Sierra Happenings

Events and Activities

2016 Natural Areas Conference!

Register now to join the 2016 Natural Areas Conference October 18-21, 2016. The theme is Climate Change Adaptation and Natural Areas Management: Turning Words to Action. This event will feature strategies and tactics that resource and natural areas managers can employ to prepare for and respond to climate change on the ground.

Date: October 18-21, 2016
Location: UC Davis Conference Center, Davis, CA

View the complete conference schedule here.
For pricing or more information, please click here!

21st Annual Truckee River Day!

Join the Truckee River Watershed Council for a day of river, meadow and wetland restoration. Volunteers will spend the day working on fun restoration projects near streams and meadows.

Date: - October 16, 2016
Location: Various spots on the Truckee River
Details: Projects start at either 9:00 a.m. or 11:00am and end between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. Through the registration process, you will select your project preference and group status.

Registration is required and is now open.
Click HERE to register.
Each volunteer must register individually.
For more information, click here.

2016 Alpine Aspen Festival!

The 3rd Annual Alpine Aspen Festival will be held in scenic Alpine County, home to beautiful groves of aspen trees and the water sources providing for 5.3 million people in California and Nevada. Two local, nonprofit organizations, the Alpine Watershed Group and Friends of Hope Valley, host the event to celebrate Alpine County’s beautiful fall colors, natural environment, and dynamic history. Space is limited, reserve your spot today!

Date: October 8th and 9th, 2016
Location: Hope Valley, Alpine County, California

Visit the festival website for more details and to sign up for an activity. All proceeds from the festival benefit the Alpine Watershed Group, a 501(c)(3) NPO.

Webinar: Climate Change Trends, Impacts, Vulnerabilities, and Carbon in U.S. National Parks!

The U.S. National Park Service has begun to integrate climate change science into resource management. Published field research from national parks has contributed to the detection of historical physical and ecological changes and attribution of the cause of those changes to human climate change. Spatial analyses of climate and resources project potential future vulnerabilities to climate change. Research has also quantified ecosystem carbon and changes.

Date: October 6, 2016 10-11am
Presenter: Patrick Gonzalez, Ph.D., Principal Climate Change Scientist, U.S. National Park Service

Please register for the webinar here!

ARCCA Webinar: Overview of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Climate and Health Assessment!

This webinar will discuss the findings of the USGCRP’s scientific assessment on the impacts of climate change on human health in the United States. This report was developed over the course of three years by over 100 experts from across 8 federal agencies, and represents a significant improvement in scientific confidence in the link between climate change and a broad range of threats to public health.

Date: Tue, Sep 27, 1-2pm PDT

Please read more and register here!

Job Announcements & Volunteer Opportunities

Operations Coordinator: Environmental Incentives!

Environmental Incentives is seeking an Operations Coordinator to join their South Lake Tahoe headquarters, and support human resources management, office administration, and company operations.

Full description here!

Call For Abstracts: Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale!

Upcoming 14th annual Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale on April 22-23, 2017. The world’s largest and leading global health conference as well as the largest social entrepreneurship conference.
Abstracts are currently being accepted for research presentations, program presentations, and for the social impact pitch presentations, including submissions for the $10,000 and $5,000 GHIC Innovation Prize. The first abstract deadline is August 31. For those submitting a research or program abstract, September 30 is the final deadline.

For more information, please click here!

5 year postdoc in Geopolitics of Wildlife Conservation, WildCRU, Oxford Uniiversity!

Remarkable opportunity to join Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) for 5-years on the The Kadas Family Foundation Senior Research Fellowship in the Geopolitics of Wildlife Conservation, (to be held at Worcester College Oxford). The successful applicant, who it is anticipated may have a background in environmental economics, political science, international relations, development, or indeed conservation biology, will join WildCRU’s team developing innovative inter-disciplinary research at the interface of these topics.

For more information, please click here!

NASA DEVELOP Program!

NASA DEVELOP Program for current students, recent college graduates, and career transitioning professionals, including veterans of the Armed Forces. This is a great opportunity for individuals who are interested in practical applications of remote sensing and GIS, specifically in the field of Earth Science.


The spring 2017 online application is open from August 29 – October 7, 2016.
Both paid and volunteer positions are offered.
Details about the internship and how to apply can be found here

Resources

Help the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the Environment, and Yourself!

Have you ever wanted to switch to clean energy? Find out how from our clean energy concierge partner, MyDomino. MyDomino is offering Alliance supporters a free 1-month membership ($99 value), during which time they’ll help you figure out how to switch to clean energy. There is no commitment required to redeem your free membership, and as an added bonus, MyDomino will make a donation to the Alliance every time one of our supporters contacts them! Use our Partner Code “ALLIANCE” at www.MyDomino.comto redeem the offer and make the donation. It has never been easier to donate to the Alliance and work toward environmental conservation at the same time!!

Environmental Solutions for Communities Grant Program 2016 Request for Proposals

Wells Fargo and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) seek to promote sustainable communities through Environmental Solutions for Communities by supporting highly-visible projects that link economic development and community well-being to the stewardship and health of the environment. Approximately $2,460,000 is available nationwide for 2016 projects. Full Proposal Due Date: December 10, 2015

For more information, click here!

Sierra CAMP's Policy Recommendations for the 2017 Update of Safeguarding CA: Reducing Climate Risk!

This document is a culmination of Sierra CAMP's work studying the climate change impacts in our region and analyzing the opportunities for climate mitigation and adaptation. Sierra CAMP is also developing a series of blog posts to focus on key topic areas. Take a look at their posts on Integrated Watershed Management and Forest Restoration. Stay tuned for Regional Economic Development, Preparedness and Public Health, and Structural Recommendations.

Read on here!

2017 Wilburforce Fellowship in Conservation Science!

Wilburforce Foundation, in partnership with COMPASS, is now accepting applications for the 2017 Wilburforce Fellowship in Conservation Science. The Fellowship is a year-long program providing leadership and science communication training, along with coaching and support, to conservation scientists from a wide range of affiliations, career stages, and disciplines.

For more information, click here!

Fire-related Funding Opportunity Notices (FONs)!

There are several open Funding Opportunities related to forest and fire management science.

Please click here to review them!

The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation!

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural, and performing arts programs; schools, hospitals, educational and skills training programs, programs for youth, seniors, and the handicapped; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and their programs. Grants are considered for IRS-qualified non-profit organizations located within the United States, and typically range from $1,000 to $20,000.

Please click here for more information!

State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB): Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPS) Control Program!

The NPS Program administers grant money it receives from United States Environmental Protection Agency through Section 319(h) of the Federal Clean Water Act and from the state Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund. These grant funds can be used to implement projects or programs that will help to reduce NPS pollution.

Please click here for more information!

Legislative Update from the Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation!

The following ARCCA-Tracked Bills have Passed:

• AB 1550: Greenhouse gases: investment plan: disadvantaged communities (Gomez)
• AB 2139: Ocean Protection Council: ocean acidification and hypoxia (Williams)
• AB 2480: Source Watersheds: Financing (Bloom)
• AB 2722: Transformative Climate Communities Program (Burke)
• AB 2800: Climate change: infrastructure planning (Quirk)
• SB 32: California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: emissions limit (Pavley)
• SB 1000: Land use: general plans: environmental justice (Leyva)
• SB 1363: Ocean Protection Council: Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program (Monning)
• SB 1383: Short-lived climate pollutants (Lara)
• SB 1385: Resource conservation: working and natural lands (Wolk)

For bill descriptions, click here!

Highlights

US Senate Approves $415 Million Lake Tahoe Bill!

President Barack Obama speaks during the 20th annual Lake Tahoe Summit in Stateline, NV.
File care of Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

Congress is moving closer to spending hundreds of millions of dollars to further restore and protect Lake Tahoe, just two weeks after President Obama made his first visit and delivered an impassioned plea about the inseparable link between its economy and environment. With a 95-3 vote Thursday, the Senate approved a measure that calls for spending $10 billion on water quality projects nationwide over the next decade, including $415 million for the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. The measure now goes to the House.

"This legislation is critical to continue our progress in restoring and conserving Lake Tahoe's environment for future generations," said Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which oversees the lake that straddles the Nevada-California line atop the Sierra Nevada.

Since President Clinton signed the initial act into law in 2000, nearly $2 billion has been spent on projects at the lake by private entities along with the federal, state and local governments. The measure, which expired in 2009, authorized $300 million in federal money. Clinton attended the first Tahoe Summit at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 1997. Obama accepted a similar invitation to speak at the 20th annual summit on Aug. 31.

"The beauty of Lake Tahoe is unparalleled," Reid said. "We must do everything we can to keep it that way."

The bill before Congress includes money for projects to improve water quality, reduce wildfire threats, combat aquatic invasive species and build new public transit systems featuring ecologically friendly roads. Obama said in his address that tourist-based economies like the one at Tahoe "live or die by the health of the environment." The bipartisan cooperation at the lake is evidence "there's no contradiction between being smart on the environment and having a strong economy," he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., praised efforts by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., to gather Republican support for the bill. Feinstein said she's most impressed by the more than $330 million the private sector has contributed to the effort that has restored 1,500 streamside zones and added 2,700 linear feet of shoreline to public access areas. She noted, however, that experts recently warned Tahoe is warming faster than any large lake in the world due to climate change.

This red flag reminds us why additional funding is vital to preserve the pristine nature of Lake Tahoe," she said. Underwater visibility stretched to a depth of 105 feet in 1968 when scientists first measured it by lowering a white, dinner-plate-sized disk into the water until it disappeared. Clarity worsened by 30 percent over the next three decades — about a foot a year — falling to a record-poor 64 feet in 1997.

Since then, the loss of clarity has slowed, registering 73 feet last year. The long-term goal is to get back to 100 feet, with a short-term goal of 78 feet by 2026, sustained for five years. Feinstein, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Heller, former chairman of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, have been visiting the lake since they were children.

"With five generations of Hellers enjoying the Lake Tahoe Basin, this bill hits close to home for me," Heller said.



This story printed care of the Associated Press and Sacramento Bee.
Read the original story here.

SNA Member Group Directory

Attendees to the 2016 Conference witnessed SNA's reveal of an Interactive Member Group Directory. With your input, the Sierra Nevada Alliance looks forward to developing this GIS-based tool into a virtual tour of the Sierra Nevada, presenting goals and triumphs of each and every member group!

Please help us tell your organization's story:
Please complete our online survey.
Next, please email Kate Gladstein your organization's major goals and triumphs, along with photos and videos of your work in action!

2016 SNA Conference Speaker Presentations Available!

Attendees to the 2016 Conference enjoyed some incredible presentations - in addition to two keynote speakers, there were panel discussions on the state of the Sierra, water, wildlife, forestry, climate change, and many more issues.

Select speaker presentation slides from the August 25-27, 2016 Sierra Nevada Alliance Conference are now available.
Please click here to review!






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please click here to contribute to our funding.

The policy of the Resource is to include articles that appear in local or major media outlets relevant to Sierra conservation. We also include news releases, event notices, funding opportunities and job announcements sent to us from our Member Groups and friends. If you as a reader disagree with the content of a submission we encourage you to submit a letter to the editor of the issuing publication to reach the broader audience who read the article. You are welcome to forward your letter to the editor to the Alliance for inclusion in our new "Letters to the Resource" section. We also invite Letters to the Resource to be directly submitted on any article with which you're concerned.

Newsletter contents prepared by Kate Gladstein.
If you have articles, events or announcements that you would like included in this newsletter or if you have feedback,
please email Kate!.

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