Nearly five years of intensive wilderness activism by Sierra Club and other wilderness volunteers came to a major milestone on May 11 when California Sen. Barbara Boxer announced her plans to introduce the California Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2002. This new bill includes 2.5 million acres of new wilderness, over 400 new wild and scenic river miles, a Sacramento River National Conservation Area, and even potential wilderness areas to be restored.

Accompanying Senator Boxer before a crowd of more than 200 people overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay were Rep. Hilda Solis of Los Angeles, who will introduce a southern California companion bill to Boxerπs, as well as Rep. Lois Capps, wilderness supporter representing the Santa Barbara area, a surprise participant who happened to be in the area for a family gathering. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents the northern coastal region, will introduce the northern California House companion to the Boxer bill.

Senator Boxer emphasized the enormous support her bill has received around the state. Dramatically she unrolled a 20-foot long scroll listing the organizations and elected officials who have expressed their support. And she noted how modest this bill is, honed to about a third of Californiaπs potential 7 million acres and thousands of wild river miles.

Around the state about 20 other media events and celebrations were held on the 11th, gaining great media coverage in major TV, radio and newspaper outlets and giving a boost to activists around the state who worked hard to achieve local support. These events culminated three years of inventorying and two years of organizing efforts in every region of the state.

Among those speaking for wilderness protection in various locations were an eastern Sierra rancher, a Lake County Supervisor, the San Diego mayor, a California board member of the National Hispanic Environmental Council, anglers, business owners, and others emphasizing the broad support that wildlands preservation enjoys among California's diverse population.

Senator Boxerπs new bill will be the 19th successive wilderness bill for California. Past wilderness bills, starting with the original 1964 Wilderness Act, have achieved a total of 14 million acres of designated wilderness in the state, nearly 14 percent of the stateπs total area. Early bills often protected high alpine areas of great scenic splendor. The current campaign focuses also on lower-elevation areas that tend to be more highly productive as wildlife habitat and reservoirs of biological diversity. As such, these lower-level areas are frequently more at risk from resource exploitationãas well as more accessible to degradation from such threats as off-road vehicle abuses. These are the areas that need protection the most!

California Chapter activists from every corner of the state have been a key element of the grassroots supporters who helped us arrive at this important achievement in the campaign. As it has grown, this statewide movement has developed strong ties in local communities, while also reaching out broadly to the stateπs political and business leaders. The volunteers have been the essence of this campaign. Many were new recruits to the wilderness and rivers movement. Together they are forming a whole new generation of hard-working, successful activists in California!

Now this campaign moves into the Congressional arena, with first, a drive to seek Senator Feinsteinπs support. as co-sponsor of the Bill. The campaign will increase media work and defense of every area within the legislation, while continuing public outreach and education on the values of protecting these areas for future generations.

ACTION ITEMS

1. National Monument lands are under threat again! A bill in the House would weaken a key conservation tool for protection which could end up exposing our National Monument lands to oil and gas exploration, mining, and unregulated off-road vehicle use. Oppose Bill 2114 asap.

2. All Calif. House Reps - ask them to support The National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act (p. 2.) (see above).

3. Feinstein - ask her to cosponsor Wilderness Bill.

4. OHV - Algodones Dunes (BLM) Oceano Dunes (State Parks & Davis), Write Letters to the Editors, indicated gov officials (p. 3.) All pertinent addresses? See p. 8.

PROPOSED WILDERNESS AREAS IN KERN/KAWEAH region INCLUDED IN BOXER BILL

*1,280 acre addition to the Golden Trout Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest. This area extends from the North Fork of the Kern River eastward to the Kern Plateau including the entire watershed of Durwood Creek and most of the Rattlesnake Creek watershed.

*11,200 acre addition to the Domelands Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest. This includes the area around Siretta Peak, the watersheds Little Trout and Snow Creeks and most of the watershed of Machine Creek.

*48,000 acre addition to the Bright Star Wilderness, mostly in Sequoia National Forest, but also including some Bureau of Land Management areas. This proposed Wilderness is in the Piute Mountains south of Lake Isabella.

*In Sequoia National Park 68,480 acres would be added to existing National Park Wilderness in the Mineral King area and the Hockett Plateau.

*Mt. Pinos Ranger Dist, Los Padres NF. Antimony, Emigdio, Pleito plus. I-5 to west of Pine Mtn. Club.

*The Lower Kern River would be added to the Wild River System. This designation would include just under 30 miles of the river between Isabella Dam and the mouth of Kern Canyon just east of Bakersfield.

NATIONAL FOREST ROADLESS AREA CONSERVATION ACT

Ask friends, relatives to write too!

Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) have been gathering support in Congress for a bill to protect some of Americaπs last wild forests. The result is The National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. It is bipartisan legislation that would protect nearly 60 million acres of pristine National Forest lands from most logging and roadbuilding.

This proposed legislation would codify the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, one of the most sweeping land conservation measures in a generation. The rule was approved following years of scientific study and more than 600 public meetings across the country. To date the Forest Service has received more than 2.2 million comments favoring roadless protection. This outpouring of public response is almost ten times greater than that for any other rule in history. Despite the earlier overwhelming public support for protecting Americaπs wild forests, the Bush Administration has been moving toward logging in the last wild areas of our National Forestsãincluding Alaskaπs Tongass Rainforest.

This congressional legislation has now been introduced to effect the type of protection that will not be able to be changed by the whim and fancy of any administration.
The uproar from many individual citizens who have been complaining loud and clear about what has been happening in our national forests was the force that produced this effort. That uproar must continue even louder and clearer than before so that the bill can be introduced, passed and so that even Bush will realize the political implications if he doesn't sign it. Writeãwrite right now and write again and again to all our Congresspersons.

PS. Additionally the administration appears to have been using money in the name of fire prevention in the forests to support timber industries demands for more logging permits.

CHAPTER HOT-LINE FLOURISHES.
SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA HAS ITS OWN ALERT SYSTEM.

The first half of the good news is that the Kern Kaweah chapter now has nearly 60 people on its local hotline and the response to alerts has been great. How do we know? Several folks have been so grateful to have the opportunity to easily have their opinions expressed that they have sent notes back to our efficient hot-line editor, Art Unger, thanking him personally for the information sent out.

The local Chapter hot-line will continue to emphasize valley and very local concerns: air quality, dairy proliferation, sprawl, energy and water. You will be receiving information with requests for your participation on various levels, everything from returning postcards, writing letters, to attending meetings and making telephone calls.

The second half of the good news: State of California has its very own action network. Just by simply signing up (details below) you will be getting environmental news directly and specificially related to our state and will have opportunities to express your opinions about environmental concerns and pending legislation to our state legislators easily and quickly.

This arrangment has been long overdue and in the first three weeks, 700 people signed up. When an alert was sent out on the network concerning the Salton Sea, the response of over a thousand faxes bogged down the machines in Sacramento and an urgent e-mail was sent out to stop faxing and to telephone instead. You can be sure that all this activity got the attention of many people in Sacramento! We urge you all to sign up for this network also.

Why be served by two action networks, local and state? The state list is not going to send you a note about such things as local supervisorsπ meetings or land planning meetings dealing with requests for constructing buildings. However, your Chapter list will do just that. The state list will deal with statewide environmental legislation that demands a response from citizens all over California.

In both arenas, local and state, your responses will count, particularly when joined by others. That is citizen power easily come by. We urge all of you who are on e-mail to participate.

Postscript: Do remember, you aren't expected to react to everything, and do remember, the delete key works beautifully. Also, if you would like to have information sent out to you only on some specific topics, you can arrange for that. Finally, if you find your circumstances dictate that you should remove yourself entirely from a list, that too can easily be done without thought of shame or recrimination.

Please try these systems, because citizen voices do have an effect on our legislators and other governmental officials actions. Get into the fray and sign up now.

Registration Details:

*Local hot line. Just make a request via e-mail to Art Unger, list master, at alunger@juno.com

*California State Activists Line: Go to Sierra Club Home Page, then move to California in choose a place option, and there you will find California Activist information in lower left hand corner.

CONTINUED ISSUES of CONCERN

Updates (as of June 14) to keep you informed.

Air Pollution: California needs to get in line with feds. According to the LA Times, ≥In 1976 the California state legislature passed a bill exempting agriculture from the federal requirement of securing permits before operating or expanding.≤ That exemption has now been invalidated in a settlement between EPA and the challenging environmental groups, including our Chapter.

California now has six months to begin to enforce new rules that will require ag business to get permits for operating machines that give off more than 25 tons per year of materials that ultimately produce smog and particulates. In order to avoid having to go through the trouble of getting permits, it is hoped that ag operators will tighten up on the amount of pollutants coming from their machines, helping clean up the air. It is expected that California will eventually invalidate the 1976 bill.

Dairies: The efforts of the Chapter continue to emphasize the need of a programatic EIR that would cover all of Kern County. The latest dairy application, Vanderham dairy, would be ten times larger than dairies of a generation ago but ten times smaller than the present Borbas dairy proposals, an example of the increase in size which dairies are requesting. What needs to be known is the impact of all cows in the the present dairies and what would be considered a reasonable amount of cows in new dairies to be permitted. A programatic EIR could provide that information.

Forests: Sequoia Monument. The Tulare County Board of Supervisors lawsuit against the new Giant Sequoia National Monument is not yet over. The BOS and Terra Bella Mill appealed the District Court ruling that held their objections lacked credibility and upheld the proclamation of the Monument. The Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the Natural Resources Defense Council as well as Californiaπs Attorney General Bill Lockyer have intervened on behalf of the Monument in the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, the Forest Service plans to release a draft Management Plan this summer that from all current indications will have few alternatives that we can support. Sequoia continues implementing actions that have not gone through the NEPA process. For the latest, check out http://california.sierraclub.org/sequoia/

State, Private Forest Lands. Destructive logging practices are taking an enormous toll on our state-regulated forests. The plans of one industrial timber company to clearcut over 1 million acres of Sierra Nevada forests foreshadow further damage. Davis appointments to State Forestry Board are still more negative forces to contend with. Check out Clean Water, Healthy Forests Ca,mpaign on SC Home Page.

OHV concerns:

The Coastal Commission decided to initiate no changes at Oceano Dunes State Recreational Vehicle Park, continuing to allow offroad vehicles to run over nesting sites of plovers. An Endangered Species Act lawsuit has been filed. Pre-hearing settlement conferences with State Parks and a federal judge have been held and there has been great progress during these talks. State Parks is aware that it would be likely that an injunction from the federal court (a decision maker not influenced by Governor Davis and the off-road lobby) could be obtained.

The Bush administration has issued a draft plan to re-open Californiaπs Algodones Sand Dunes to off-road vehicles despite the harm they cause to imperiled species, clean air, and human safety. The new proposal would almost completely remove these protections, re-opening all 50,000 protected acres.

Support for permanent closure of this dunes refuge acreage to off-road vehicles is urged. The Sierra Club Desert committee supports the compromise plan that is working on the ground now. It is both reasonable and balanced, leaving roughly half of the dunes open for OHV recreation, while preserving habitat and welcoming low impact recreational uses on the other half.

A scary item in the June 5, LA Times: To quote sub headline: ≥A new breed of bikers is tearing up the roads on machines that easily top 100 mphãand leave police in the dust≤ãand they are riding on trails in the Santa Monica Mountains as well as in areas down to San Diego.

USFS: Los Padres gas &oil drilling and four forest management plan: Scheduled for release this fall.

SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA has SUCCESSFUL MEETING IN SLO.

Sierra Club California. What is it? Each of the 200,000 California members of the Sierra Club belongs to one of thirteen chapters. Our Kern Kaweah Chapter has 1,600 members. Sierra Club California is the administrative entity for these thirteen chapters. This is the elected entity that sponsored the meeting described below. Attending were Lorraine & Art Unger, C Arthur and MA Lockhart. Lorraine Unger represents our Chapter on the Board of Directors of this group.

Concerns regarding development in the state were discussed in a workshop preceding the general meeting. These goals representing short-term and long-term views were agreed upon:

1. Support for Urban Growth Boundaries defined by state.

2. Support for infill in present urban areas.

3. Support for developing liveable cities.

Some interesting points of discussion included the following:

*the role the present tax distribution system plays in supporting sprawl (money for cities comes mainly from sales taxes, sales taxes are distributed in proportion to sales taxes collected in an area; in order to increase sales tax income, an area must increase sale outlets. Result; support for more malls, etc. where sales taxes are generated).

*the need to explore regional configurations that would lead to further development of already established urban centers by sharing tax income with rural areas. This could provide open space for both urban and rural dwellers.

*The need for state regulation. A city establishes urban growth boundaries. To escape the limitations set, business moves out beyond the boundaries. Object of boundaries is nullified but rather works to increase sprawl.

*The need to insure that infrastructure (water, sewers, school lots, etc.) for any development is there before approval for construction.is given.

The regular session was outstanding, First, a presentation by Bill Allayud, our state director of lobbying, who gave updates on the present status of the Fran Pavelyπs global warming bill (control car emissionsãSC supports) and Sheila Kuehlπs Salton Sea bill (needs much adjusting as it threatens to weaken the California endangered species bill). The new California Alerts system was announced, already 700 strong (see article, p. 2).

Four presentations followed (MCed masterfully by Lorraine Unger, our rep on Sierra Club Calif.), emphasizing explanations of the inner workings of campaigns to carry out objectives of the Sierra Club.

The Great Coastal Places campaign centered on getting persons to attend the Coastal Commission meetings. This assured at least minimum (and free) coverage in the media. Increased (again free) coverage, including local TV outlets, occurred when attendance was increased by getting one agenda item at each meeting (by request of campaign members) to be devoted to lobbying for a local great place.

The Commission members were at first pleased with the attention of the public. However, as the Commission members and the general public both become more informed about decisions made, unpopular as well as popular, public scrutiny and pressure increased, obviously not always well received.

The Healthy Forests, Clean Water campaign is focused on state lands, public and private, which are being truly harmed by lack of regulation as well as by a state forestry board which more than tilts toward private industry.

Goals of this campaign are to educate the public on the role healthy watersheds play in protecting the quality and quantity of our water supply, hopefully leading ultimately to more corrective legislation for forest protection.

Open Space initiative in Alameda Countyπs campaign centered arouind good polling (gave clues to campaign staff as to the wording and distribution of hand-outs aimed at specific groups), fund-raising and good endorsements (get many as possible), all considered essential for passage .

The Border Campaign deals with the environmental justice and physical effects that the establishment of the border wall along the US-Mexican border has had. A wide swath of US land along the wall looks like a scorched earth policy was applied. On the far side are Mexican villages that are now inundated not only with dust but with light from lamps that shine all night long placed along the fence. The visits to the Mexican and American sides of this barrier have been eye-openers for the committee members. points of view of the committee.

Make plans to attend this excellent meeting next June!

KERN KAWEAH CHAPTER BANQUET DELIGHTS ALL

Saturday, April 20, marked the annual banquet for the Chapter. Held at the East Bakersfield Veterans Hall, over 115 members attended. Members looked at displays from different organizations, from the Kern Parkway Committee to the BLM. They met old and new friends during the social hour. Conservation issues were the highlight, with people signing petitions, viewing wildlife and recreational displays and writing postcards to protect the Oceano Dunes.

The program portion of the evening started with a welcome from Chapter Chair Paul Gipe, introduction of board members, and then the announcement of award winners. Harold Wood, 2001 recipient of the Sierra Cup Award, announced that Mary Ann Lockhart was this yearπs winner for her work on issues in the Los Padres Forest and excellent work on the Roadrunner. A large segment of people from the Condor Group gave her a standing ovation. Ann Williams announced that Michele Hoffman was the winner of the Ruth Allen-Susan Miller Award for her many years as banquet organizer and coordinator of Roadrunner distribution. The last award, Long Trail Award, was proudly granted to Monty Harper for his tireless work on behalf of the Club and Chapter for over the past 30 years. Mel Rubin, a good friend, gave a short history of Montyπs accomplishments.

The evening concluded on a musical note from Bill Oliver. With harmonica and guitar, he sang original compositions on David Brower and the whimsical events in traveling in a RV. His style and lyrics brought back memories of the work of John Denver, Bob Dylan, and the Kingston Trio. Toe tapping, hand clapping, and even sing-a-long dominated his performance.

It was an evening of praising the dedication of others to the environment and making merry with song. By Harry Love

MIDGEBUZZINGS

One of our favorite backpacking destinations was Big Whitney Meadow in the eastern Sierra, a vast flowered space which we had mostly to ourselves for fishing, dreaming, or just wandering beside the banks of a gentle stream that eventually becomes the Kern River.

The hike started at nine thousand feet along a hot, sandy trail of the kind we labor on looking forward to firmer ground with more shade and more green. But there was one unfailing enchantment in that place: a mystery of song. I never saw the singers, but I always assumed that there were two birds, hidden somewhere in the nearby woods, calling and answering one another with voices like flutes. After the backpacking days, when I began learning avian calls and songs, I discovered Iπd been hearing a single bird, the hermit thrush. The first sound of it on tape was a pleasant shock, as it still is, and brought to mind the experience of Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poet from another country where, even as here: ≥... thrush through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring the ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing.≤

Happily such pleasures remain as long as we can hike a few miles into the woods, as I did with a friend this spring, thanks to a new and sporty brace that keeps my trick knee in alignment and makes me feel more like an athlete than an old lady. If you havenπt been on the Ladybug Trail along the Kaweah River in the spring, let me encourage you to go. It is, just as a friend told me, ≥heaven on earth.≤ Even on a Sunday in mid-May, once weπd left the trailhead and crossed the river over a sturdy wooden bridge, there were very few people, and flowers were everywhere. I havenπt seen a display of poppies like that since the last great burst of color on the Carrizo Plain years ago, and there were abundances of others: lupine, owlπs clover, California pinks, Fremontia, Chinese houses, Ithurielπs spear and Mariposa lilies, among those we were sure of.

The trail ascends gradually for three miles through a variety of zones. We walked in the shade of oaks, evergreens and bays, by open hillsides heavy with wild grains and grasses, and finally to a stand of five or six Giant Sequoias rising from an unlikely rooting in a small ravine. It is thought that these redwoods were carried down as cones ages ago in an enormous landslide from the high mountains that tower in the distance and are always present in the hikerπs awareness.

Wonderful also were sounds. The Kaweah River, though gorgeous in its thunderous and unrestrained fall of wild water even in this dry year, was for the most part far from the trail. While its voice stayed with us, it was muted, leaving the space around us open to other cadences. Birds were shy, but plentiful and singing all the way. And I canπt remember the last time I so enjoyed the sweet music of grass moving in wind, by itself enough to go back for.

As it happened, there was a mysterious call on this walk, tooãfirst from a distance above the trail, and then below us. It was a single note at intervals of several seconds, soft, plaintive, and lonely, beautiful in effect if not in song. I will be listening for it from now on, not because it is important to know the callerπs name, but because experience reopens on the strength of memory, and sound is a key.

By Ann Williams

Buena Vista Group

Meets at Bakersfield, Beale Library

For further information call

Elaine White, Chair, 661.833.3795

You will see volunteers on the road once every four months. Armed with picks and BIG bags, they are collecting trash from a section of the highway between Taft and Bakersfield. Call Elaine to find out the next exact date and join them. Find out what it is like to feel the whip of traffic and the hot sun on your backsãand take time to admire the sign that says Sierra Club is responsible for caring for this section of the highway.

Condor Group

Meets at Pine Mountain Club

For further information call Ches Arthur, Chair, 661.242.0423. email: ches@frazmtn.com

Hoping to further the education of visitors to the Mt Pinos District of Los Padres, some local group members are going to design and man for the summer a temporary visitorπs center at the Apache Saddle Station, located west of PMC, on the week-end. Fire crews are now stationed at this site, which makes it possible for volunteers to offer these services. The Forest Service has been more than helpful in this endeavor. No one knows how this will work out but everyone concerned thinks it is worth a good try.

Mineral King Group

Meets in Visalia

For further information call Harold Wood, Chair.

559.739.8527 email: harold.wood@sierraclub.org

Group Ex Com meets 4th Monday monthly. All SC members welcome. Call 559.739.8527 to attend.

Check Mineral King Group Website for updates and send in your address for regular updates:

Kaweah Group

Meets in Porterville. Interested in hikes? Other activities? Call Theresa Stump, Chair. 559.781.0594

A fine group of twenty or so people came out to hear Carla Cloer speak about trails in the Sequoia Monument. 11 ventured out to take the follow-up hike which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The Kaweah Group in the Porterville-Lindsay Area NEEDS YOU in order to help continue the fine programs described above. Lots of jobs and offices both big and small are waiting to be filled by willing volunteers. No pay, but lots of fun, gratitude and satisfaction for helping to make the world a better place. Contact Theresa at 559.781.0594.

Owens Peak Group

Meets in Ridgecrest

For further information call Dennis Burge, Chair 760.375.7967 email: dennis93555@yahooo.com

We had a great May program from Supervising Ranger Mark Faull of Red Rock Canyon & Tomo Kahni State Parks. He had great slides that really show so much more of Red Rock than the casual visitor might be aware of. Tomo Kahni is a new State Park near Tehachapi that preserves a Native American site.

General meetings will begin again in the fall.

BLM Schedules Public Meetings Re: OHV Trails

Five public scoping meetings scheduled to gather public comments on the preparation of draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and proposed amendment to the 1980 California Desert Conservation Area Plan that will establish or revise off-highway vehicle route designation for Surprise Canyon, located in the Panamint Mountains in Inyo County. Contact: Doran Sanchez 909.697.5220, dasanche@ca.blm.gov or alunger.juno.com.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

What? Californians want more oil drilling on their coast?!!!!. That's the latest according to Gayle Norton!. (One wonders what papers she reads! Editions from 19O2??). Let her know the truth and tell her if the Federal Government is going to buy back oil drilling leases off the Florida Coast they should buy back our California off-shore drilling leases too! Write now! (address below) Isn't it unfortunate we don't have Bush relatives in high places in our state?

SEN DIANE FEINSTEIN NEEDS TO HEAR FROM ALL OF US.

Please write a letter as soon as possible to Sen Feinstein urging her to become a co-sponsor of Sen Barbara Boxerπs Wilderness Bill. She surely is hearing from the opposition and she must hear from us too.

Remind her that the watersheds of wilderness help protect our water quality and quantity, and wilderness areas attract tourists and therefore $$$ from all over the world.

SPECIAL. SC's Summer 2002 Programs at LeConte Memorial Lodge, Yosemite National Park. Free programs on natural history, outdoor adventure and conservation issues presented several evenings each week, 8 PM, special outdoor discovery programs for children and families. Special WILDERNESS QUILT PROGRAM, workshops on keeping a Nature Journal.

Hours: Wed-Sun, 10 a.m.. to 4 p.m.,

May-Sept. Schedule: : http://www.sierraclub.org/education/leconte/programs.asp

Yes, I want to join the Sierra Club. Check enclosed.

Name.......................................................................City.....................................State.............. Zip.........

Check one:

Introductory $25........

Regular $39....... Joint $47.........

Any of the following $24:

Senior..... Student....... Limited Income.........

F94QW 0600-1

Send to Sierra Club, P O Box 52968, Boulder, CO, 80322

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENTS
IN THE GREAT OUT-OF-DOORS

July-August Calendar

EVERYONE IS WELCOME, Sierra Club members and non-members, to join in any of the outdoor activities listed .

Thursdays 7 PM. Conditioning Hikes. 4-5 miles. Corner of Highways 178 & 184. Call 661.872.2432. or 861.1186. Bakersfield (KK Chpt.)

Friday Evening Strolls. Meet at 6 PM, PMC parking lot. 1 to 2 hours. Relaxed walk in local areas. Call 661.242.0432 for info. (Condor Gp)

Birding trips in local mountains of Frazier Park/ Pine Mountain Club area. Third Saturday AM. Details: call 661.242.2137. (Condor Gp.)

July 2nd. (tues) Solar Energy. Buena Vista Group. 7 PM Tejon Room, Beale Library, Bksf.

July 13 (sat) Bench Lake Loop (west out of Onion Valley, 10880+ ft, 2100 ft gain, 5.2 mi RT) Tour the lovely little-visited lakes of Onion Valley. Moderate hike. Meet 7:00 AM Ridgecrest Cinema parking lot. Call 760.375.7967 or 760.375-8161 for more info. (Owens Pk Gp)

July 15th (sun) Southern Sectional Meeting of RCC (regional conservation committee) at Sierra Club Los Angeles headquarters, 9 AM. A good place to learn about state-wide conservation activities. Call 242. 0432 for more info.

July 19-21, 2002 (fri-sun) Annual Sequoia Camp-Out at Quaking Aspen Campground. Sponsored by Angeles Chapterãcontact Bonnie Strand, e-mail: nelsdotter@aol.com (Mineral King)

July 25th (thur) Reptiles. Excursion. Hungry Valley. Meet 8:15 AM, PMC. Adults, and children under 18 accompanied by adults, are welcome. Details? 242.0432. (Condor Gp)

July 27 (sat) Annual Peak to Peak Hike. (Cerro Noroeste to Mt. Pinos). About 6 1/2 miles in length, strenuous parts. Bring lunch, water. 8 AM, tennis courts, PMC. Call 242.1076. (Condor Gp)

Aug 3 (sat) Visit Wind Wolves. Pics and talk presented by Clendenens. Potluck, 6 PM. Program, 7 PM. Pool Pavilion Room, PMC (Condor Gp)

Aug 6th (tues) San Joaquin Kit Fox. Buena Vista Group. Tejon Room, Beale Lib. 7 PM

Aug. 6 - 13, (tue-tue), Summer Backpack. Piute Pass-French Canyon Backpack. Lake-hopping in the high Sierra with some cross-country hiking. Not for beginners. Call leaders Gordon and Eva Nipp at 661.872.2432 or email at gnipp@att.net for information and reservations. (KK Chapt)

Aug. 16-19 (fri-mon) - Outing to Montana de Oro State Park, SLO - Cynthia Koval cyn4life@cvip.net or harold.wood@sierraclub.org 559.739.8527 to attend. Walk-in Group campsite reserved. (Mineral King Gp)

Aug 24 (sat) Brainerd Lake (up S. Fork, Big Pine Creek, 10270 ft, 2700 ft gain, 7 mi RT) jumping off point for climbs of Middle Palisade, Disappointment, Norman Clyde, Temple Crag, and other great Sierra Peaks. Moderately strenuous. Meet Sat, Aug 24 at 7:00 AM, Ridgecrest Cinema parking lot. Call 760.375.7967 or 760.375.8161 for more info. (Owens Pk)

Aug 24 (sat) Piedra Blanca Trail hike. Trail begins Reyes Creek. 6 mile round trip, elevation gain of 800 feet. Grand views of the Cuyama badlands. Relatively easy hike. Bring lunch and lots of water. 8 AM start, tennis courts, PMC. Call 661.242.1076, (Condor Gp)

LOOKING AHEAD

Sept 14-15 (sat-sun). CNRCC (California-Nevada Regional Conservation Committee) will meet at SLO for all-state, all-regional meeting. (Note date change from Sept. 7-8.)

Rumor: The 100 Peaks Group of the Sierra Club is said to be planning to come to Frazier Park, Pine Mountain Club in late September to add to their bag of mountain peaks climbed. More info next issue.

The Roadrunner

PO Box 3357

Bakersfield, CA 93385

July-August, 2002

A Bi-monthly Publication

of The Kern-Kaweah Chapter Of The Sierra Club

PO Box 3357