The Valley Habitat - Sierra Club · The Valley Habitat November 2015 ... had two Sanderlings and...

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Valley Habitat 1 The Valley Habitat November 2015 A Joint Publication of the Stanislaus Audubon Society and the Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club Join Us for the Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club Program, 7p.m. Friday, November 13, 2015 Day Hikes Along the HWY 108 Corridor Kathi Joye, author of Day Hikes Along The Highway 108 Corridoris an avid hiker who has lived in Tuolumne County since 2008 but who has backpacked these hills since 1985. She will share what she knows about 76 trails along the Highway 108 corridor from Knights Ferry to the Leavitt Meadow area. She loves to ex- plore new trails and find how they connect with areas that she is already familiar. Kathi has a BS in physiology, MS in exercise physiology and both a Life and Physical Science teaching credential, all from UC Davis. She has taught science to 4th-6th graders in Davis, biology to high school students and nutrition and performance, physiology, anatomy, biology and microbiology to college and community college students. She is also a Master Gardener who writes articles for the Union Democrat and also a recently certified California naturalist. Contact Linda Lagace at 863 9137 for any questions about the program. Location: College Avenue Congregational Church • 1341 College Avenue , Modesto, CA Refreshments and socializing begin at 6:45 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. A River Runs Through It - View from the Chair, November 2015 by Anita Young, Yokuts Group Co-Chair With thanks to Norman Maclean. We often talk about the scenic wonders that border our County, and what a large part those wild places play in our lives. I have friends who hike to remote locations to fly fish, not only to find the best fishing holes, but to enjoy the journey in the wilderness. Rarely do I write specifically about the rivers that have their headwaters in our favorite mountains, but in this time of drought we should recognize the role they play not just as majestic scenery but also as life-sustaining elements in a thirsty world. Through the years the Yokuts Group has partnered with various river organizations to protect our rivers. The work of Bob Hackamack, one of our early activists, is largely responsible for the Tuolumne River receiving the "Wild and Scenic" designation, which has helped protect the river in a number of ways. We continue to work with the Tuolumne River Trust on important is- sues related to the river. In 1976, a local campaign to block the construction of the New Melones Dam, led by the Save the Stanislaus group, was defeated. Sore of heart but committed to the river, the group became known as Friends of the River and continues to lead battles for many of our rivers. The drought certainly has consumed our attention, espe- cially as it effects farming concerns and water quality as well as quantity. We environmentalists have received a share of scorn as we advocate to save the dwindling salmon population that rely on our precious Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers for a crucial portion of its life cy- cle. People work to protect and save what they know and love. So here is my plea to you. Help raise another gen- eration that knows and loves the wild, and not so wild, places that we call home. In November we have an opportunity to show others what we know by participating in the Stanislaus River Salmon Festival at Knights Ferry. With salmon under (continued on page 6) Special Notice! Stanislaus Audubon will present the film, The Messenger on November 21, 4:30 pm, at the State Theatre in Modesto. See page 2 for details.

Transcript of The Valley Habitat - Sierra Club · The Valley Habitat November 2015 ... had two Sanderlings and...

Page 1: The Valley Habitat - Sierra Club · The Valley Habitat November 2015 ... had two Sanderlings and one SNOWY PLOVER at the restricted Los Baños Water Treatment Facility, and anoth-

Valley Habitat 1

The Valley Habitat November 2015

A Joint Publ icat ion of the Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety

and the Yokuts Group of the S ierra Club

Join Us for the Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club Program, 7p.m. Friday, November 13, 2015

Day Hikes Along the HWY 108 Corridor

Kathi Joye, author of “Day Hikes Along The Highway 108 Corridor” is an avid hiker who has lived in Tuolumne County since 2008 but who has backpacked these hills since 1985. She will share what she knows about 76 trails along the Highway 108 corridor from Knights Ferry to the Leavitt Meadow area. She loves to ex-plore new trails and find how they connect with areas that she is already familiar. Kathi has a BS in physiology, MS in exercise physiology and both a Life and Physical Science teaching credential, all from UC Davis. She has taught science to 4th-6th graders in Davis, biology to high school students and nutrition and performance, physiology, anatomy, biology and microbiology to college and community college students. She is also a Master Gardener who writes articles for the Union Democrat and also a recently certified California naturalist. Contact Linda Lagace at 863 9137 for any questions about the program. Location: College Avenue Congregational Church • 1341 College Avenue , Modesto, CA Refreshments and socializing begin at 6:45 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

A River Runs Through It - View from the Chair, November 2015 by Anita Young, Yokuts Group Co-Chair With thanks to Norman Maclean. We often talk about the scenic wonders that border our County, and what a large part those wild places play in our lives. I have friends who hike to remote locations to fly fish, not only to find the best fishing holes, but to enjoy the journey in the wilderness. Rarely do I write specifically about the rivers that have their headwaters in our favorite mountains, but in this time of drought we should recognize the role they play not just as majestic scenery but also as life-sustaining elements in a thirsty world. Through the years the Yokuts Group has partnered with various river organizations to protect our rivers. The work of Bob Hackamack, one of our early activists, is largely responsible for the Tuolumne River receiving the "Wild and Scenic" designation, which has helped protect the river in a number of ways. We continue to

work with the Tuolumne River Trust on important is-sues related to the river. In 1976, a local campaign to block the construction of the New Melones Dam, led by the Save the Stanislaus group, was defeated. Sore of heart but committed to the river, the group became known as Friends of the River and continues to lead battles for many of our rivers. The drought certainly has consumed our attention, espe-cially as it effects farming concerns and water quality as well as quantity. We environmentalists have received a share of scorn as we advocate to save the dwindling salmon population that rely on our precious Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers for a crucial portion of its life cy-cle. People work to protect and save what they know and love. So here is my plea to you. Help raise another gen-eration that knows and loves the wild, and not so wild, places that we call home. In November we have an opportunity to show others what we know by participating in the Stanislaus River Salmon Festival at Knights Ferry. With salmon under (continued on page 6)

Special Notice! Stanislaus Audubon will present the film, The Messenger on November 21,

4:30 pm, at the State Theatre in Modesto. See page 2 for details.

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Valley Habitat 2

Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety

RECENT SIGHTINGS OF RARE OR UNCOMMON BIRDS

MERCED COUNTY

Pete Dunten had a WESTERN GULL at the San Luis Reservoir S.R.A. on September 12. Kent van Vuren had two Sanderlings and one SNOWY PLOVER at the restricted Los Baños Water Treatment Facility, and anoth-er SANDERLING at the Gustine Water Treatment Facility, on September 14.

Dale Swanberg had an early GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET at Basalt Campground on September 15. Pete Dunten had a BLACKPOLL WARBLER and a male AMERICAN REDSTART on September 18 at Basalt Campground. Pete Dunten had another BLACKPOLL WARBLER on September 27 at the San Luis Reservoir S.R.A. He and Dale Swanberg also saw a VESPER SPARROW there later in the day. Ralph Baker had three COMMON TERNS at San Luis Creek S.R.A. on September 28; Dale Swanberg saw four Common Terns there later that day. Nina Jones and Cheryl Johnson saw a SAGE THRASHER near Raynor Road on October 2. Chris Hiatt had a CHESNUT-SIDED WARBLER at the Basalt Campground on October 3. Pete Dunten re-found that warbler, and then had a second CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER associating with the first one, on October 6; they were also seen by Jim Gain and Sal Salerno. Gary Woods went to Basalt Campground on October 7 and found an astonishing third CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER along with the previous two reported. Then he found a male BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER during that same day.

STANISLAUS COUNTY

Jim Gain found a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER* (also seen by Daniel Gilman, Xavier Sandoval and Sal Saler-no) on August 12 at the Modesto Water Quality Facilities. There was also one HORNED GREBE there. During a survey at that same facility on September 27, John Harris had a PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER among the Black-bellied Plovers. Xavier Sandoval found two HERMIT WARBLERS at La Loma Park on September 29.

AMERICAN REDSTART

© Pete Dunten

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER © Gary Woods

BAIRD’S SANDPIPER

© Jim Gain

Stanislaus Audubon Will Show

Another Movie at the State Theatre

On November 21 the State Theatre in

Modesto and Stanislaus Audubon will show

The Messenger. This award-winning

documentary film is a visually thrilling

ode to the beauty and importance of im-

periled songbirds, and what it will mean to

all of us on a human and global level if it they

are lost. The film focuses both on the peril to

birds as well as solutions. It does so with

breathtakingly beautiful photography,

mostly of birds in flight.

The first showing at 4:30 on

November 21 will be a fund raiser for

Stanislaus Audubon and will include a

presentation of how the film translates

to some Modesto-area birds.

The film, but not the presentation, will

also be shown November 22 through 25.

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Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety

Valley Habitat 3

Listen, my children, and hear in awe

Of the morning rail of Matthew Daw,

On the seventh of July, ’13 the year—

What happened there may happen here…

(Okay, enough doggerel!)

Matthew Daw, a student from North Carolina, was an early birder who was voted as A.B.A.’s Young Birder of the Year in 2006, when he was only 13 years old. In the summer of 2013, Matthew was working for the Bureau of Recla-mation in New Mexico, conduct-ing a nesting survey of Willow Flycatchers. On Sunday, July 7, Matthew had the day off, so he decided on the spur of the moment to do some recreational birding. He drove to Bosque de Apache National Wildlife Refuge and walked onto the boardwalk, just to see what birds were there. As he watched a Least Bittern foraging on the mudflats, he brought up his camera and began to videotape the bird.

What happened next was a moment that would evolve into a birding legend. At the twenty-ninth second of the video, a Ru-fous-necked Wood Rail emerged from the cattails and walked di-rectly into the picture frame be-hind the bittern. Matthew was so astonished that he recorded only four more seconds of the rail be-fore turning the camera off and bringing up his binoculars to make sure his vision was real. With the most historic photobomb in bird-ing, Matthew became the first per-son ever to have seen and recorded a Rufous-necked Wood-Rail in

North America!

Fortunately, Matthew’s light-ning-bolt luck was grounded in his knowledge of how to follow through. Rails happen to be one of his favorite bird families, so he had studied that species from South American field guides. Mat-thew called his friend, describing the rail in detail, and his sighting was confirmed. From there, they contacted the birding community through social media. The word crackled through cyberspace that an amazing bird had just happened in New Mexico.

One of the birders who read the Internet news was Jeffrey Gordon, president of American Birding Association, who was home with his wife in Colorado Springs, more than 500 miles away. Within an hour, they were wending down I-25 for a seven-hour pilgrimage, and they saw the rail at 6:30 that evening from the boardwalk, which was already teeming with nearly a hundred local birders.

Jeffrey later held a five-minute interview with Matthew, in an exchange that was steeped in irony. Jeffrey chuckled in amaze-ment and glee, almost as if he had been the finder, while the actual discoverer could not have been more diffident. When prompted by Jeffrey to relate the moment, Mat-thew’s responses were laconic. He admitted, “I got a little surprise in the background,” and “I was pretty thrilled” in a tone that was barely audible. Perhaps Jeffrey, the more seasoned birder, knew that no mat-ter what else Matthew would achieve, it would never be more

memorable or famous to the bird-ing world than the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail that he had discovered by chance.

As the rail kept recurring at that spot, it brought the circus to town. The unwitting star would appear sporadically on the mud-flats, intent only on foraging for fish and frogs, but its presence caused successive waves of bird-ers to frequent the local auto rental companies, restaurants, and motels. Jeffrey Gordon flew to New York to relate Matthew’s story on CBS This Morning. Chasers of rare birds kept arriving in flocks, first from within the state, then down from the Albuquerque airport, streaming from both East and West Coast states. (I know of one birder who drove down there from the Bay Area to see the rail.) Sandy Komito, whose record-breaking adventure had inspired the movie “The Big Year,” had to wait two days to finally make the sighting, since the rail began showing itself less frequently. In-deed, it’s a wonder that the Rufous-necked Wood Rail, having other habitat available, tolerated its pa-parazzi for another eleven days. By then, thousands of birders had rearranged their summer plans just to witness a chicken-like creature hopping around in a New Mexico marsh.

Nevertheless, the bird still had to be “blessed” with acceptance by the A.B.A. Checklist Commit-tee. As Rufous-necked Wood-Rail would be a first North American record, the rigorous standards for acceptance were even stricter. After all, this is a mostly sedentary (Continued on page 6)

YOU NEVER KNOW! by Salvatore Salerno

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Stanislaus Audubon Society

Board of Directors: Ralph Baker, Eric

Caine, Joe Devine, Jody Hallstrom, Da-

vid Froba, Jim Gain, Daniel Gilman,

John Harris, Christine Magaña, Harold

Reeve, Salvatore Salerno.

Officers & Committee Chairs

President: Sal Salerno 985-

1232

([email protected])

Vice President: Eric Caine 968-

1302

([email protected])

Treasurer: David Froba 521-

7265

([email protected])

Secretary: John Harris 510-504-

2427

([email protected])

Membership: Revolving

San Joaquin River NWR Trips:

Ralph Baker 681-

3313

([email protected])

Other Field Trips: David Froba 521-

7265

([email protected])

Christmas Bird Counts Coordinator; Sec-

retary, Stanislaus Birds Records Commit-

tee:

Harold Reeve 538-

0885

How to Join Audubon

To become a member of National Audubon Society and Stanislaus Audubon, which entitles you to receive Audubon Magazine and Valley Habi-tat, send your check for $20.00 to:

National Audubon Society, Inc.

225 Varick Street, 7th Floor

New York, NY 10014

Attn: Chance Mueleck

To keep your membership current, check the membership expiration date printed on your newsletter label. If you receive Valley Habitat online, call

Valley Habitat 4

Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety AUDUBON FIELD TRIPS

November 7, Cosumnes River Preserve, Sacramento County. This preserve offers an opportunity to go birding for passerines along the riparian habitats of the undammed Cosumnes River. In addition, you will see numerous species of waterfowl that will have begun arriving to winter in the wetlands. Carpooling and contributing to gas expenses are recommended. Bring a lunch, water, and insect repellent. We will re- turn to Modesto in the late afternoon. Trip leader Sal Salerno (209) 985 -1232. Meet at the Stanislaus County parking lot at 1500 I Street at 6:30 a.m. Note different starting time from local outings. Please RSVP by Sunday, November 1.

November 22, January 17. The San Joaquin River National Wild- life Refuge near Modesto is huge and offers the most diverse habitats in the area, including mixed species transitional areas, riparian forest, oak woodlands, grassland, and seasonal wetlands. Trip lead-er,RalphBaker([email protected]) chooses the par-ticular habitats to visit each month based on conditions and season. Meet at the Stanislaus County Library parking lot (1500 I Street, Mod-esto) at 7:15 a.m. We will return to Modesto mid afternoon.

December 5, Eastern Stanislaus County. This area at this time of the year is world-class for raptor watching. We will have a least a decent chance of seeing the following and will probably see a least half of them: Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shoulder4d Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, White-tailed Kite, Os-prey, Northern Harrier, Kestrel, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon. And that's just the raptors. We'll see lots of other species as well. Trip leader Dave Froba, 521-7265, [email protected]. Meet at the Stanislaus County parking lot at 1500 I Street at 7:15 a.m. We'll return early afternoon.

January 9. Parts Unknown. We'll be going to some yet undetermined really good local area, chosen based on information gathered at the two local Christmas Birds Counts which will have just occurred. A lot will probably depends on if and where there's water. Trip leader, TBA. For information call Dave Froba, 521-7265, [email protected]. Meet at the Stanislaus County parking lot at 1500 I Street at 7:15 a.m. We'll return early afternoon.

Audubon Field Trip Email List

If you would like to be on a group email to advise you of all Audubon field

trips, please email: Dave Froba at [email protected].

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Valley Habitat 5

Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club

Saturday, November 14 Stanislaus River Salmon Festival at the Knights Ferry Recreation Area 12 miles East of Oakdale off Hwy 120 Our Yokuts Group will be Tabling at the Festival and need Volunteers to help out. This event takes place on the South side of the Stanislaus River and is fun and inspiring. It is an opportunity to help adults and chil-dren learn about the Sierra Club and the causes we promote. We will need help from 9:30 AM. to 3:00 PM, parking is free. Please sign up and come and join us in this fun event. See Milt at the monthly meeting on Nov 13 if you can help out or have a question, or call him at 209-535-1274.

Saturday, Oct 31st

Dayhike 2B

Annual Yokuts “(nearing the) end-of-daylight-savings-time” hike. What better way to spend Hal-loween than in Yosemite. This 8 & 1/2 mile hike will start at the Sentinel Dome trailhead, go up the dome and then over to Taft Point and the fissures. We will then hike on to Bridalveil creek and up the creek to the road where we will have a shuttle car waiting. Elevation gain appx 800 ft. For further information, including meet-up time and place, please contact Yokuts trip leader Randall Brown at 209 632-5994.

Are you interested in making sure wild places

stay wild? Are you interested in recycling? Are you

interested in improving our air, water, or local envi-

ronment? We are looking for a few good people to

serve on a team to identify local issues important

in our community. Contact Sandy Wilson at 209

577-5616 or via email at: [email protected].

Yokuts Group Election

Official Ballot

Bring to the November 13, 2015

Program Meeting

1341 College Avenue, refreshments and socializing

begin at 6:45 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7:00

Or Mail by November 30, 2015 to

Yokuts Group, Mother Lode Chapter, Sierra Club

P.O. Box 855, Modesto, CA 95353

Conservation Chair

Milt Trieweiler ___________________

Or write-in ____________________

Vice-Chair

Jerry Jackman ___________________

Or write-in ____________________

Holiday Greetings!!

Come and join us for the The Yokuts Holiday Open House

7 pm – ?? pm on the 11th of December.

The party is held 5424 Nanette Dr., Salida.

Please call 545-5948 or 601-8660 for directions if you like.

It is a fun evening and a great way to meet your fellow members!

The party is very casual with everyone contributing a special snack or dessert. We will have coffee, tea, cider and usually there are bottles of wine to share. We have a special raffle of donated baskets and al-ways lots of great food. Plan on joining your fellow Sierra Club members & our Audubon friends for a bit of Holiday Cheer!

Hope to see you all there! Kathy Weise

Volunteer Opportunity!

Our current editor will be retiring from the position this coming

spring, after the March edition of “The Valley Habitat.”

We will need one or more folks to take over the editor role in

March 2016 to put out the April 2016 issue and take it from

there for a time that is up to you. We own a copy of Microsoft

Publisher 2010 which can be installed on the new editor’s com-

puters and the retiring editor will offer training, templates and

old files for an easy transition. Contact anyone on page 4 or 7.

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Valley Habitat 6

Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety & Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club YOU NEVER KNOW!

(Continued from page 3)

bird with a customary range from southern Mexico to South America. In October of 2014, the New Mexico Bird Records Committee voted first to accept this wood-rail as a natural vagrant by a vote of 6 to 1. The dissenting voter surmised, without proof, that the bird was more likely a release or escapee from cap-tivity. Soon after, the A.B.A. Checklist Committee pored over 227 pages of documentation. The first round voted 6-2, but at least 7 affirmative votes were needed. After three members cycled off the commit-tee and new members came in, the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail was finally approved on the second

round. (You can read discussion in the November/December 2015 issue of Birding.) Thousands of bird-ers sighed in collective relief, and Matthew Daw’s star was set in the firmament of birding history.

The moral of this tale is its title. None of us will likely find a new species of bird for America, or California, or even for our own county. Often it’s enough just to discover a new bird for ourselves. But our odds are always more than zero during any day that we go birding. Upon any ordinary day, any one of us may lift up a camera or binoculars and see an extraordinary bird. As I wrote in 2008 and repeat in a new decade for new readers, The only way to know is to go.

A River Runs Through It (continued from page 1) increasing threat, there would seem little to celebrate. However, this festival serves as a way to educate the pub-lic about the importance of the river to the very survival of the salmon. I volunteered last year to help with the Yokuts information table, led by Milt Triewieler. Many families and individuals visited our table and others staffed by organizations such as Modesto Junior College's Great Valley Museum, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy, to name a few. It is a superb introduction to the river and the natives of the riparian habitat. You, too, can participate by volunteering to help at our table, or by bringing a a group of children on perhaps their first river outing. The young people who experienced the wonders of nature by handling fish, looking at animal pelts and casts of animal tracks, left with a lasting impression of the importance of nature and wild things to our lives. Save this date, Sat. Nov.14, 2015 from 10 to 3, and join the Yokuts Group at the Stanislaus River Salmon Fes-tival. This is a grassroots effort to promote our values with the public. At this event we will interact with hun-dreds of people. It is always a fun filled time with lots of good food you can purchase. Contact Milt at 209-535-1274 for more information.

BIRDS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE

DONATION

As of this printing, S.A.S. has received $1,415

towards our goal of purchasing Grayson’s “Birds of the

Pacific Slope.” Wouldn’t you like to play an important

role in helping your Audubon chapter to donate its per-

manent legacy to the Stanislaus County Library? If so,

send a check, made out to Stanislaus Audubon Society,

to P.O. Box 4012, Modesto, CA 95352, with “Grayson

book” on the memo line.

Yellow-billed Cuckoos

Courtesy of

Mills College,

Oakland

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Valley Habitat 7

Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club

Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club

Management Committee

Co-Chairs Anita Young & Candy Klaschus

Treasurer Steve Tomlinson 544-1617

(stomlinson015@gmail,com)

Secretary Sandra Wilson 577-5616

([email protected])

Programs Linda Lagace 863-9137

([email protected])

Conservation Brad Barker 526-5281

([email protected])

Membership Anita Young 529-2300

([email protected])

Hospitality Candy Klaschus 632-5473

([email protected])

Publicity Dorothy Griggs 549-9155

([email protected])

Outings Randall Brown 632-5994

([email protected])

Newsletter Nancy Jewett 664-9422

([email protected])

Mailing Kathy Weise 545-5948

([email protected])

Population Milt Trieweiler 535-1274

([email protected])

Fundraising Leonard Choate 524-3659

Website Jason Tyree

([email protected])

Check out our Website:

http://www.sierraclub.org/mother-lode/yokuts

To send stories to the Habitat, e-mail:

[email protected]

Sierra Club Membership

Enrollment Form

Yes, I want to be a member of the Sierra Club!

Yes, I want to give a gift membership!

______________________________________________________________________

NEW MEMBER NAME(S)

________________________________________________________

ADRESS

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______________________________________________________________

TELEPHONE (optional) EMAIL (optional)

From time to time, we make our mailing list available to other worthy organizations. If

you prefer your name not be included, please check here.

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES (check one)

INDIVIDUAL JOINT

Special offer $15

Regular $39 $49

Supporting $75 $100

Contributing $150 $175

Life $1000 $1250

Senior $25 $35

Student $25 $35

Limited Income $25 $35

Contributions, gifts and dues to the Sierra

Club are not tax- deductible; they sup-

port our effective, citizen-based advocacy and lobbying efforts. Your dues include

$7.50 for a subscription to SIERRA magazine and $1 for your Chapter newsletter.

PAYMENT METHOD: (check one)

CHECK VISA MASTERCARD AMEX

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GIFT MEMBERSHIP: A gift card will be sent for your use. Enter your name

and address below and the name and address of the gift recipient above.

_____________________________________________________________________

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TELEPHONE (optional) EMAIL (optional)

Enclose payment information and mail to:

P.O. Box 421041, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1041

Yokuts Group

F94QN09051

Link to

the

Yokuts

Web-

Yokuts Sierra Club Joins Meetup

The Yokuts Sierra Club group, along with the Delta

Sierra and Tuolumne groups have formed a Stockton-

Modesto-Sonora Meetup group that includes Sierra Club

outings and events. It’s easy and free to join this Meetup,

just go to the link below and sign up. It’s not necessary

to be a Sierra Club member to join. Once you sign up,

you will automatically be sent announcements of new and

upcoming Meetup events. http://www.meetup.com/

Stockton-Modesto-Sonora-Sierra-Club/

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The Valley Habitat November 2015

http://www.sierraclub.org/mother-lode/yokuts

Yokuts Group

Mother Lode Chapter

Sierra Club

P.O. Box 855

Modesto, CA 95353

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage

PAID

Modesto, CA

Permit No. 139

CURRENT RESIDENT OR

www.stanislausbirds.org

El Nino, Drought, What to do?

by Steve Tomlinson, Yokuts Treasurer

I have to say that I don't completely trust that El Nino is coming this winter. Even if it does I have no

expectation that it would signal an end to the drought. Being a San Joaquin Valley native has made it clear to

me that our climate has been altered for an indefinite period of time. Climate optimism seems like playing pok-

er with a very bad hand. However clear and concrete plans for coping with drought bring optimism. More and

more I have been considering solutions such as grey water systems, drip irrigation and other water efficient op-

tions. Next on the list is a water audit. I assume that the person doing the audit would be a resource for water

saving/recycling options. Recently I was particularly inspired by an article in the September 27th edition of the

San Francisco Chronicle. It was quite an extensive article about coping with a 13 year drought in the Melbourne

Australia region. It is described as an area quite similar to the Bay Area and neighboring San Joaquin Valley.

The urban and suburban residents, and farmers were forced to change and motivated to do so as many became

tired of expensive water bills and other hardships. Water recycling and water collection systems such as rain

barrel systems spread through the suburbs. With the onset of the drought, strict monitoring of water use devel-

oped as it has here. Together with government help a creative boon of water-saving solutions blossomed. Desal-

inization plants were also part of the solution and are tied in to renewable power sources. Many urban residents

and farmers have no water bill. Dam building is also mentioned but discussed in terms of it being a poor solu-

tion. I would say the same for our area or anywhere in California. If there is scant snow, where is the water go-

ing to come from? So it seems a need for much more investment in water recycling and/or desalinization is im-

mediate and imperative. First thing Monday morning, schedule a water audit.