AUBURN, Calif. April 30, 2019 – Placer County is seeking community input at two upcoming public workshops to help develop the first-ever countywide Parks and Trails Master Plan draft.
Community members are invited to provide feedback on a draft of the plan as focus group participants at upcoming meetings set for May 7 in Kings Beach and May 15 in North Auburn.
Additional opportunities to provide feedback on the plan will be available at upcoming municipal advisory council meetings or online at placerparksplan.com. A schedule of plan presentations at MAC and public meetings is available at the Parks and Trails Master Plan website: placerparksplan.com/get-involved/.
When complete the plan will provide a 10-year vision for the development and operation of parks, recreation opportunities, open space and trail networks in the county.
The plan is intended to reflect the recreational needs of individual communities, such as league play demands in Granite Bay and Loomis, and the need for connected trails for summer and indoor recreation during the winter in eastern Placer County.
“This is a unique opportunity to get involved and help guide the future of recreation in Placer County for generations to come,” said Placer County Parks Administrator Andy Fisher. “We are excited to get public input and go forward with confidence that we are investing in the highest recreational priorities that will create the best experiences and memories for our citizens and visitors. That can only happen if our communities make their voice heard.”
The draft plan reflects community input provided over a two-year planning process through a series of public workshops, online surveys, focus groups and municipal advisory council meetings, to name a few.
Feedback received indicated high support for paved and dirt trails, natural areas and new and improved facilities particular to each community. The results also affirmed that the park and trail projects already in development in the county are consistent with communities’ desired improvements.
A summary of the Parks and Trails Master Plan public survey responses is available here.
Those interested in participating in the workshop are encouraged to RSVP to gmontecallo@designworkshop.com or call 775-588-5929.

CLICK HERE to see the original article in Yubanet.net

UPDATED 4/24/2019:
This dark colored rattlesnake is a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus oreganus. One of these has been spotted three times by Sterling Pointe Equestrian Staging. A hiker and close neighbors said these are new to the area, and they have only seen one. But, when the hiker tossed some pebbles to move the snake off the trail, the snake turned and chased him. This is unusual and aggressive behavior, quite unlike our local, larger, light brown and buff colored rattlesnakes, who are easily moved along. Be aware that these darker snakes may be aggressive. Stay away from them.
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ORIGINAL POSTING 4/11/2019
A hiker by Sterling Pointe staging at Folsom Lake SRA yesterday saw two rattlesnakes sunning themselves. The snake season is starting, so beware, rattlesnakes are leaving their dens and looking for something to eat and bask in the sun. Hikers should be wearing boots and long loose pants; mt. bikers slow down so you don't run over them (and get bit in the process), and equestrians should really listen to their horses who can hear and smell them way before their riders can.

SNAKE FACTS
Most people bitten by rattlesnakes have inadvertently stepped or ridden over them. They detect movement by sensing vibrations in the ground. Their eyes see well even in low light. Rattlesnake bites can be dangerous but are very rarely fatal to humans. With proper medical treatment, including antivenin, bites are usually not serious.

The smaller the snake, the more deadly, as they haven't learned how to measure out their venom. Young rattlesnakes do not yet have their rattles, though they are as dangerous as adults, according to the National Park Service at Yosemite. Furthermore, some adults may lose their rattles, so it is a good idea look out for the triangular head. And, especially in Folsom Lake and Auburn SRAs, a percentage of the rattlesnakes don't rattle at all.

After the rattle, rattlesnakes’ most distinctive physical feature is their triangular head. Also, they have vertical pupils, like cat’s eyes.

Generation after generation of rattlesnakes will use the same dens, sometimes for more than 100 years. Upon leaving their dens, they like to sun themselves on rocks and other open places. Though they are not nocturnal, in the hot summer months they may be more active at night.
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Despite their venom, rattlesnakes are no match for California King snakes, which are fond of putting them on their dinner menus. DON'T KILL CALIFORNIA KING SNAKES! (picture below the rattlesnake.)

Here is a RATTLESNAKE:

​Below are safe and desirable CALIFORNIA KING SNAKES:

PLACERVILLE, Calif. April 15, 2019 – Organized by the Work for Warriors program, a 40 hour basic Firefighting course is being taught April 15 -19, 2019 by U.S. Forest Service Fire staff at the Work for Warriors facility in Sacramento. The Eldorado National Forest has collaborated with the Work for Warriors staff since 2015 to coordinate and build a basic firefighting program that trains our veterans in wildland firefighting. Work for Warriors (WFW) is a state and federally funded free job placement program in California. The intent of the Work for Warriors program is aimed at assisting post 9/11 Veterans, active National Guard, active Reserve members, Spouses, and Gold Star Families in finding civilian employment in their region of California. This program has been instrumental in helping veterans obtain jobs with the U.S. Forest Service on the Eldorado, Tahoe, and Plumas National Forests as wildland firefighters.

Students learn the basic concepts of wildland fire, topography, fuels, weather, safety, the Incident Command System, and suppression techniques in the classroom. Students are also in the field for a full day on the Tahoe National Forest working with the tools and techniques for fighting wildland fire.

Tonya Blasingame from the Eldorado National Forest and Jecobie Waters from the Tahoe National Forest have been the main Forest Service coordinators to build this program over the last 5 years. This program helps our veterans to transition back into civilian careers as civil servants in the wildland firefighting community. Because of their previous federal service they are able to move into the Forest Service relatively easily.
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For more information Work for Warrior’s program go to http://workforwarriors.org. Visit the Eldorado National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/eldorado to learn about your local national forest.

CLICK HERE to see the original article at Yubanet.



https://yubanet.com/regional/eldorado-national-forest-collaborating-to-help-put-veterans-to-work/

The Placer County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved 3-0, with District 3 Supervisor Jim Holmes absent and District 5 Seat vacant, an amendment to the Bear River Campground fee schedule, in order to help offset operating costs and improve visitor experience through higher-level service. Reservations may be obtained before June 8 at the current rates.

Bear River Campground is a 192-acre campsite in Colfax operated and maintained by Placer County under a 25-year lease agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which owns the property. The campground features 23 individual campsites and one group campsite that can be rented in its entirety or one half of the site at a time.

Under the new schedule, nightly rates to reserve the individual family campsites would increase from $10 to $24. Reservation of the full group camp site would go from $75 to $120, and reservation of ½ of the group site would go from $40 to $80. The new fee schedule will include an $8 non-refundable reservation fee, intended to discourage multiple bookings by the same party. The new fee schedule also includes an increase in daily fees for both individual sites and the group site. The new fee schedule will include an $8 non-refundable reservation fee, consistent with local state and federal campgrounds.

The increased fees are the next step in a process to improve visitor experience that included a new online reservation system launched in 2018. The new online reservation system replaced the old first-come-first-served walk-in system for individual sites and phone-in system for the group site, giving campers assurance of site availability and allowing for greater tracking and accountability.

The new fee schedule is anticipated to generate $70,000 in revenue per year, which can be used to support the cost of the new reservation system and increasing ranger presence. Parks staff is also exploring options to add a full-time camp host during the camping season.

“The new fees are considerably lower than comparable campgrounds in Northern California and will remain below average even after the adjustments,” said Andy Fisher Placer County Parks Division Administrator. “While Placer County is not looking to be enriched off of fees, they were so low in comparison to other local campgrounds that we began witnessing some opportunists taking advantage of the low rates to stay for the wrong reasons. The new rates better reflect the value of this outstandingly beautiful riverfront site and will be injected directly back into the campground to better serve our vacationing guests."

The new fee schedule is set to begin for all reservations placed after June 7. Reservations may be obtained before June 8 at the current rates.
Bear River Campground online reservations are available, here. 

"The project plan calls for the addition of extensive public trails, a new trailhead for the ASRA, A propose memorial forest, with an innovative forest revenue model, high-quality, diverse, mature forests, a wildfire corridor, and a potential fire break between subdivisions in high-risk areas that is slated for development."

Auburn April 10, 2019 – The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announced the Department has awarded over $63 million in grants for 16 landscape-scale, regionally-based projects aimed at promoting healthy and resilient forests that protect and enhance forest carbon sequestration.

Placer Land Trust received an award of $1,300,700 for the Butler Property Fee Title Acquisition and Conservation Easement. The acquisition in fee title is for a 192-acre forest property in Foresthill spanning the North Fork and Middle Fork American River Canyons. The conservation easement is to be granted to CAL FIRE. The property is adjacent to Auburn State Recreation Area (ASRA), Federal lands, and a passed conservation project with the same landowner.

The project plan calls for the addition of extensive public trails, a new trailhead for the ASRA, A propose memorial forest, with an innovative forest revenue model, high-quality, diverse, mature forests, a wildfire corridor, and a potential fire break between subdivisions in high-risk areas that is slated for development.
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CAL FIRE’s Forest Health program restores California’s forestlands through a suite of active management approaches including thinning of overly dense and, in some cases, pest-impacted forests; use of prescribed fire for ecological restoration and to reduce hazardous fuel loads; reforestation of forests diminished by fire, drought, insects and disease; and capacity support for forest management, wood processing and biomass utilization.

“These landscape-level Forest Health projects complement the immediate actions to prevent and mitigate wildfires that CAL FIRE proposed in its recent “45-Day Report” to Governor Gavin Newsom. Together, our investments will help make our forests more resilient, reducing the risk of wildlife and the resulting loss of carbon, while also improving ecosystem health,” said Angie Lottes, CAL FIRE’s Assistant Deputy Director for Climate and Energy.

The CAL FIRE Forest Health program is part of California Climate Investments (CCI), a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment- particularly in disadvantaged communities. Within the next month, CAL FIRE expects to award and additional $37 million for Fire Prevention projects and $2.5 million for scientific research into forest health issues. Both programs are also part of the California Climate Investments suite of programs. California Air Resources Board released the 2019 CCI Annual Report to the California State Legislature yesterday.

Click here for the list of Fiscal Year 18/19 Forest Health grant recipients.

CLICK HERE to see the original article in Yubanet.net

Date: 04/13/2019 (Sat.) 
Folsom Lake SRAEarth Day 2019 . Educational and Interpretive field walks and hands-on workshops for Earth Day participants who want to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the outdoors.  Our guest speakers include experienced naturalists, professionals and leaders in their fields who love sharing their talents and knowledge with others.
Location: Negro Bar State Recreational Area
Facebook Event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/436551260414217/
You can volunteer here!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050d48afaf22a4fc1-earth
Here are some of the events:
NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY HIKES with photographer/guides Kathy Kayner and Gene McKinnon
Difficulty: Some difficulty on a stretch of dirt trail that connects the Negro Bar area with the Orangevale/Rollingwood Bluffs area, especially if the trails are slippery from recent rains.
Bring: Water, snack, appropriate clothing, and good walking shoes. A water resistant hat and jacket if there is a chance of sprinkles. Camera (with zoom lens) and binoculars are recommended! (camera not required)
Children: Minimum age for children is 12 years and must be with guardian/parent.
Early Morning Bird Walk
Come on out for an early morning walk and join one of our naturalist for quiet observation and identification of the many birds along the riparian habitat of Lake Natoma.  You just may be able to check off one of your birds on your life list.  We encourage participants to bring their own binoculars.  We encourage families with little ones to attend the program offered later in the morning.
Family Investigation and Observation of Lake Natoma Birds
This short program will allow families to enjoy observing the many birds that live around Lake Natoma and still take in the many activities of the event.   Wrestle your little ones up and out to the park to join one of our park naturalist to discovery the many birds that live around Lake Natoma.  We encourage families to bring their own binoculars, we will have a few on hand for sharing.

For over three years, trail users were without water at Falcon Crest Staging Area after vandalism damaged the drinking fountain and horse trough water. Folsom State SRA maintenance has repaired the damage and reinstated potable water. This 2002 map is from the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area General Plan, Alternative #2, showing possible improvements.

Directions to Falcon Crest Staging Area (El Dorado Hills): Continue past the Brown’s Ravine entrance and make a left on Pilot Hill/Salmon Falls Rd. Go about 3 miles until you get to the large Falcon Crest sign on the left. The staging area is a good-sized gravel parking area, immediately off Salmon Falls Road. There is a water trough, fountain, and picnic tables available on a ridge overlooking the South Fork of the American River on the Monte Vista Trail North. 

From the Sterling Pointe Equestrian Staging Area docents: "Big Thanks to Robert Smith for hanging the additional code sign for horse trailer parking only" at the trailhead."

As equestrian staging areas get busier with the better weather, these new signs will remind other trail users to park in the paved areas and leave the unpaved areas for the horse trailers. Then there will be plenty of room for everyone.