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An Expanded Presence. A Greater Commitment. A New Era.

Earlier this year, in the May issue of The Juniper, which we sent out soon after Friends of the Inyo's 2022 Owens Lake Bird Festival in Lone Pine, I shared with our readers the power of nonprofits to stimulate the local economy even by the mere hosting of an event.

Well, little did I know then that FOI would, within a matter of months, do even more for the communities of Southern Inyo County by actually opening up its first ever satellite office in that same "Little Town (with) Lots of Charm," as the Lone Pine welcome sign says.

We want our supporters to get excited with us and join us for the Grand Opening of our Lone Pine Satellite Office on August 19. The details are in the ad above, which will run in the August 13 & 16 issues of The Inyo Register.

To learn more about what went into FOI's decision to open up a satellite office in Southern Inyo County, which marks a milestone in our 36-year history, please read our event post with a link to our official media release here.

Yes, there are lots of exciting and fun things happening at FOI: like this cute coloring sheet we produced for the littlest Friends of the Inyo, featuring some of the wildlife of the Eastern Sierra, and which we'll be giving away at our Lone Pine Office Open House. But if you can't wait till then to pick one up for your little one, just click here or on the image to download and print.

We also have lots of interpretive hikes and other outdoor activities with our Trail Ambassadors happening every weekend through early October, and our Fall Dark Desert Skies Campout at Conglomerate Mesa Campout is scheduled for Sept. 23 - 25 and starting (where else?!) in Lone Pine.

Check Out Our Events Here

Also in this issue of The Juniper:

Read Executive Director Wendy Schneider's reflections on the Great Basin Water Justice Summit that took place August 3 through 5 (with virtual participation from the public on Aug. 3, and the last two days being working days for Great Basin Water Protectors);
Learn about the Alabama Hills Artist in Residency Program, and get the scoop on an August 20 event in Lone Pine that will have you making YOUR own art;
Find out how to make Eastern Sierra conservation and protection a part of your legacy by setting up a Legacy Gift to Friends of the Inyo during August, which is "Make a Will" Month;
Join us in thanking everyone who made our Latino Conservation Week event a success;
And more!

Happy reading—and if you like what you read, happy sharing!

Sincerely,

Louis (Lou) Medina
Communications and Philanthropy Director
Louis@friendsoftheinyo.org

PLEASE NOTE: When scrolling through our newsletter, you might come across a message at the bottom that says [Message clipped] and/or the hyperlink "View Entire Message." Be sure to click on the hyperlink to keep reading, as more news will be displayed once you click on the link. This is done to prevent bandwidth issues in e-mail delivery. Thank you.

Policy - Water Justice

Great Basin Water Justice Summit Recap

The first ever Great Basin Water Justice Summit, organized by the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission and the Great Basin Water Network, took place in a virtual and in-person hybrid fashion the first week of this month.

The Summit included a virtual day, August 3, when 115 members of the public Zoomed in to join 30 Water Protectors who gathered in Bishop to share information on water and the environment while building relationships to tackle important water, energy, and climate issues together.

Over the following two days, August 4 and 5, the Water Protectors—including representatives from the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition, of which Friends of the Inyo is a leading member, the Sierra Club, Mono Lake Committee, Big Pine Paiute Tribe Environmental Department, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute, Great Basin Resource Watch, and others—continued to meet to find solutions to problems facing their individual Great Basin communities and the area as a whole.

FOI Executive Director Wendy Schneider and Keep Long Valley Green Coalition Organizer Allison Weber attended the Summit in its entirety.

Wendy’s top three takeaways from the Summit offer both sobering reflection and hope:

The devastation the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has wrought on the lands of Payahuunadü (the Paiute name for the Owens Valley, which means “the land of flowing water”) for a century is widespread and pervasive.

Those who have been working for water justice in our lands for many decades are exhausted; they live on the edge of a broken heart.

But...

Reinforcements have arrived! Many new people are joining the fight for water justice in the Eastern Sierra, and new avenues for achieving the reduction of water extraction are being explored.

Subscribing to Every Last Drop, the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition’s e-newsletter (see the following news item below) is a great way to get involved. You will receive all sorts of relevant news, learn about the history of tribal displacement and water extraction in the Eastern Sierra, and more.

More importantly, sharing Every Last Drop with others, especially LADWP users in Los Angeles, is the best way to stop “preaching to the choir,” inform others and get NEW supporters involved in the good fight to keep Eastern Sierra water here, where it belongs. LADWP customers need to know where their water comes from and at what cost to us and the innocent wildlife and delicate plantlife on this side of the Sierra.

You can also suggest story ideas to Allison (allison@friendsoftheinyo.org) for future issues.

And, of course, please continue to read The Juniper as well, for more #WaterJustice news and opportunities to get involved with FOI and the KLVG Coalition in the coming months.

#KeepLongValleyGreen

Friends of the Inyo's work as a leading member of the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition is an enormous part of our Water Justice advocacy initiative. And Every Last Drop, the Coalition's e-newsletter, plays a big role in rallying our supporters in the good fight. In the latest issue, which was published on Great Basin Water Justice Summit Day, August 3, you can read an impassioned appeal for holding LADWP accountable to continuing historical irrigation in Long Valley pursuant to snowpack.

Click here to access the latest issue, as well as all past issues of Every Last Drop.

Use the button below to subscribe to the newsletter. Help us spread the word!

Subscribe to "Every Last Drop" Here

Stewardship & Events

About this photo, taken on July 30 on our Mammals of the Eastern Sierra at Rock Creek Interpretive Hike, Lindsay Butcher (left), Friends of the Inyo's Stewardship Manager who led the hike, said, "Notice the bear scratches on the tree behind us. While the biggest mammal we saw today was a chipmunk, we saw plenty of evidence of larger ones."

There is lots of learning and bonding fun to be had at our many FREE events with our eager and knowledgeable Trail Ambassadors. Following is a recap of July stewardship activities, per the button immediately below this photo, and below that, an explanation of our rich event offering through early October so you can "find your passion" and join us in the Eastern Sierra's great outdoors!

To learn what our eager Trail Ambassadors were up to in July, click here!

Our Summer Events Calendar at FriendsoftheInyo.org/events continues to be FULL of options for everyone's outdoor learning/hiking/camping/volunteering fun!

Take your pick from among these activities available through early October, with a different offering each week:

Interpretive Hikes with this summer’s crew of Trail Ambassadors in four Ranger Districts throughout the Inyo National Forest (White Mountain, Mammoth, Mono Basin and Mt. Whitney Ranger Districts) and the Bridgeport Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest;
Half-Day Volunteer Cleanup Events;
Nature-Based Yoga;
A Dark Desert Skies Campout at Conglomerate Mesa;
And more events to be added to our calendar as they come up.

Most of our events have a limit of attendees to keep group sizes manageable and ensure a quality experience in nature while respecting habitat; therefore, early signup is encouraged.

All FOI summer events are FREE, but registrants are required to fill out our electronic "RSVP & Waiver Form" for safety reasons. Attendees under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian fill out the form on their behalf. The same web page containing information on any event includes the form for that event, as well as special instructions regarding recommended attire and supplies to bring, whether a 4WD vehicle is required, event lead contact information, etc. Use the button below to sign up for any of our events.

Access our Events Calendar here, FIND YOUR PASSION and Sign Up!

Mark your calendars for our next stargazing campout event starting one day after the Autumnal Equinox:

RSVP for our Fall Dark Desert Skies Campout Here

Alabama Hills Artist in Residency Program

Friends of the Inyo is proud to partner with the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group and the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office to welcome the Alabama Hills Artist in Residency Program. The program offers opportunities for painters, photographers, potters, sculptors, and other artists to promote a deeper understanding of and dialogue about the significance of natural, cultural, and historic resources on public lands managed by the BLM.

The public is invited to the Forum Theater, at 141 North Jackson Street in Lone Pine on Saturday, August 20, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., to learn from artist Heather Heckel, who hails from New York City. Heather, who will have spent the week at the Alabama Hills, will be sharing a short presentation on her Artist in Residency work, followed by a watercolor postcard-making project for anyone who is interested.

This event is FREE.

Heather Heckel

Heather's presentation follows the previous one held also at the Forum Theater on July 1, by camera obscura photographer Aubrey Edwards from Wyoming.

Friends of the Inyo is assisting to offset the costs of artists' lodging, and the food that is served at these public events. We hope you can come!

Questions? Write to the Bishop BLM Office at
BLM_CA_Web_BI@blm.gov.

"Make a Will" Month

August is National "Make a Will" Month. We encourage everyone to visit the Legacy Giving page of our website, friendsoftheinyo.org/legacy, to learn about fiscally creative ways to leave a legacy of conservation to our most beautiful part of California by including a gift to Friends of the Inyo in your will or estate plan. The explanations on our Legacy Giving page are easy to understand and will take the mystery out of making a gift that can help compound the sustainability of our organization far into the future, without having to spend a penny during your lifetime!

Please also take a look at the ad below, which you will find in this year's Eastern Sierra Fishing Guide. If you have any questions, please call or e-mail us. We'll be glad to discuss Friends of the Inyo's Legacy Giving Program with you. Thank you.

Diversity & Inclusion

FOI's Latino Conservation Week Event:

Shepherds of Today! Recap

A very big thanks to everyone who helped make our July 23 Latino Conservation Week educational event at Bishop City Park a success, including: In the top photo, L-R, Bishop City Councilman Jose Garcia, and Panelists Helver Flores, Ron Yribarren, and Maria and Matt Kemp, who also brought the sheep in the bottom photos for children to pet and take pictures with. Bishop Police Chief Richard Standridge, who raises sheep together with his wife, also spoke briefly at Shepherds of Today!

Conservation and environmental issues discussed included the prevention of overgrazing, grazing as a form of wildfire abatement, control of the spread of disease among sheep and from sheep to animals in the wild, relations with federal agencies that manage public lands where grazing happens, and some of the dangers faced by sheepherders, including the handling of aggressive rams, encounters with mountain lions and even a brush with this year’s Airport Fire in February.

A theme that kept coming up in the discussion was water scarcity due to Los Angeles’ extraction of water from the Eastern Sierra, and how the landscape has changed over the decades due to altered weather patterns caused by less water and global warming. Nowadays, a much drier Eastern Sierra is seeing less rain, a decreased snowpack, and every year appears to be less conducive to sheepherding, a local industry that is dying out, the panelists agreed.

Following the discussion, attendees talked with panelists one on one, and visited exhibitor booths that included, AltaOne Federal Credit Union, which generously provided bottled water and fans for attendees to stay hydrated and cool, Keep Long Valley Green Coalition, Inyo County Health & Human Services, Sierra Shanti Studio and Friends of the Inyo.

Usually observed in mid-to-late July, Latino Conservation Week is a national initiative of the Hispanic Access Foundation and individual participating nonprofits; it aims to instill a greater interest in the outdoors as well as a greater engagement in environmental protection among Hispanics. This was the first year for Friends of the Inyo to host a local Latino Conservation Week event.

Many, many thanks to Noe Gadea, publisher of The Sierra Reader and El Sol de la Sierra newspapers. Mr. Gadea donated much advertising space in his publications to get the word out to the community about this event. And also many thanks to the City of Bishop's Department of Parks and Recreation for the use of City Park and its amenities.

¡Muchas Gracias!