press.

Books that make the cut will be published by Kindle Press.  They’ll receive a publishing contract with 5-year (renewable) terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate, and Amazon’s “easy rights reversion” so you can get your book rights back when you’re done.

What makes this program unattractive is the 20% lower royalty rate than if you’d published through Kindle Direct Publishing yourself.  This rate is still 35% higher than if you’d published through a traditional publisher, so it’s kind of a push in my book.

What makes this program something you should look at is the advance (it’s not much, but it’s more than you’d get if you published yourself) and the all important “featured Amazon marketing.”  If you’re an author, you know that writing the book isn’t the hard part; it’s getting people to know you’ve written a book.  Amazon – the 800 lb. gorilla in the room when it comes to selling books and eBooks – sells more books than everyone else combined.  If they’re going to feature your book, then – by all means – you should welcome that!

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National Forests, National Parks, News, Wildfire

Legal posturing begins in Rim Fire aftermath

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Both sides are girding their loins over the Rim Fire case.

Keith Matthew Emerald, a 32 year old man and resident of Columbia, a town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, is accused in a four-count indictment or starting the Rim Fire when he lost control of an illegal campfire on August 17,2013.  In August of this year he pled not guilty to the charges.

The Rim Fire burned 400 square miles of land in California, including parts of Sequoia National Forest and Yosemite National Park over the course of two months.  The fire destroyed 11 homes and cost $125 million to fight.

In August a grand jury returned the four-count indictment against Emerald, alleging that he started an illegal campfire on August 17, 2013 in an area where such fires were prohibited and that the fire spread beyond his control.

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General Aviation, National Parks, Wildfire

Crash of CAL FIRE Airtanker Claims the Life of Pilot near Yosemite

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

On the afternoon of October 7, 2014 a wildfire began at Dog Rock on the El Portal Road between the Yosemite National Park boundary and the Arch Rock Entrance Station. The Dog Rock Fire was first reported around 2:45, and swelled to approximately 130 acres. Fire crews and aircraft were dispatched to the scene and responded to the fire.

The FAA reported on October 8 that a CAL FIRE airtanker, Tanker 81, impacted rugged terrain after a wing tip strike on a tree while performing fire fighting duties.

CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott and Yosemite Deputy Chief Deron Mills announced on the same day that the body of pilot Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt of San Jose – a DynCorp contractor who had been working for the state firefighting agency CAL FIRE for 13 years – had been located, and that the remains were escorted down the mountain by the firefighters who stayed with them at the crash site through the night.

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Conservation, National Forests, News

Rally to oppose National Monument designation of the San Gabriel & San Bernardino Mountains

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Rally will be Monday, October 6, at 2PM in Pasadena

On Monday, the field office of Congresswoman Judy Chu will hear from a growing movement of citizens and elected officials against her lobbying efforts to have 620,000 acres of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains designated as a national monument.

They will deliver letters of opposition to Representative Chu on Monday October 6, 2014 at 2pm. Local groups will speak out against the plan and hold a media event outside Rep Chu’s office at 527 S. Lake Ave, Pasadena CA 91101.

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