From Stillwater Sciences: We are excited to announce one of our first groundbreaking projects in the Lower LA River watershed in the City of South Gate, the Urban Orchard Park and wetlands with a trout stream!
See video link featuring the Mayor of South Gate, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, RMC Mark Stanley, TPL Robin Mark, and prominent community and tribal leaders.
The project connects to the LAR Bikeway, Lower LAR Revitalization Master Plan, Metro station, multi-use planned community center, schools, neighborhoods and biodiversity bringing native habitat and species home to South Gate. Stillwater Sciences designed the one-acre native wetland, trout stream, and native habitat for the seven-acre park. We also completed the regulatory permitting for the project approvals.
Hot Creek is known to Southern Californians for its challenging fly fishing and pristine views. (Jim Burns)
UPDATE: As of June 17, the hatchery is once again open.
Thanks to guide and Mammoth local Chris Leonard for this news:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has suspended all fish planting from the Hot Creek Trout Hatchery in Mono County as a bacterial outbreak has been detected at the facility.
“Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t be worse with the holiday weekend coming up, Mule Days taking place in Bishop and a lot of people coming to fish the eastern Sierra this time of year,” said Jay Rowan, Acting Fisheries Branch Chief for CDFW. “We don’t yet know the extent of the outbreak at Hot Creek Hatchery, but we do have the advantage of some additional tools in our toolbox now versus a year ago, including recently developed vaccines that we started rolling out to fish at the three previously infected hatcheries earlier this month.”
The three other CDFW trout hatcheries in Southern California and the eastern Sierra are the Mojave River Hatchery, Black Rock Trout Hatchery and Fish Springs Trout Hatchery. That outbreak ultimately forced the euthanization of 3.2 million trout at those hatcheries.
Someday, steelhead will return to our area’s rivers. (Jim Burns)
Yesterday two big steps occurred for bringing the endangered Southern California Steelhead back to the waters of Southern California:
First the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the San Gabriel and LLA River and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) established a cooperative agreement for the creation of the Los Angeles River Fish Passage Program. It seeds that program with $13 million of funding from Proposition 1 bond monies.
Second, from the same meeting, a Trout Unlimited proposal for a conceptual design of the lower river channel access adjacent to Dills Park, bordering Compton and Paramount through the Los Angeles River Fish Passage Program also received more than $300,000.
I’ll be writing a broader piece about what this means for conservation in the coming weeks, but I wanted to spread this good news right now.
Tom’s guest is George Revel of Lost Coast Outfitters [@50:42], the only fly shop in downtown San Francisco. George is a lifelong fly fisher (he was a tournament caster when he was a teenager) and has intimate knowledge of the best fly-fishing spots in California. Whether you live on the West Coast and are looking for new places to explore, or if you plan a visit to California, this podcast is a must.
Note Hot Creek on the lower righthand corner of this map. (Courtesy United States Department of Agriculture)
All,
I hope this email finds you well! I am emailing you today to update you on the Kore mining proposal located in the Inyo National Forest. I would like to let you know that our office has met with both Kore Mining and the U.S. Forest Service to get a briefing on this proposed mining site and learn more about the project.
As you may know, U.S. Forest Service is the federal authority in charge of the land in question. Attached you will find a U.S. Forest Service scoping letter describing the project proposal and what processes are being done to ensure that any mining is done in the most environmentally and sustainable way possible. I also wanted to provide you with the link provided by the U.S. Forest Service to accept comments and input from the local community and interested parties. https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public//CommentInput?Project=59294
While I will be continuing work with both U.S. Forest Service and Kore mining to ensure that your concerns are heard, I highly recommend that you use the link provided to comment on the project as well. While you will be able to use the link provided to comment throughout the process, initial scoping comments should be submitted by Thursday May 13.
On behalf of Congressman Obernolte, I would like to thank you for reaching out to our office with your comments. We will continue to update you as new information is provided.
All the best,
Reid Dagul
Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Jay Obernolte, California Eighth District
Phone: 202-225-5861
________________________________________
Dear Interested Citizen,
The Mammoth Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest is initiating the analysis process for the proposed Long Valley Exploration Drilling Project proposed by Kore USA Ltd. (Kore Mining). The project boundary area proposed for exploration is within a claim block controlled by Kore Mining and encompasses 230 acres in Section 26, Township 3 South, Range 28 East, Mono County, California. It is located approximately 6.2 miles east of the town of Mammoth Lakes and 45 miles north of the town of Bishop, California (Figure 1).
At this time, we are opening a scoping period to ask for your help in determining the scope of the analysis.
Kore Mining proposes to conduct mineral exploration activities at the claim for a period of less than one year. Ground disturbing activities proposed consist of drilling with heavy equipment, the creation of fourteen drill pads and the use of existing roads and temporary access routes. The total new land disturbance anticipated is 0.93 acres. Project implementation would occur in the summer of 2021. Reclamation of all impacted areas would commence immediately following the completion of drilling activities. No production or mining would be included in this project. It would be for exploration only, to determine the mineral potential of the site. Any actual production proposed in the future would be analyzed according to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines at that time.
A total of fourteen pads measuring 30 feet by 50 feet (1500 square feet) each are proposed for construction within in the claim area. Up to three core borings would be drilled on each pad. The drill pads would also be utilized for staging all vehicles and equipment. Each pad would be surrounded by temporary fencing during the work. Container trucks would be used to hold and transport all drill cuttings and muds offsite and at an appropriate disposal facility. Access to drill pads would require the temporary re-opening of 11 segments (1,849 total feet in length and 10 feet wide.) of non-system Forest Service roads for the duration of the project. All of the temporary access routes would follow pre-existing non system routes that are currently blocked and/or closed. Temporary access routes and drill pads would be cleared of vegetation by hand cutting or mowing with a small tractor and graded level to accommodate the drilling equipment. Six inches of topsoil removed from each drill pad would be salvaged and stored on site for use in reclamation of the pad at the end of the drilling project.
After drilling is complete, the drill pads would be reclaimed by spreading the reserved topsoil, recontouring to approximate original landforms and planting with a Forest Service-approved native seed mix. Temporary access routes would be reclaimed using a spring-tooth harrow, or similar device, to relieve surface compaction and then seeded with the same approved seed mix. Monitoring of the revegetation success would continue for three years after seeding. Additional details about the project can also be viewed on the project website at
This proposal is being considered in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Forest will analyze any potential environmental impacts proposed in the plan of operations and establish any terms or conditions under which the mining operations may be conducted in order to minimize adverse impacts to surface resources (36 CFR 228.8). Surveys for cultural and biological resources will be completed before implementation, to ensure the project protects resources and meets the Inyo National Forest land management plan and other applicable laws, regulations and policy. It is anticipated that this project can be completed under a categorical exclusion under the category established under 36 CFR 220.6 (e)(8), because it is a “short term (1 year or less) mineral investigation and incidental support activities”. Appropriate and legally required environmental studies and consultations will be completed in support of the project to inform the decision, and to determine whether extraordinary circumstances exist that could require preparation of an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement.
The proposed action is currently available for a 30-day public scoping period. With this scoping notice we would like to invite your comments regarding issues, opportunities, concerns, and suggestions for the proposed project. You may submit comments on the project website at:
Go to “Comment/Object on Project” on the right side of the page and you can type in your comments or attach a file.
While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time, comments received by May 6, 2021 will be most useful in informing the analysis. Please contact Colleen Garcia, Minerals Program Manager, 351 Pacu Lane Suite 200 Bishop, CA 93514, by email at colleen.garcia@usda.gov and/or by phone at (760) 920-0285 for questions about the project or scoping process, or if you cannot submit your comment on the project website.
I appreciate your interest in the management of the Inyo National Forest.
TROUT UNLIMITED spent a recent morning cleaning signs that illustrate the life cycle of steelhead trout in San Juan and Trabuco creeks. Listed as endangered, steelhead are still spotted during heavy storm surge years. From left, South Coast Chapter President William Preston Bowling, past president George Sutherland, and members Greg Nelson and Dr. Donald Forthal. (Courtesy William Preston Bowling)
lariverflyfishing 