Quarterly Newsletter: July 2024 |
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Hello Bodie Hills Lovers,
We hope you have been able to get out into the Bodie Hills this summer: the wildflower season was gorgeous and great hiking abounds, especially as the summer continues to be warm, the Bodie Hills continue to offer a high elevation refuge for wildlife and recreationists alike. Sage grouse lekking restrictions ended July 15th, so if you are lucky, you might even see some sagehens and their chicks exploring the area should you get out before summer's end. Meanwhile, momentum is picking up in the Bodie Hills, for the good and the bad. Read on in this quarter's issue to hear both types of updates: with new conservation policies, building local efforts for landscape protection, and, unfortunately, exploratory drilling developments all at play, there is much to discuss! Thank you for reading, The Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership (BHCP)
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The Public Lands Rule, closely followed by conservationists since March 2023, is officially out, marking the first time that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages 1/10th of the nation's surface area, will recognize conservation as an essential component of public lands management,
on equal footing with other multiple uses of these lands. Further guidance for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), is included as part of the final rule. |
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Most importantly to Bodie Hills lovers, the rule clarifies that an ACEC can be designated to protect ecological intactness and habitat connectivity, and specifies that when ACEC nominations are received outside of a land use planning process, the BLM may defer evaluating the nomination to an upcoming planning process. If the BLM finds the area meets the criteria for ACEC designation in the meantime, and determines that the values could be irreparably harmed if not protected, then the BLM may implement temporary protections to maintain the condition of identified resources until a potential ACEC can be fully evaluated through land use planning. The BHCP is using this guidance to create a citizen nominated ACEC proposal to help further protect the natural and cultural resources of the BLM lands in the Bodie Hills.
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Bi-State Sage Grouse Action Plan Updates |
The Draft 2024 Bi-State Sage-Grouse Action Plan, prepared by the Bi-State Technical Advisory Committee, is now ready for public review and feedback. Comments must be submitted by the end of the day on Thursday, August 29th, 2024. Written comments may be submitted via email to bistatesagegrouse@gmail.com or using this webform.
You can also attend public meetings to learn about updates in the 2024 Action Plan, ask questions, and provide comments. These in-person meetings are divided by Bi-State sage grouse Population Management Units (PMUs). |
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PMU: Pine Nut & Desert Creek/Fales
Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2024 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: Smith Valley Library Address: 22 Day Ln, Smith, NV 89430 PMU: Mt. Grant & Bodie Hills Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: Memorial Hall Address: 73 North School St., Bridgeport NV |
| PMU: South Mono Date: Thursday, August 8, 2024 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: Lee Vining Community Center Address: 296 Mattly Ave., Lee Vining, CA PMU: White Mountain
Date: Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: Fish Lake Valley Community Center Address: Hwy 264, Tonopah, NV |
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Questions? Reach out to Tracy Misiewicz, Bi-State Sage-Grouse Data and Communications Coordinator, at bistatesagegrouse@gmail.com |
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Map of the sacred cultural landscape for mineral withdrawal per the Four Tribes resolution |
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The BHCP are certainly not the only ones generating landscape protections in the Bodie Hills. Local tribal nations are taking a stand against the mineral exploration destruction of the Bodie Hills with momentous resolutions. On July 2nd, Joseph A. Sam, Chairman of the Bridgeport Indian Colony, presented the Four Tribes' Request for Letter of Support to the Mono County Board of Supervisors, asking for the County to support the Four Tribes' request for protection on the high volcanic tableland in the Bodie Hills, including lands on both the California and Nevada side, via mineral withdrawal. The Board of Supervisors approved the support letter and approved Chair Peters, the supervisor for the district containing the town of Bridgeport, to sign on behalf of the County. This inter-governmental effort is led by the Tribal Councils of the Bridgeport Indian Colony, the Mono Lake Kutzadika'a Tribe, the Yerington Paiute Tribe, and the Walker River Paiute Tribe. The BHCP is ecstatic that Mono County is supportive of this effort and looks forward to seeing this tribal nation-led conservation effort progress with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior.
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At that same Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 2nd, the new Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Supervisor (HTNF) Jon Stansfield was introduced, with Bridgeport District Ranger Aaron Coogan accompanying to provide local updates. Forest Supervisor Stansfield and District Ranger Coogan graciously agreed to meet with representatives of the BHCP right before the Board of Supervisors meeting to discuss the Bodie Hills, particularly the lands held by the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest which are suffering from the destruction of exploratory drilling. At this meeting, BHCP representatives brought up the 2015 Arizona court ruling which stated that exploratory drilling permitted under Categorical Exclusions (CEs) was to be one calendar year, not 365 days, even with wildlife restrictions. Both the Forest Supervisor and the District Ranger agreed that Spring Peak being interpreted as 365 days is inappropriate, especially as it will be going into its fifth calendar year of land disturbance due to the 365 day policy. Both Forest Supervisor Stansfield and District Ranger Coogan strongly stated that Spring Peak would be the last drill site interpreted as 365 days and other exploratory drilling under CEs on the HTNF will be interpreted as one calendar year moving forward. While this victory will not stop exploratory drilling in the Bodie Hills, the policy switch for drilling to take place in one calendar year instead of 365 days total is a critical victory to prevent even more undue destruction in the Bodie Hills.
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New Exploratory Drilling Projects: |
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The fifth and latest addition to Bodie Hills exploratory drilling destruction in Nevada is the Lodestar project, adjacent to the fourth project, the Polaris Project, and operated by Headwater Gold. Drilling is expected to start on the Lodestar project in the fall of 2024, according to the company. Read more ›
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Map of the Spring Peak and Lodestar project areas. |
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The Polaris Exploration Project is a ten-year, gold exploration project in the Bodie Hills surrounding the historic Aurora Mining District. Klondex, a subsidiary of Hecla Nevada, will drill and pull out 1 to 3 core samples at up to 250 different locations in the southeast (Nevada) corner of the Bodie Hills. They will determine how much gold is in the core samples and will start developing a map of the underground deposits. It is the biggest of the now five drilling projects in the Bodie Hills, and it will damage the environment on the south side of the Aurora Crater, the east face of Sawtooth Ridge, and the top and east face of East Brawley Peak. Read more ›
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Map of the proposed Polaris Project drill sites with few of the proposed 250 drill sites identified. |
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Ongoing Exploratory Drilling Projects: |
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Spring Peak is in the southeast corner of the Bodie Hills on the south slope of Aurora Peak in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada. This project started in September 2020 and will continue into Summer 2024, as the Forest Service has been counting the one year in the Categorical Exclusion (CE) not as a calendar year but as the number of days the company spends at the site, i.e., the company has 365 days to do complete their work. This has lead to the project going into its fifth year of disturbance. Read more ›
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Klondex/Hecla Nevada drilled at three places behind the historic Aurora Cemetery in 2023 as part of this project; a start on the 16 locations they were approved for. It is unclear at this time if they will continue drilling this summer. BHCP members will continue to monitor. Read more ›
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There were two Radius Gold exploratory drilling projects started in the Bodie Hills. One started in 2017 on the Nevada side of the Dry Lakes Plateau and the other in 2019 on the California side of the Dry Lakes Plateau. Both were called Bald Peak and both projects were exploring the same hydrothermally altered rock that was a hot spring millions of years ago (called a sinter). There is evidence of fine grained gold particles in the rocks at the surface. Radius Gold was looking for a gold vein deep down that would have been the source of the gold that they see on the surface. It is unclear if drilling will continue at Bald Peak in 2024. BHCP members will continue to monitor. Read more ›
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Thank you for supporting the Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership (BHCP). If you would like to represent your Bodie Hills love out in your community, please message allison@friendsoftheinyo.org to have a BHCP sticker sent to your address: perfect for cars, water bottles, laptops and more! |
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