| | | | 2022: Another Year When We
(Friends of the Inyo + Our Supporters)
Have Definitely Grown 'Stronger Together' | | | | | | During an interview with John DeMaria of KMMT FM on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 29, I talked about the importance of our annual day of giving as a mechanism for bringing people together and harnessing the power of crowdfunding around common charitable causes to effect positive change. Indeed, Giving Tuesday is impactful because of the power of people who care. Together. It is the togetherness in giving - not necessarily by rich philanthropists, but by everyday people giving what they can - that has generated the enormous philanthropic strength of Giving Tuesday and created a highly visible and engaging worldwide movement for good in just 10 years. Well, I was pleasantly surprised the following day when, almost as if in confirmation of what I had said on the radio, I read these words of wisdom in one of my daily motivational readers: Separate reeds are weak and easily broken;
but bound together they are strong and hard to tear apart. Friends of the Inyo is a small conservation nonprofit, but bound together to our supporters, which include our donors, grantors, conservation partners, advocates, volunteers and committed Board of Directors, we are a strong force in Eastern Sierra public lands protection. We could not do our work without you, and this year's Giving Tuesday success, as detailed in the photo composition above, is proof of that truth. This year's fundraising, by the way, amounts to more than twice the $4,400 we raised in 2021. Thank you! And the best news is that Giving Tuesday was just the start of our Year-End Fundraising Campaign, which we are calling "Reach for the Sky." Our Board has provided a $21,000 matching gift that, with everyone's giving, can double to $42,000. Let's soar! Right around this time, many of you should be receiving (or should have already received) our 2022 Year-End Fundraising Appeal in the mail. Click here to view an electronic copy of it. It lists our many accomplishments in the year that is coming to a close, so you can see how your gift to Friends of the Inyo is a wise investment in the Protection and Care of the Public Lands of the Eastern Sierra. If you have not yet given to our Year-End Fundraising Campaign through Giving Tuesday or otherwise, you can do so using the button below, or the donation card and return envelope included with our mailer. Thank you in advance as we look forward to continuing to grow even Stronger Together in 2023. | | | | Please remember that if you become a new Friends of the Inyo member by donating $35 or more, you will receive our popular magazine, the Jeffrey Pine Journal, delivered to your mailbox FREE, beginning with the Spring 2023 issue. To read past issues of the Jeffrey Pine Journal, including our latest Fall 2022 issue, please visit FriendsoftheInyo.org/Publications. | | | | | | Also in this issue of The Juniper, we: - Say farewell (Sniff!) to our Policy Director Jora Fogg, and share a heartfelt message from her;
- Welcome Jaime (pronounced the Spanish way, "hi-meh") Lopez Wolters, our new Desert Lands Organizer who will be working in Southern Inyo County;
- Invite you to enjoy some haikus written by our summer Trail Ambassadors;
- Announce two new Job Opportunities with FOI, as we are looking for the right candidates to come on board as Membership and Office Manager, and Policy Director;
- Share the latest scoop on water justice from the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition;
- Highlight our Legacy Giving Program - It's easy to set up and doesn't cost a penny during your lifetime;
- And more!
Remember: 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 link to keep reading, as more news will be displayed. This is done to prevent bandwidth issues in e-mail delivery. Thank you. | | | | Happy reading—and if you like what you read, happy sharing! Sincerely, Louis (Lou) Medina
Communications and Philanthropy Director
Louis@friendsoftheinyo.org | | | | | |  | Photo: Evening light at Avi Kwa Ame Proposed National Monument - By Maricela Rosales A Farewell from Our Policy Director: It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that I will be leaving Friends of the Inyo’s staff on December 16. Transition is often difficult but I am happy to also share that I will be joining some of our close partners at the Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF). This was an easy decision for me to make as the next journey in my career, since CLF does such incredible work expanding, protecting and supporting the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation Lands and has shown a vested commitment in the Eastern Sierra and the California Desert. I will not be far from FOIs ongoing campaigns and will continue to support the great work of the Conglomerate Mesa and Bodie Hills coalitions. My eight and half years at FOI have taught me so much about our collective power to impact public lands management. My biggest takeaway from my time at FOI is the importance of elevating the voices of those all too often left out of the conversations about conservation. The relationships I have built over the years with my colleagues, our members, and supporters will endure, and I am blessed to be able to carry on public lands work in our community. Please feel free to reach out to me at jora.rehm.lorber@gmail.com and keep in touch. My heart is also full of appreciation and gratitude for the experiences and friendships built over these years. For the Wild, Jora | | | | | | Jaime Lopez Wolters, Desert Lands Organizer Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and having grown up in the mountains of Guatemala, Jaime developed a love of nature at an early age. He studied Environmental Science at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and worked with subsistence farmers in the Guatemalan highlands, encouraging the adoption of agro-forestry techniques. In the early 2000s he moved to Los Angeles to be with his partner, Sarah, and started working with Metabolic Studio on environmental art projects. That work first brought him to the Eastern Sierra and exposed him to the area’s majestic beauty as well as its environmental challenges. As Desert Lands Organizer at Friends of the Inyo, Jaime strives to protect the land and encourage people’s connection to nature and the web of life. | | | | | |  | Nature does inspire:
Trees, birds, water, snow and sun -
I wrote a haiku! Well, the refined craft of writing lines of poetry in the tightly constrained 5-7-5 syllable style of this Japanese poetic form is probably much more complicated than that, but it's fun to let the nature of the Eastern Sierra inspire even amateur efforts. That is what Friends of the Inyo's Trail Ambassadors did last summer, at the urging of Stewardship Director Alex Ertaud. Click on the button below to read a selection of sometimes fun, sometimes deep and thought-provoking, but always entertaining haikus to transport you to ephemeral moments experienced in Wilderness earlier this year. Very excited to share these with you. Can't wait to see what next year's Trail Ambassadors will write! | | | | | | Seeking a Membership and Office Manager The newly created Membership and Office Manager employment opportunity at Friends of the Inyo is a permanent position that can be structured in a full- or part-time capacity. The right candidate will be responsible for accurate and timely maintenance of FOI’s membership database, generating membership and donation monthly reports, providing office administration and IT support, and handling HR-related matters. This position reports to the Executive Director and can be partly remote, with some in-office time required. Our offices are located in Bishop (head office) and Lone Pine (satellite office), CA. Details, including compensation package and instructions on how to apply for this or other available opportunities, are on the employment page of our website, FriendsoftheInyo.org/Jobs. For questions, and to submit a letter of interest and resume, write to Wendy@friendsoftheinyo.org. | | | | | | | | The Policy Director leads and provides strategic direction for Friends of the Inyo’s policy programs to fulfill our mission to protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra, working to ensure the health and vibrancy of the ecosystems of public lands throughout Inyo and Mono Counties. The position reports directly to the Executive Director. The Policy Director is a permanent position that could be part- or full-time and could be remote, but frequent travel to California’s Eastern Sierra is required. Details, including compensation package and instructions on how to apply for this or other available opportunities, are on the employment page of our website, FriendsoftheInyo.org/Jobs. For questions, and to submit a letter of interest and resume, write to Wendy@friendsoftheinyo.org. | | | | | |  | Alabama Hills Restoration On Thursday, Nov. 10, Friends of the Inyo’s Lindsay Butcher and Kayla Browne joined local Bureau of Land Management staff, as well as members of the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association and Alabama Hills Stewardship Group, and a few local volunteers for a bit of site restoration, native vegetation planting, and invasive plant species removal at the Alabama Hills. Two sites were selected for restoration and revegetation, with an additional area selected for invasive Russian Thistle removal. Working under the Southern Inyo autumn sun felt good - and was fun! | |  | Keeping Long Valley Not Just Green, but Also Clean! On November 19, Friends of the Inyo’s Keep Long Valley Green Coalition Organizer, Allison Weber, hosted a highway cleanup on the coalition’s Adopt-A-Highway section of US 395 near Crowley Lake. The generous volunteers who took a few hours out of their sunny Saturday morning to help out, made quick and fun work out of the collection of a surprising amount of trash visible on top of the snow. Just a friendly reminder: When getting out of your car at the beautiful vista points in Long Valley, please remember to secure all trash, small objects and mittens (so many mittens get lost!), lest your belongings end up on the other side of our trash grabbers. Thanks to all who came out! We hope to see everyone again for our spring clean-up to be announced in the New Year! | | | | | | | | | |  | The latest (November) issue of the official E-Newsletter of the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition (KLVG), Every Last Drop, came out at the end of last month. It features an in-depth look at the history of Crowley Lake, including the surrounding lands of the Long Valley Caldera, the area's original inhabitants, white settlers, and the lake's formation through the construction of the Long Valley Dam. But it also asks what is in store for Crowley Lake and the area, which lives under a constant threat of dewatering. It is an excellent read. | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Want to support Friends of the Inyo? Consider making a donation online today! Thank you for your generous support. | | | | | | | |  | Friends of the Inyo appreciates the following organizations and local businesses for their generous monetary sponsorship of our programs: | | | | | | | | Inyo Mono Alpine County
Cattlemen’s Association | |  | | | | | | | Remember to update the address to our new location: Friends of the Inyo
621 W. Line St., Suite 201
Bishop, CA 93514 FriendsoftheInyo.org | | | | Like and follow us on social media: | | | | | | |
