I never get tired of this. This was Wednesday night:

The author of this article sent me this:

I have recently published an article “Close Encounters of the Condor Kind,” written with the help of the Ventana Wildlife Society, about searching for condors in Big Sur and Pinnacles that may be of interest to your readers. 

Here are the first few paragraphs, with a link to the rest of the article.

“The dusty pick-up truck pulls up at a ranch gate in rural south Monterey County, California. Against a backdrop of dry, rolling, oak-savanna foothills, three generations of hunters and their dogs wait for the driver to join them. Soaring on the first thermal uplifts of the morning, shadowy silhouettes of turkey vultures circle silently overhead. Their wavering flight pattern signals a quest for food as their extraordinary sense of smell seeks carrion for the first meal of the day.

Mike Stake, senior wildlife biologist with the Ventana Wildlife Society(VWS), reaches into the back of his truck to retrieve packages that he hopes will ensure a welcome greeting. Mike strides towards the group: his mission — to deliver free, non-lead ammunition.

Although lead has been outlawed for hunting in much of California for more than a decade, condors and other large raptors, such as the circling turkey vultures, are still dying from lead poisoning. Most hunters follow the mandate to use non-lead ammunition but some ranchers clearing ground squirrels from their land continue to use lead because the alternative is more expensive and difficult to find. Recognizing a problem with the cost and lack of general availability of copper ammo,for the popular .22-gauge long rifle, VWS distributes free copper rounds within the condor breeding range. According to executive director Kelly Sorenson, the organization has distributed over 10,000 free boxes of ammunition since beginning the program in 2012.

The hunters crowd around Mike. One has heard that copper doesn’t perform as well as lead. Others are concerned about availability. VWS representatives meet annually with hundreds of hunters and ranchers throughout Monterey and San Benito Counties to address these issues. He assures the group that 90 percent of hunters are happy with the quality of non-lead alternatives but urges them to check it out for themselves. He explains that while deaths have decreased since the program began, lead is still in use and is so poisonous that when ingested even small fragments can be enough to weaken or kill a condor.”

For the rest of the article, see: https://medium.com/creatures/close-encounters-of-the-condor-kind-77077878cd25

Dear Big Sur Byway Organization Members and Interested Parties,

The Byway Organization will meet next Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held virtually using the Zoom Webinar format. Members of the Public can access the meeting in the follow ways:

Online: https://montereycty.zoom.us/j/92648496858

Via Telephone: 1 669 900 6833  

Webinar ID: 926 4849 6858

The Agenda Packet for this meeting is attached to this email and will be posted here on the County website in accordance with requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Yuri C. Anderson | Chief of Staff

Office of Supervisor Mary L. Adams, Fifth District

We are also running an online auction concurrently with the event. If you believe your readers would have any interest any of the items feel free to share this as well: https://event.gives/seastars2020/items

CALTRANS TO SUSPEND PREEMPTIVE CLOSURES THIS WINTER FOR HIGHWAY 1 ALONG THE BIG SUR COAST

MONTEREY COUNTY – In a break from protocols which were in effect over the last two winters, Caltrans announced today that it will not preemptively close Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast this winter when heavy rains are in the forecast.

Caltrans had previously closed portions of Highway 1 in Monterey County out of concerns about the performance of landslides at Mud Creek, one mile south of Gorda, and at Paul’s Slide, just north of Limekiln State Park. Advanced monitoring and assessment at these two, still active slides, helped inform this decision.

Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins said, “Our absolute priority for Highway 1 and the Big Sur Coast is safety, for the local community, the travelling public, and our road maintenance crews. Our continuous measurement and monitoring of these slides give us confidence that we will be able to react to any activity there without having to close the highway in advance.”

Annual work to prepare Highway 1 for winter has taken on a new dimension this year and progress is being made at locations affected by this summer’s Dolan Fire.

Caltrans crews, alongside contractors engaged for this effort, continue to inspect and fortify drains and culverts along the roadway. Many of these are in areas susceptible to impacts from potential debris flows originating from the Dolan Fire burn scar.

To keep drainage systems from being blocked by rocks and debris, crews have constructed protective measures and inlet redundancies at dozens of locations, including armoring the entrance to culverts with debris flow racks. These features are critical to keeping culverts open and preventing water from spilling on to the roadway.

Crews have also installed flexible debris flow barriers consisting of interwoven steel ring nets and cable infrastructure at two critical drainage locations to minimize the risk of debris flows reaching the highway.

Caltrans crews have also scrambled their way up innumerable hillsides to perform rock scaling – identifying and removing loose debris that might fall on the road below. Though rock scaling is performed every year during winter prep work, special emphasis was required at burned hillsides damaged by the Dolan Fire.

Additionally, Caltrans has made significant progress on a pavement rehabilitation project on Highway 1, from Carpenter St. in Carmel, to the Torre Canyon Bridge. Though some follow up work may continue on this $24 million project through next summer, major paving and permanent lane striping have been completed along this nearly 35-mile stretch of highway.

Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins said, “Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast is a treasure. It poses challenges like erosion and landslides even in years when we don’t have a fire. As they always do, the professional women and men of our Caltrans crews will keep an active eye and exert continuous effort to keep this renowned highway safe.”

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when

driving through highway work zones.

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey County, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

                           | #BeWorkZoneAlert | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube |

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Kevin Drabinski

Public Information Officer

Caltrans District 5

I have had some trouble with this management plan since I first got the questionaire which was ill-designed and clearly biased, in my opinion. The resultant draft suffered from these same flaws. It has been difficult for me to articulate clearly, beyond the survey, where the difficulties lie, beyond the obvious. I found this letter expressed my own views.

Last night I was sent the following letter, which puts my concerns in an articulate form, written by a man with broad and long experience in the field of Land Management, who teaches this at UC Davis, and who has written around 100 articles on these subjects. I spoke with him at length last night, about our issues, and the same ones. Marin, where he lives, faces as well.

Today, I sent this letter to the Board of Supervisors to be included in the official record of tomorrow’s hearing. It is long, but well worth your time if you care about the future of Big Sur.

This is the link to the Zoom Meeting of the Board of Supervisors for Tuesday. This item is number 15 on the agenda, and on the item there are links to the draft plan, the agreement between CABS and MCCVB for creating this draft, and other links one might be interested in.

Meeting Agenda

From Supervisor Adams’s office:

It isn’t set up on the agenda for action, just a presentation. I don’t believe it is a document that the County needs to “approve.” I expect they will take public comment, though, and it is an opportunity for the community to share their views on the DSP.

Yesterday, the most amazing gift came my way for my work on the Dolan Fire for our community, and for putting the organization in touch with Patte.

I’ve never seen rainbow colored thread like that used for the top stitching on this quilt. Thank you Monterey Peninsula Quilter’s Guild for the lovely gift. I will treasure this.

Out or nearly so. See Jon’s comment below

From WildCAD:

11/28/2020 13:18

LPF-3525

New

Wildfire

Lockwood rd/ Jolon Rd at Martinez rd.

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E319LPF

.

.

.

35 57.966, -121 5.976

22S R8E Sec 33

.

My contact near Paso Robles airport sent me this around 1:20 –
“SLO just kicked out T’s 74 an 75 to a veg fire on lockwood/jolon road.” And now, and hour later, he says they are still working the fire. Nothing on any of the wildfire lists and can’t reach my friend in Lockwood. Will add what I know, when I know it.

This year, as with everything else, Thanksgiving will be different for many of us. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, remember with joy the loved ones who have preceded us, and the ones that can’t be with us. Remember how blessed we are behind this curtain of covid that will be parting soon. Blessings to all this day and all the days going forward.