New cleaning strategy.

Thanks to volunteer Susi Lippuner [PDF] & Biokleen, Sagehen is now exclusively using low-impact cleaning products, aiding in our ongoing effort to reduce our impact on the Sagehen Basin.

Biokleen generously donated dish soap, laundry soap & household cleaner for station visitors to use. Employing plant extracts as the active ingredients, the products are natural, non-toxic & biodegradable with no harsh perfumes. Since Sagehen's water supply is borrowed from a nearby spring then returned to the ground through septic fields, we are concerned that what we put into the drains does not negatively impact the basin ecology.

Visitor response has been enthusiastic, with younger users particularly excited. Whether due to the quality of the products, clearer consciences about the chemistry, or some combination of the two, the station is staying cleaner than it has in the past.

DRI to measure gravity in Sagehen Basin.

A DRI team led by Sam Earman installed gravitometer mounts in the Sagehen Basin recently. Amazingly, minute changes in gravitation can be use to track groundwater.

2009 Sagehen Summer Speaker Series scheduled.

In partnership with the Truckee River Watershed Council & in celebration of the COPUS Year of Science, we've posted the schedule for this year's Sagehen Summer Speaker Series. The first talk is July 9.

Wolverine in Colorado after 90-year absence

Does this sound familiar?

In December, conservation biologists had outfitted the young wolverine, which is part of a reintroduction program farther north, with a tracking collar and watched him make the 500-mile (805-kilometer) journey from the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, crossing rugged landscapes and even busy Interstate-80

This guy's journey from Wyoming is about the same as the California wolverine's must have been from Idaho...only documented this time.

Article.

Professor Karban's work stirs controversy.

Professor Rick Karban's work on plant communication & behavior is getting a lot of press & stirring up controversy lately, as usual.

In a recent paper in Ecology Letters, he & Kaori Shiojiri suggest that plants have self-recognition, the first step required for several things we typically associate with higher animals; like immune systems & kin selection, for instance.

Here are some links to recent articles:
- No-Brainer Behavior
- Plants "can recognize themselves"
- Plant communication: Sagebrush engage in self-recognition and warn of danger.

You can also watch a video of Professor Karban discussing his work at he Sagehen Summer Speaker Series.

Unusual bird sighting.

Walter Clevenger & Scott Crosbie, the MAPS project bird banders, caught an unusual, east coast bird here on Sunday: Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Here's Scott's note:

Hey Jeff,

On Sunday Walter and I caught a Chestnut-sided Warbler - this is an east coast species and was the first record of it being sighted in Nevada County. A picture of the bird was posted on the Western Field Ornithologists website.

Thought you would like to know - big news for bird brains. If you want to post a picture on your website that's great.

Cheers,
Scott

Experimental Forest Celebration

Here's an article about the recent Experimental Forest Celebration at Sagehen, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Forest Service research.

The weather was pretty harsh, but it definitely underscored that our Master Plan is needed to support station research & education efforts, rather than being just some kind of pie-in-the-sky boondoggle.

Hwy-89 Stewardship Team to dedicate new animal undercrossing.

From "Sierraville (California) Highway 89 stewardship team: ahead of the curve":

"Highway 89 stretches from north to south across California, through Sierra County from Sierraville to Truckee. The highway bisects an important portion of the Loyalton-Truckee deer herd, as well as important habitat for forest carnivores, amphibians and other wildlife on the Tahoe National Forest.

By 2002, several groups were working independently to investigate different aspects of animal-vehicle collisions along the highway.

These groups and their efforts were brought together in 2002 when they were catalyzed by the USDA Forest Service into a stewardship team to work together collaboratively to improve the high wildlife mortality and increasing habitat fragmentation on the highway."

Join the Team as they dedicate their first completed mitigation structure: an animal underpass at Kyburz Flat. directions & more info about event in invitation.

More:

Hwy-89 Stewardship Team videos.
News about the Team.