National Parks

Yosemite Conservancy 2014 Spring Gathering

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

150 Years of Inspiring Generations

Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29, 2014

The Yosemite Conservancy is planning a Spring Gathering Weekend at the end of March.  It’s a great event, and I’d like to see y’all there!  From the Yosemite Conservancy website:

Please join us for a special Spring Gathering weekend in Yosemite Valley, celebrating the extraordinary gift Americans received 150 years ago. In 1864 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, setting aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias for all of us. The theme for Spring Gathering this year will be 150 Years of Inspiring Generations. Bring the entire family to explore the park and spend time with friends old and new.

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Beagles, News

Put Snoopy the beagle on your license plate!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

snoopyplateThere’s a program that’s just getting started that helps put money towards California’s museums and lets you let everyone know you love Snoopy.  If you’re a beagle lover, this is definitely something you should look into.  From the press release:

SNOOPY LICENSE PLATES NOW AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC

Proceeds to benefit California museums

A program is now fully underway to put the beloved beagle on California license plates, and help fund the state’s museums at the same time. The special license plate, available for pre-order now at www.snoopyplate.com, will feature a reproduction of an original drawing of Snoopy by Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz.

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General Aviation, Geocaching

International Space Station Travel Bug Mission Update

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

I just got an update from geocaching.com about the Geocaching Travel Bug that hitched a ride with astronaut Rick Mastracchio to the International Space Station. This is a great way to interest students (and us older folk who geocache about geography and science.

From the email:

Nearly 100 days have ticked by since geocachers cheered as a Travel Bug® rocketed toward the International Space Station. It’s in the capable hands of astronaut Rick Mastracchio. Like everything else on the space station, the Travel Bug has a mission. Mastracchio is using the Travel Bug to teach students back on Earth about geography and science. The Travel Bug’s page is the chatroom of a teacher’s or parent’s dreams. More than 1,200 posts have been logged so far, as classrooms (and even Geocaching HQ!) asked questions and Mastracchhio answered them from the weightlessness of low Earth orbit.

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Activities, Adventures

Loss of a truly great magazine – Sea Kayaker’s last issue

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

I’ve only been a kayaker (kayakist? yaker?) for a decade, but one of my favorite magazines about the sport has been Sea Kayaker.  I’ve yak’d the shores from San Diego to L.A., taken a trip (alone and stupid) from Newport Beach to Catalina, and chosen my gear based on personal recommendation and from what I’ve read in the pages of this magazine.

It’s unfortunate the the tides have turned for Sea Kayaker, and I can only hope that there’s some out there than will be able to fill the void left now that this magazine is no longer available to the sea kayaking enthusiast.

Fair winds and following seas, Sea Kayaker.

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Wildlife

Cal Fire ordered to pay $32 million over court misconduct

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

L.A. Times writer Jeff Gottlieb is reporting today that Cal Fire has been ordered to pay over $32M in legal bills.  Legal bills!  WOW!  From the article:

The judge scolds agency officials for lying and covering up evidence in a lawsuit in which it sought damages for a 65,000-acre fire in Plumas County.

Already under fire for siphoning money into a secret fund, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has been ordered to pay more than $32 million in legal bills for those it blamed for starting a 65,000-acre forest fire.

In a scathing order, Superior Court Judge Leslie C. Nichols, sitting on assignment in Plumas County, accused the agency of covering up, lying and engaging in “egregious and reprehensible conduct.”

“The court finds that Cal Fire’s actions initiating, maintaining and prosecuting this action, to the present time, is corrupt and tainted,” the judge wrote.

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