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In This Issue

  Events  |    |  Resources   |  Funding  |  Comic of the Month  |  Recent News March 2014       

Alliance Updates

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival On Tour combines award winning environmental and adventure films with the energy of local activism. Each year, we choose powerful environmental and adventure films so that you are inspired to take further action regarding issues that impact our environment, ourselves and our world. The 9th Annual Wild & Scenic filmFestival On Tour - South Lake Tahoe is a benefit for the Sierra Nevada Alliance.

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2014
Place: MontBleu Resort Casino Spa, South Lake Tahoe, CA
More Information: Click here for more information


Funding

Northern California Environmental Grassroots Fund

The Grassroots Fund supports small grassroots groups throughout greater northern California that are tackling tough environmental problems including toxic pollution, urban sprawl, sustainable agriculture, climate change, environmental degradation of our rivers and wild places, as well as, of our communities and our health.

Click here for more information and application.


American River Parkway Foundation 2014 Grant.

The ARPF Foundation is a publicly supported 501 C 3 charitable organization dedicated to supporting parkway preservation, beautification projects and restoring habitat. The Foundation provides grants to organizations, clubs, and others engaged in parkway preservation. The majority of the Foundation grants are awarded through a two-step competitive process: a Letter of Inquiry, and a grantee interview.

Click here for more information.


Resources

Position Opening: Program Manager - California Water Foundation

Description: CWF seeks a full time Program Manager to assist in the development and execution of a strategy to advance CWF’s program objectives. The Program Manager will identify and recommend strategic grants and other investments and ensure program administration, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation is conducted in a manner to meet program criteria. The Program Manager will assume responsibility for elements of CWF’s grant making portfolio and build coalitions to support projects, engage in strategic communications, and advocate on behalf of sustainable solutions. He or she will convene meetings of staff and consultants to address program issues, and will assist in refining grant making strategies, designing grants and contracts, conducting due diligence, and participating with potential grantees and contractors in designing and developing proposals. The Program Manager will coordinate document preparation for meetings and reports, ensuring the accuracy and quality of written products.

Click here for more information.

Location: Sacramento, CA

Position Opening: Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Restoration Assitant - California Trout

Description: The person(s) selected will work as part of a crew on ecological restoration projects under the direction of CDFW staff. Restoration for Lahontan cutthroat trout will utilize a combination of backpack electroshocking to remove non-native brook trout and placement of temporary barriers to secure recovery waters. Other duties will include: pruning riparian vegetation to facilitate crew access to the stream; maintenance of gear; hauling materials and building a modified weir barrier; and data management. Although outdoors, surrounded by amazing vistas and working with an amazingly beautiful native trout, the work can be tiring and repetitious.

Click here for more information

Location: Coleville, CA

Position Opening: ES&R (Post-Fire) Monitoring Technician - The Great Basin Institute

Description: GBI is recruiting four Field Technicians to work cooperatively with BLM rangeland managers and the GBI Vegetation Monitoring Field Lead. Field Technicians will sample vegetation using both the Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) protocol and the Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (IIRH) assessment, for which training will be provided. Duties include following established field protocols to conduct vegetation sampling and field data collection on new and existing monitoring sites within the eastern BLM Northern California District (Cedarville, Alturas, Eagle Lake). Field work will include navigating to sampling sites, establishing sampling transects and plots, collecting vegetation data (including species ID, foliar cover, canopy gap, and herbaceous and woody density), taking photo-points, and quality-checking data. Field data will be used by BLM Natural Resource Specialists to inform management decisions. Field camping will be required.

Click here for more information

Location: Susanville, CA

Resource: NEW COURSE OFFERING:SYSTEMS BIOLOGY (Biology 131AS-01)

Description: This course provides professionals in the environmental field an opportunity to step back from the unbounded complexity of their world and engage with fellow professionals, students, environmentally concerned citizens and the instructor, in acquiring powerful systems tools. These tools are designed to help us perceive hidden connections, interdependencies, and dynamics of complex natural/human systems.

for more information: Contact Fred Roberts, Adjunct Instructor fdroberts@aol.com

Location: Lake Tahoe Community College, CA

Please take a minute to do the 1 minute survey at the bottom of the newsletter, you will be entered for a chance to win your choice of a Alliance mug or Chico bag!

Please donate today to help us help the Sierra.

Events

The California Water Policy conference

"The California Water Policy conference has filled an iconic role in the vast water policy dialog for more than 20 years. It not only features diverse views and voices embedded in the water discussions, it also provides a forum where solutions and actions are identified and partnerships are formed to resolve conflicts and integrate the important services of water supply for urban and agricultural users, and environmental resource management throughout the State."

Date: April 3-4, 2014
Place: Roberts Environment Center (REC) at the Claremont McKenna College, CA
More Information: Click here for more information

Fire Ecosystem Forest Management and Water Yield Symposium

Make a difference in your backyard! Join us at our Volunteer Orientation, and learn how you can be involved in our restoration and stewardship work, event mailings, the Sunflower Garden Project, and other exciting upcoming events. Both new and returning volunteers are invited to attend; light refreshments will be provided.

The success of our work to preserve the Eastern Sierra’s vital lands relies largely on community support and involvement. Volunteers are at the heart of our organization. As ambassadors, they generously donate their time and energy to help build support for land preservation in future generations of Eastern Sierra residents and visitors.

The Volunteer Orientation will cover background on ESLT’s mission and structure, review upcoming volunteer opportunities, and address safety information. To RSVP, or for more details, contact Ali, Education Coordinator and AmeriCorps member at (760) 873-4554 or: Alison@eslt.org

Date:May 2nd, 2014
Place: SFS Wildland Fire Training Center, 3237 Peacekeeper Way McClellan, CA 95652
More Information: Click here for more information

Scoping for Adaptation Webinar

The first step towards implementing any climate assessment or adaptation project is determining project scope. While “climate change” is an extremely broad thing to tackle in a single project, a simple analysis of downscaled climate projections may be too narrow to get the results you have in mind. We recommend scoping a project by first determining what it is you want to understand or achieve. Questions you may want to ask yourself include: Is your project just about climate vulnerability or does it include broader issues of sustainability? Are you trying to build public awareness or create an actionable plan? Do you need to include other stakeholders in the project, and if so, who should participate? After you formulate your project goals, it may be helpful to look for partners who have already undertaken a similar project; building on their experiences, both successful and not-so-successful, can jumpstart your project implementation.

Date: March 26th, 2014
Place: Online from 11-12 PST
More Information: Click here for more information


Comic of the Month



Recent Sierra Photos

common goldeneye

el capitan reflection


Lake Tahoe Long Exposure 3

Newsletter contents prepared by Cody Bear.
If you have articles, events or announcements that you would like included in this newsletter or if you have feedback, please email cody@sierranevadaalliance.org.

Recent News

Sierra News

Why don’t we build the Auburn dam?
The Sacramento Bee, Matt Weiser 03.14.2014

Sierra Link: The Auburn dam would flood the north and middle forks of the American River and store 2.3 million acres of water. The plan for this dam has been thrown around since the 1960's and has been brought up recently as a solution to some of Californias water issues. The cost and earthquake risk will probably prevent the dam from being built. The drought pattern in California is bringing a lot of potential storage projects to Sierra rivers, which may not be the best solution.

Update on the Water Situation
MyFolsom, 03.17.2014

Sierra Link: The pictures of Folsom lake in January were pretty scary. The good news is that the reservoir has doubled it's water since December. For the first time this winter water is entering Folsom at a higher rate than it is leaving. With all that said Folsom and the state would need a significant amount of rain and snow to reach the annual average and even with it the Sierra and the state would remain in a drought.

State News

California drought: Solar desalination plant shows promise
SFgate, Kevin Fagan 03.18.2014

Sierra Link: The solar desalination plant located in the central valley has potential to pump out up to 2 million gallons of purified water a day at a competitive price. As desalination science improves it may slowly become a more sustainable and less destructive option than water storage dams which will no doubt benefit the Sierra and it's rivers.

Californians, In a Departure, Appear Ready to Support Big Water Spending to Respond to Drought
Circle of Blue, Brett Walton 03.18.2014

Sierra Link: The various water bonds have the potential to do a lot for the future of California and the state's ability to adapt to drought. Not all of the proposed billion dollar water bonds would do much for the Sierra and the headwaters. Spreading the word for the Sierra and attempting to get more benefits for the headwaters in the water bond is important, especially if the polls are correct and the water bond passes this November.

National News

Scientists Sound the Alarm on Global Warming, But Americans Sleep In
Time, Bryan Walsh 03.18.2014

Sierra Link: Only 36% of Americans see climate change as a serious threat. This is despite overwhelming evidence that the effects of climate change could be detrimental to millions of people. With the majority of Americans not taking climate change seriously there is little chance of steps being taken to slow, stop, or adapt to climate change. The Sierra could be affected in countless ways by the country ignoring the data on climate change.

Greenland Ice Melt ‘Accelerating,’ Climate Change Awakens ‘Sleeping Giant’
Inernational Business Times, Phillip Ross 03.16.2014

Sierra Link: More data has been crunched and it has shown that Greenland ice sheet is melting even faster than previously thought. Greenland's ice sheet melting could have effects seen all over the world including California.


Sierra Nevada Alliance

P.O. Box 7989
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158

phone: 530. 542. 4546
fax:530. 542. 4570

www.sierranevadaalliance.org

Since 1993 the Sierra Nevada Alliance has been protecting and restoring Sierra lands, water, wildlife and communities. The regional climate change program shapes and implements county and regional resource plans that promote smart land use, incorporate sustainable water management practices, aggressively reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.