Sagehen News

Land Ethic Leadership course

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:13:26 PST

Just before Christmas, Jeff, Amy Horne and I visited Baraboo, WI to meet with the Aldo Leopold Foundation folks and see their visitor center and the Shack.

Here are some photos of our visit to Baraboo and Madison, including John Muir's remarkable desk.

While there, we also attended the Aldo Leopold Foundation's "Land Ethic Leadership Workshop".

From the website:

"Learn to help your community think about complex and changing environmental issues and new ways to discuss our collective values and vision."

We will be hosting a session of this workshop here at Sagehen June 1-3, 2012. More information here.

Happy holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:28:59 PST

Sagehen Master Plan meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:48:49 PDT

Team Meets to Discuss Path Forward for Sagehen Creek Field Station Project

Sept. 29, 2011: Inna Gritsak, The Boldt Company

One day the Sagehen Creek Field Station North of Truckee, California may become the greenest facility in the world. Making that dream a reality was the topic of discussion at a planning session September 26.

Since the project is in the very early stages of planning, the primary goal of the meeting was to identify the project’s path forward and discuss funding options.

Present at the meeting were Jay Harris and Cormwell Burgos from Boldt, Jeff Brown and Faerthen Felix from Sagehen, Don Clark and James Molder from Cathexes, Violet Nakayama from UC Berkeley, and Jonathan Long from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Currently, the Sagehen Creek Field Station is a year-round natural laboratory managed by the University of California, Berkeley in collaboration with the Tahoe National Forest and the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station. The alliance works together for the common goal of promoting excellence in research and education in a natural environmentally-functioning eco-system.

Current conditions of the facility, however, are aging, poorly sited and no longer meet current and projected user needs for offices, classrooms, storage space, research facilities and housing.

The September 26 meeting was the fourth meeting for the project.

An important topic on the meeting agenda was how to locate the financial resources for the project since most funding needs to come from private donors.

Other items on the agenda included the vision for the project’s design, contract method, entitlements, preliminary work, conditions of satisfaction, corporate participation, target budget business drivers, documentation, and participation from contributors.

Boldt was invited to participate in the project due to the company’s experience with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and its offer to assist with pursuing project funding.

“Boldt is very passionate about sustainability and being a good steward of the environment so this is the kind of project Tom Boldt would be very excited to see his company participate in,” Harris said.

Boldt was the contractor for the Leopold Center in Fairfield, Wisconsin, which is known as the first carbon neutral building certified by LEED. This means annual operations of the facility account for no net gain in carbon dioxide emissions. The LEED program awarded the Leopold Center 61 out of 69 possible points, which happens to be more than any other building in the United States.

The goal of the Sagehen Creek Field Station project is to get all 69 points from LEED.

Besides locating the funds for this project, the other challenge lies in designing it to be the greenest building in the world.

The goal is to make the facility as self-sufficient as possible. Bio mass power, use of local materials, solid waste management and recycling will be integrated into the project.

Cathexes, the designer and architect for the project, plans to design the building to reflect the imagery and feeling of the place, use indigenous materials and ultimately, make a home in the wild. The essence of the design should reflect the concept of earth, sun and water.

The US Forest Service also has influence on the project’s design and construction. Although UC Berkeley owns and operates the Sagehen Creek Field Station facility, the land on which it stands is owned by the US Forest Service. The field station is instrumental in assisting the US Forest Service research in forest management. The Forest Service will start harvesting logs next summer as part of their forest thinning program and the logs will be stored on site for later use in constructing the facility.

Confirming the project’s program and scope of work was also an item on the agenda; however, there remain too many unknowns to establish the entire program.

Harris also presented an overview of Boldt’s philosophy of Integrated Lean Project Delivery (ILPD), which would be the preferred delivery method for designing and building the project. Clark presented an overview of the Cathexes design.

All in all, the meeting was productive and all meeting agenda points were addressed.

Most importantly, a path forward was determined. Harris, Brown and Clark will continue to hold weekly conference calls or meetings to discuss project developments. At the same time, Brown will be asking George Nolte, a supporter of the Sagehen project and Leopold board member, to coordinate with Tom Boldt, Chairman of the Leopold board to determine Leopold’s participation in this project. Planning meetings will continue on an as-needed basis.

Global science project

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:20:20 PDT

Sagehen is one of the contributing sites for a global-scale, paradigm-shifting study appearing in Science this month.

Upending an entrenched model, the study "shows no clear relationship between productivity and the number of plant species in small study plots."

Researchers Dan Gruner and Louie Yang added the NutNet sites used as part of the global assessment to Sagehen several years ago.

More info.

Force Majeur at Sagehen

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:35:33 PDT

There are some exciting and very interesting convergences happening with the Force Majeure Sagehen art project:

UC Santa Cruz just formed the Center for Force Majeur Studies to:

"...generate long-term research projects that address the emerging stresses of the Earth’s largest ecosystems by co-joining the processes of art-making and the Sciences within the uniquely and specifically-framed perspective of work by Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, understood as the Harrison Studio. The scope of mission of the Center includes work beyond typical categories and is in support of an evolving Art/Science hybrid form."

The Harrisons also recently finished a project in the Yuba watershed that is part of their "Sierra Nevada: An Adaptation" exhibit currently showing at the Nevada Museum of Art. More info.

They used Aldo Leopold's challenge of "Thinking Like A Mountain" as a point of departure to examine land use decisions made in the watershed. See photos, below | Read text

Coincidentally, we featured the Harrisons and the Nevada Art Museum's Center for Art + Environment in our recent video, "The Leopold Family Legacy at Sagehen Creek".

Collections assistance

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:24:33 PDT

Erica Krimmel is a museum curator looking to keep her skills sharp while living in Truckee, so she volunteered to help us with our collections.

Erica is digitizing the Sagehen botany collection, available on-line soon.

She also repaired our bear mount's nose!

You can learn more about Sagehen volunteers and opportunities here.

Scientific Illustrator at Sagehen

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:20:09 PDT

Scientific Illustrator Stephanie Rozzo is spending a few weeks at Sagehen, creating graphics to help us better communicate concepts behind some of our projects.

Aldo Leopold Week

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:10:46 PDT

Sagehen is hosting "Aldo Leopold Week", with outdoor screenings of "Green Fire", the Aldo Leopold Foundation's new documentary on Leopold's life.

Watch a preview at Sagehen TV.

We are also showing a new Sagehen-produced documentary: "The Leopold Family Legacy at Sagehen Creek". This short film explains the connection between Sagehen Creek Field Station and Aldo Leopold.

Friday was the opening of the event and Sagehen's 60th birthday celebration. Steve and Ann Dunsky, the filmmakers, generously provided a Q&A after the film. On Saturday night, the Sierra Business Council sponsored the next screening.

There are two more screenings this week. The US Forest Service is hosting a screening on Tuesday, Aug. 23 for the general public. And the Truckee River Watershed Council hosts a screening on Wednesday night, Aug. 24.

Wildflower season for the books

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:28:27 PDT

The late winter, wet spring and summer continue to yield the best wildflowers in a decade by any measure: quantity, size or variety.

Here are a few pics.

Window upgrades

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:49:54 PDT

New windows for the Library.

We were shocked by the dramatic decrease in propane use here after we installed automatic thermostat timers in the heated spaces a few years ago.

We're hoping for another shock now that we've replaced the 1950's-60's era windows in the Library and the Residence.

New windows without having to tear out the old trim: slick!

Vinyl double panes replace aluminum single panes.

National Geographic project.

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:17:43 PDT

Walter, David and a confused robin.

Photographer David Liittschwager and assistant Anand Varma visited Sagehen last week to photograph rodents and birds for an upcoming issue.

David often shoots the catalog of life within a bounded space, and recently produced a piece on the life in a tide pool at the Bodega Marine Reserve.

This project focuses on everything that lives in a Giant Sequoia. Although there are none of these big trees at Sagehen, we do host many of the same animals. With our small mammal trapping project and MAPS bird banding, it's possible to actually get close to the animals here.

The team was able to photograph all the rodents they required, which included a Northern flying squirrel, just the third wily Douglas Squirrel and the only Lodgepole chipmunk trapped here this year. Lucky!

The birds were more elusive. The long winter had an effect on their numbers. Hopefully, they simply bred at lower elevations this year, rather than suffering high mortality, but we'll have to wait until next year to know for sure.

The team will be out again for our last banding day to try again. Here are the birds on our list that they need:

American Robin
Western Tanager
Dark-eyed Junco
Mountain Chickadee
Stellar's Jay
White-headed Woodpecker
Common Raven
Northern Flicker

New roof for outdoor meeting area

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:20:31 PDT

Last week, Contractor Blake Larsen added an extension to the Burnside Cabin roof that covers the presentation area. The roof replaces the fussy tarp that was prone to being shredded by rain and snow accumulations.

The new roof looks and works great, and we'll be able to use the space as a garage for the Imp snowcat in the winter :)

Crowd-funding.

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:12:19 PDT

Dr. Jennifer Gee, a fellow California field station manager, is using an interesting fund-raising model to finance her research: crowd-funding.

A number of websites (discussed in article) now help artists, film makers and others publicize their projects and solicit donations from interested members of the public.

Donors generally receive some sort of award connected to the project, helping them feel more connected to the final product. For instance, Dr. Gee' most popular prime is an e-book about her research project.

Vote for Katie!

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:22:48 PDT

Katie Zanto, founder of Sagehen's ARC Program, is a national finalist for L.L. Bean's Outdoor Hero contest.

Go to the link, watch the video, then vote for Katie!

Facebook page for Sagehen.

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:48:54 PDT

Check out Sagehen's new Facebook page.

There's a wikipedia page up there already, so we thought we should put something more official up.

Vandalism

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:59:34 PDT

Last Tuesday night, we had our first aggressive case of vandalism in 10 years.

People sometimes carve their name into our weather towers, dump garbage at the highway garage, or damage something trying to remove it. But this is the first time someone has inflicted damage on us just for the mindless sake of doing damage.

The vandals walked in from the public campground, shot up and stole signs, then graffiti-ed the inside of the Leopold Cabin.

Please contact us if you have any information that would lead to an arrest. With our minuscule, largely self-funded operating budget, clearly we're highly motivated to discourage this type of behavior in the future.

NRS Reserve Wins Human Diversity Award

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:12:23 PDT

June 17, 2011 By Kathleen Wong:

Sagehen Creek Field Station’s Adventure Risk Challenge (ARC) program has won the 2011 Human Diversity Award from the Organization of Biological Field Stations. The award recognizes programs that increase the involvement of underrepresented groups in field science.

Read full article.

Environmental Artists and Art Museum Director Visit Sagehen

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:27:05 PDT

Today, we had a follow-up meeting with Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, renowned environmental artists, and Bill Fox, Director of the Center for Art and the Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art.

From their website:
"The Harrisons have worked for almost forty years with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development."

The Harrisons, in cooperation with the Center for Art and the Environment, envision a long term environmental art work installation at Sagehen and at the Nevada Museum of Art. The work would focus attention on and propose solutions to issues surrounding soil and water resources, long-term climate change and downstream services of a healthy watershed.

Watch a visualization produced by the Harrisons for Independence Lake.

Sagehen is very excited about the possibility of working with the Harrisons and the Nevada Museum of Art. We hope that it is the start of a larger integration of the communicative power of art with the education and research programs at Sagehen.

Sagehen management reports

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:37:59 PDT

I've scanned and uploaded a couple of interesting planning documents this week:

Wild and Scenic Rivers Study Report and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PDF-9.5MB): this document includes extensive descriptions of Sagehen Creek and nearby watersheds, including Alder Creek and Independence Creek. Included are lists of sensitive plants, and descriptions of designated Special Interest Areas (SIAs), like the Mason Fen and Sagehen Headwaters. There are also discussions of additional recommended SIAs.
1990 Tahoe Forest Plan (PDF-716KB): I scanned the specific sections that describe Sagehen Basin and the Sagehen Creek Field Station.

Camas Lilies

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:06:52 PDT

The famous camas lilies are popping in the Lower Sagehen meadows. Here's a photo and update from Amy Horne:

Sagehen Camas Lilies 6/15! Why I live in the Sierra....

Highway sign for Sagehen!

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:00:21 PDT

We've been trying to get a highway sign almost since the day we arrived 10 years ago. It's finally here.

Thanks Caltrans!

Climate change information tool

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:52:17 PDT

From Verna Bowie at the BNHM:

Cal-Adapt is a web-based climate change adaptation information tool that has been designed to provide access to the wealth of data and information that has been, and continues to be, produced by the State's scientific and research community. The data available in this site offer a view of how climate change might affect California at the local level.

This site has been developed by UC Berkeley's Geospatial Innovation Facility, with funding and oversight from the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research Program, using data gathered from California's scientific community, including the California Energy Commission, Google, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Santa Clara University, U.S. Geological Survey, UC Merced, and Pacific Institute.

Learn more about the development of Cal-Adapt from the UC Berkeley News Center, and in a highlight article published in the June 2011 issue of PE&RS.

Nina Leopold dies.

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:45:35 PDT

Nina Leopold passed away this week at the age of 93. She was the daughter of Conservationist Aldo Leopold, and sister to Sagehen founder Starker Leopold.

Here's a video about Nina's life-long phenology project at the Leopold Preserve in Wisconsin.

Camera-trapped deer

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:11:29 PDT

Update from the Highway-89 Stewardship Team:

"Attached [are] the first image[s] we have captured of a deer with a GPS collar. This location is just south of the underpass where there have been so many GPS collared deer [GPS] “tracks”.

Mike

Michael "Mike" De Lasaux
Natural Resources Advisor
Plumas & Sierra Counties
University of California Cooperative Extension
208 Fairground Road
Quincy, CA 95971"

New PSW liaison.

noreply@blogger.com (Faerthen Felix) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:29:07 PDT

Sagehen is cooperatively managed by UC Berkeley's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Tahoe National Forest, and the US Forest Service Pacific South West Research Station (PSW).

PSW recently reorganized. Sagehen Experimental Forest's previous liaison, Pete Stine, is now the National Coordinator for Experimental Forests and Ranges, a new position reflecting the growing importance of these research properties.

Our new liaison is Rick Bottoms. We're looking forward to working with Rick in the future!