NEXT CHAPTER MEETING

Wednesday, March 27, 7:30 pm The speaker will be Frank Havore, director of the Placerita Nature Center near the San Fernando Valley. Mr. Havore was involved in the biological evaluation of the Cabin Bar Ranch for the Anheuser-Busch EIR, and has spent a great deal of time botanizing at the Cabin Bar. He will present a talk titled "Biological Resources of the Cabin Bar Ranch" in which he will discuss the tremendous biological diversity of this region of Inyo County, report on investigations of rare plants on the site, and describe the water-related aspects of the vegetation. The public is invited to hear this interesting and richly illustrated presentation. The place is the Sierra Baptist Church, 346 North Edwards, Independence.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

Six Bristlecone members made their way through a beautiful March rain to attend the spring CLAPS Executive Board and Rare Plant Scientific Advisory Committee meetings in Sacramento. (Two live outside the area.) It was a good representation. A field trip had been planned for Sunday, but the chairman was delighted to have to cancel the trip due to rain and muddy roads. Instead he passed out maps and plant lists of the intended itinerary. Never have people been so delighted to be hampered by bad weather. Yes, the rain was inconvenient, the driving spooky, and some did not make it at all, but for those who did it was a profitable day.

I attended the meeting with the words of an educational TV program ringing in my ears. It was a college credit course in government and stated, among other things, that the best of American democracy takes place on the local level. The CLAPS board meeting seemed to reaffirm that statement. We are intent on making our world a better place, or at least not losing ground by destroying native vegetation. These board meetings are a grass roots source of information on pending legislation, and for promoting action as needed. There I felt democracy at work. We may not always emerge victorious, our victories are not always as complete as we would like them to be, but we have let it be know what we think. In some cases we can try again. On others such as a redwood forest clear-cut, or a meadow paved for a parking lot, the values are lost forever. Then we resolve to work harder in the next issue.

Perhaps one area where we need to work harder to spread the opportunity for participation is encouraging our colleagues to
actively join us. The letter writers are democratic participants as well as are the office holders. We can put them in office too, if we work on it. Of course our field trips are always open to all who are interested, They are good learning experiences as well as special social events. The same might be said for our bimonthly meetings.

. . . . . . . . . Evelyn Mae Nikolaus

ENDANGERED SPECIES

Today, in California there are 281 plants and animal species officially listed as "rare", "threatened" or "endangered". Hundreds more are candidates for listing.
The myriad pressures of modernday California are pushing more and more of our native plant and animal species to the brink of extinction. Tragically, if something is't done soon to ease the destructive pressures many species will disappear forever.
"Line 50" on the California State Tax Form gives us a chance to help turn things around for these endangered plants and animals. Every taxpayer who fills in "Line 50" is contributing to a unique statewide program that provides help to troubled wildlife species. Please help!

Support California's wealth of unique living species.

DESERT BILL NOW S.21

In response to inquiries about the Desert Bill, we give you the following from the March issue of the Sierra Club Yodeler.

"Due to Senator Cranston's illness, Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) introduced the desert bill - now S.21--for him. Since this is Cranston's last term in the senate, there is special urgency to act on the bill so closely associated with him. In addition, Senator Seymour's interest in working with Cranston to pass a desert bill could spur significant progress. Senator Seymour is particularly important since he was just appointed to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has authority over the desert bill."

Seymour has not said what kind of a desert bill he would support--so we need to let him know immediately how we feel about protecting the desert.

1991 BRISTLECONE CHAPTER FIELD TRIPS, SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER SCHEDULE

APRIL 13. OAK CREEK CANYON, WEST OF INDEPENDENCE. Leader: Vince Yoder. This is one of the few canyons on the east side with California black oak. If you are interested in working on the chapter's oak inventory, please attend as this will be an introduction to the aims and methods of the inventory. Please feel free to attend even if you are not interested in working on the inventory. We will see lots of other plants. Meet at 9:00 am, at the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery parking lot. Easy to moderate hiking.

MAY 3. ALABAMA HILLS. Leader: Vince Yoder. Joint trip with the Dorothy King Young CNPS Chapter. We will visit several places to see the diversity of plants in this fine area. Included will be two Owens Valley endemics, Calochortus excavatus, Inyo County star-tulip, and Sidalcea covillei, Inyo County checker bloom. Meet at 9:00 am, about 2 miles west of Lone Pine at the junction of Whitney Portal Road and Movie Road. Easy waking.

MAY 4-5. EUREKA VALLEY. Leader: Mary DeDecker. Joint trip with the Dorothy King Young CNPS Chapter. Over the Inyo Mountains to the Eureka Dunes on Saturday. This is not strictly a 4-WD trip, but if you have a 4-WD high clearance vehicle, bring it for a trip to DeDeckera Canyon on Sunday. Those without 4-WD can share a ride. Primitive, dry camping. Local folks are welcome to make it a day trip. Meet at 9:45 am Saturday morning, in Big Pine at the Triangle Campground, junction of U.S. 395 and Hwy 168. Easy walking.

MAY 18. GILBERT PASS, EASTERN BOUNDARY OF DEEP SPRINGS VALLEY. Leader: Doris Fredendall. There should be orange mariposa lilies, Calochortus kennedyi, and Fishhook cactus, Sderocactus, on our walk in the sagebrush at the pass. We will stop for flowers at several other places on our way from the Owens Valley. Meet at 9:00 am, in Big Pine at the Triangle Campground, junction of U.S. 395 and Hwy 168. If you are late, just go east on 168 to catch up with us. Easy waking.

JUNE 8-9. HUNTER MOUNTAIN. Leaders: Mary and Paul DeDecker. A visit to interesting mid-elevation Mojave Desert habitats. If it is not rainy, a regular car can make it on the gravel road. However, if you have one, bring a 4-WD or high clearance vehicle. Primitive, dry camp Saturday night. Meet at 10:00 Saturday morning, on the Darwin Plateau at the junction of Highway 190 and the road to Saline Valley (about 4 miles east of the turn-off to Darwin). Easy walking.

JUNE 29-30. FISH SLOUGH. Leader: Wayne Ferren. Joint trip with the Channel Islands CNPS Chapter. Wayne is the Herbarium Botanist at UC Santa Barbara and has conducted studies at Fish Slough for several years. The trip will be on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to accomodate the people driving to and from the south. Local people are welcome to make either or both days. Meeting times and place to be announced in the May newsletter.

JULY 13 or 13-14. INYO MOUNTAINS. Leaders: Clem Nelson and Mary DeDecker. This is a combined geology and botany trip led by two of the leading experts on the Inyo Mountains. Clem is a Professor Emeritus of Geology at UCLA and has worked for many years on the geology of the range. Mary has probably the finest collection of Inyo Mountain plants. Look for more information in the May newsletter.

FIELD TRIP POLICIES

Generally, day trips last most of the day while the overnight trips conclude early Sunday afternoon. Bring a lunch and drinks on a day trip. Often we are near the vehicles at lunch, but always be prepared to carry your lunch on a hike. Bring plenty of water or other thirst quenching beverages, a hat, dark glasses, sunscreen, and sturdy walking shoes. Don't forget to bring along field guides and a hand lens!

Family, friends, and visitors are welcome to come along, but please no pets. Unless indicated, the average car should do fine on our trips. Please use a reliable vehicle, with good tires, and start out with a full tank of gas. Trips will LEAVE at the time announced, so please arrive a few minutes early. Car pooling is encouraged. Contact Mark Bagley, field trip chairman at 873-5326, for more information.

Report of CNPS Meeting 30 January 1991

The speaker for this meeting was Geoff Pope, the ranch manager at Deep Springs College. For the past 5 years, Geoff has been managing Deep Springs according the principles of Holistic Resource Management (HRM) as developed by Allan Savory. Geoff described some of these principles during his talk, and reported on the results of such management at Deep Springs.

HRM is based on the recognition of 4 key concepts relating to the interaction of natural systems and management. The first concept is holism. This means that the system to managed must be seen as a single whole. Components of a natural system cannot be isolated and then dealt with separately. Second is the role of time in plant-animal relationships. Overgrazing is caused by plants being exposed not to too many animals, but to any animals for too much time. Third is the difference between brittle and non-brittle environments. In a brittle environment, moisture availability is erratic and unpredictable, and a system needs mechanical assistance to recycle material. In brittle environments, overrest is actually more harmful than overgrazing. Finally, there is the importance of the role of herding animals in a brittle environment. Domestic livestock need to be induced to bunch together to maximize mechanical breakdown of dead plant material.

At Deep Springs, these HRM concepts are implemented in 2 ways. In the summer grazing range in the White Mountains, cattle are rotated for short periods of time between 8 or 10 portions of the allotment. This is accomplished by the continual presense of cowboys who herd and move the cattle, and by portable electric fences to define pasture boundaries. In the Deep Springs Valley itself, 5 pastures have been created through which the cattle are rotated. Different rotation patterns are used during the dormant and the growing seasons, reflecting the different needs of the vegetation during these periods.

Geoff reports that these techniques have resulted in better utilization of forage, better plant production, maintenance of herd productivity even during the drought, and sustainability in the use of his lands. Examination of several exclosures that have been erected in the valley suggest that land experiencing grazing under HRM management support greater regrowth of shrubs and grasses, greater grass seedling density, and reductions in stream cutbanks compared to the ungrazed section.

No single activity suggested by HRM will alone result in greater land and livestock productivity. Geoff emphasized that HRM stresses the importance of the clear setting of management goals, continual planning, on-going monitoring, and the ability to revise your goals and plans whenever the results are undesireable.

In essense, then, HRM requires the manager to pay close attention to the land, and to be continually aware of its response to managment tools. It is a system that assumes - and requires - a high degree of ecological awareness. Cultivation of such awareness, it seems to me, will naturally and inevitably result in more sensitive and sustainable grazing management.

NOTE: Allan Savory will be at Deep Springs College to give a lecture on the evening of Wednesday March 27th, and will spend the day in the field at Deep Springs on Thursday March 28th. Anyone interested in attending either the lecture or the field day should call Geoff Pope at (619) 872-2000 .

. . . . . . Carla Scheidlinger

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

Prepared by KC Wiley, Membership Chairman JANUARY 1991

BRISTLECONE CHAPTER, CNPS

TOTAL MEMBERSHIP: 148*

*(In addition 21 members are due for renewal)

BY GE06RAPHIC LOCATION:

1) LOCAL (Inyo-Mono-Ridgecrest = 629. (DOWN 29.)
2) SOUTHERN CALIFORFNIA = 102 (No change)
3) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA m 12% (UP 2%)
4) OUT-OF-STATE = 15% (No change)
- Nevada = 15% (No change)
- Other states include; Alaska, Arizona, Colorado. Maryland, Missouri. Oregon, Utah & Wisconsin
5) OLIT-OF-COUNTRY = 12 (No change)
- 2 members in Canada

BY MEMBERSHIP BY CATEGORY:

?) INDIVIDUAL =56% (Up 39)
2) FAMILY/COUPLE = 149 (Down I?.)
3) STUDENTS = 3% (Down 41)
4) RETIRED INDIVIDUALS - 11 s (No change)
5) RETIRED COUPLE = 10: (No change)
6) SUPPORTING - 53 ((Up 23*)
7) LIFE _ .5R (No change)
8) LIBRARY = 5R (No change)

NEWSLETTER

I ) Subscriptions = 21 (18 in California)
- Other States Include- Kansas, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.
2) 31 distributed within CNPS (Mostly exchange)
3) 14 distributed to other organizations

CONSERVATION CORNER

Rumor has it that. the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) isa leaning heavily on the Los Angeles Department. of Water and Power (LADWP) to go back to "business as usual" up here in the Owens Valley and pump to the max to help make up for the water shortage in the southland. Right. now the LADWP is not pumping for export, under terms of the proposed water agreement--an anomaly when rationing has been instituted by the LADWP and many other water suppliers down there, We have water u p here and MWD may demand that Los Angeles produce it in substantial quantities, even though Owens Valley is already seriously hurt by the drouth and overpumping in the past.

So here is the big test--will Los Angeles cave in'? Will MWD go to court to force the LADWP to aquiesce? Will Los Angeles resist and fall back upon the agreement with Inyo as an excuse to MWD? If Los Angeles resists pumping Owens Valley I'd say they were establishing further credibility, If they go as a partner to court. with MWD to seek a temporary (?) court-ordered pumping spree, then they can't be trusted and maybe W'9 time to dump the idea of further cooperation with the LADWP.

Watch this space!

. . , . . , . . Vince Yoder

NEW MEMBERS

Join us in welcoming the following new members to our chapter:

John F. Packel, Bishop

Jim Pittman, Bishop

Janet and Don Skirrow, Boise, Idaho

GOLDEN TROUT WORKSHOP

Three one-week workshops will be held in the Sierra from August 4 through August 24, 1991. They are sponsored by members of the Eastern Sierra, Pasadena, San Bernardino, San Fernando Valley, and Santa Barbara chapters of The National Audubon Society. An informal field natural history program, consisting of naturalist-led hikes by redsident naturalists, will be offered, with visiting guest naturalists at some sessions. The camp is located in the Golden Trout Wilderness, in the southern portion of the high Sierra, on the eastern watershed. at an altitude of 10,000 feet. For details, write or call Cindi McKernan, 1230 Friar Lane, Redlands, CA 92373, 714/ 7937897. If you are interest, Reservations should be made as soon as possible.

Beginning in this Issue we will give you changes in nomenclature which have come to our attention from various sources. We will start with ferns, pines, etc, then to the monocots ands dicots. The list Is long, too much for a single issue, so we ask your patience. We can expect more changes when the new Jepson reaches us. This list inclues those shown in the Bristlecone Newsletters, Volume 9, Nos. 1 and 2.

[List not included.]