National Pollinator Week Day 4 is all about Leafcutter Bees! Yesterday we gave our attention and support to Mason and Blue Orchard Bees, two species of the Megachilidae family and both very important native pollinators of some of our favorite spring foods. Today, we are not straying too far from these busy little fruit pollinators as we dedicate our Thursday to the Leafcutter Bee. The Leafcutter is also a member of the …continue reading
National Pollinator Week Day 3 is all about Mason Bees, a native species of bee in the Osmia genus and the Megachilidae family. Blue orchard bees are also a mason bee, and sometimes called Orchard Mason Bees. Mason bees are a native species of bee that play an important role in pollinating food plants and for the Blue Orchard, orchard trees. Some of these foods include almonds, …continue reading
National Pollinator Week Day 2 is all about Monarch Butterflies! They are scientifically known as Danaus plexippus, belonging to the Nymphalidae family. As we all well know, the monarch is a crucial and highly studied species of milkweed butterfly and it calls many places home as it migrates throughout North and Central America. These beautifully winged creatures prepare for the cold weather of winter and begin to fly south, from as north …continue reading
female squash bee with pollen, photo by E. Youngsteadt We’re kicking off National Pollinator Week with waffles! Wait, what? Yes, waffles. Not just any waffles though – zucchini waffles! We’re doing this in support of a very specific and extremely helpful bee native to North America: the Squash Bee, belonging to the two Peponapis and Xenoglossa genera. Hearing your garden bed zooming and buzzing more than usual as those squash blossoms bloom? …continue reading
How we adapted ESLT’s Sunflower Kids Garden Program in a school year of unpredictability. By Gabrielle Tribelli, ESLT Education Coordinator and Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Member 2020-2021 was a school year like no other for students everywhere. Undergoing constant modifications to class structure, size, curriculum, duration, and social-emotional outlets, these scholars built resilient. So when the regular timing of ESLT’s Sunflower Kids Program was just around the corner in April, I was …continue reading
Paya: The Water Story of the Paiute Film Screening and Panel Discussion You're probably aware of some of the stories of water in the Owens Valley and Los Angeles. Books have been written on the subject and even Hollywood movies made about it. But there is more, much more, to the story. Paya: The Water Story of the Paiute tells the untold story of America’s longest-lived water war between …continue reading
Winter weather, holidays, and even a pandemic, have the tendency to shut us inside for longer periods of time than we would like. Beyond our windows, the season is changing and therefore the land is changing; Round Valley Mule Deer are settling for overwinter in the valley, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep poetically mountaineer their way up quiet snowy mountains, and sagebrush drink up new moisture with their roots to share with other …continue reading
#GivingTuesday is a global day for giving and generosity, and what better way to create hope this holiday season than by joining a movement to protect special land for generations to come. This year's #GivingTuesday is on December 1st! To celebrate the occasion, a generous longtime donor will again match your gift dollar for dollar up to $20,000. That means your positive impact on the land you love will be doubled …continue reading
The extended digital version of our 2019 Annual Report is now available for your enjoyment! Flip through to reminisce on 2019's successes including the protection of a portion of Lundy Canyon, Stewardship Days in the Bodie Hills and at Black Lake Preserve, and all those in-person gatherings and celebrations that now feel so precious. Thank you for being here with us. Click here for the PDF version of our extended digital 2019 …continue reading
Spend time enjoying the Eastern Sierra, and you'll watch the landscape come alive. Here, golden desert mesas and sagebrush steppe teem with species like pronghorn, pygmy rabbit, and bobcat. The rare Bi-State sage-grouse meanwhile raises their chicks on the green irrigated meadows in places like Bridgeport Valley. These valley ecosystems rise suddenly to towering peaks, creating homes for species like black bear, the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, and Sierra Nevada red …continue reading