On Wednesday, the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force issued a Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire to expand the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning to build forest and community resilience statewide — efforts critical to forest management and wildfire mitigation.

By expanding the use of beneficial fire, officials said the state can utilize smart burning tactics on brush and other fuels to help both prevent the start of fires and mitigate the spread of wildfires.

Based on a collaborative effort of the state’s leading fire experts and managers, the strategic plan sets a target of expanding beneficial fire to 400,000 acres annually by 2025, a shared goal between state, federal, tribal, and local entities — part of an overall goal to treat 1 million acres annually in California by 2025.

The state invested $1.5 billion in wildfire resilience in 2021 alone, including significant support for prescribed fire and cultural burning.

"As climate change continues to exacerbate wildfire conditions, we’re bringing federal, state, tribal, and local partners together to more effectively address the scale of this crisis,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “California is putting in the work to help protect our communities from the devastating impacts of wildfires, build for the long-term, and safeguard our treasured state for generations to come.”

The governor earlier this week participated in fuels management work along Highway 50 ahead of peak wildfire season.

“We know that returning good fire to the ground is one of our best tools in the fight against catastrophic wildfire and climate change,” said Task Force Co-Chair and California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot. “This strategic plan includes the key steps we need to take over the next few years to build capacity, return to a culture of beneficial fire, and invest in our future.”

“This plan is vital to improve the health and resilience of the state’s forests, reduce wildfire risk of vulnerable communities, and increase stewardship by Native American fire practitioners,” added Task Force Co-Chair and U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien.

The key elements of the Strategic Plan include:

• Launching an online prescribed fire permitting system to streamline the review and approval of prescribed fire projects;
• Establishing the state’s new Prescribed Fire Claims Fund to reduce liability for private burners;
• Beginning a statewide program to enable tribes and cultural fire practitioners to revitalize cultural burning practices;
• A prescribed fire training center to grow, train, and diversify the state’s prescribed fire workforce;
• An interagency beneficial fire tracking system;
• Pilot projects to undertake larger landscape-scale burns; and
• A comprehensive review of the state’s smoke management programs to facilitate prescribed fire while protecting public health.

Wednesday’s announcement delivers on several of the key commitments made in the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued in January 2021.

The action plan is also backed by the governor’s $1.5 billion investment in forest health and wildfire resilience, and a proposed $1.2 billion additional investment for fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

“The plan gives me hope because it represents the vision and priorities of the people who know prescribed fire best — the community leaders, cultural burners, and agency practitioners who have been leading and championing this work for years. California is ready for a bolder, more collaborative approach to prescribed fire, and this plan gives us a great place to start,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, area fire advisor, UC Cooperative Extension.

Don Hankins professor at California State University, Chico, and a cultural fire practitioner, said, “California's Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire takes an unprecedented step for the state to address shortcomings of current fire policy and use. Most significant is the recognition of the role of Native American tribes, organizations and practitioners to revitalize traditional fire stewardship.”

“California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire demonstrates the collaborative commitment to expand the use of restorative fire to limit damaging wildfires, stabilize forest carbon, better protect communities, and restore and maintain resiliency and biodiversity in the California landscape,” said Craig Thomas, director, The Fire Restoration Group. “This past year of collaborative work with State and Federal agencies, scientists, and multiple nongovernmental partners has addressed and supported the proper role of restorative fire in California.”

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The men and women who served during the Vietnam War are being recognized once again this year on a day set aside to officially welcome them home.

“Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” is being observed on Wednesday, March 30.

The observance follows National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Tuesday, March 29.

The Vietnam War took place from Aug. 4, 1964 to Jan. 27, 1973.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said the number of all those who served during the Armed Forces at that time totaled 8,744,000, with 3,403,000 deployed to Southeast Asia.

The war resulted in 47,424 battle deaths, 10,785 other deaths in theater, 153,303 wounded and 238 Medals of Honor, the VA reported.

About 10% of the war’s casualties came from California, according to the Governor’s Office.

Five Lake County men reported to have died in the war.

The Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the war resulted in 2,646 unaccounted for Americans lost in the Vietnam War. Of those, 1,062 have been repatriated and identified, with 1,584 still to be located.

Lake County is reported to have one of the highest veterans populations per capita in the state of California.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2020 reports that the veterans population in Lake County totals 9.7%.

Of Lake County’s veterans population, the American Community Survey shows that the vast majority served during the Vietnam era.

The survey reported that 2,297 Lake County residents are Vietnam era veterans, which accounts for 46.7% of the overall veterans population. The next largest group is Gulf War veterans, at 10.6%, or 528 individuals.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation declaring Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in California.

The full proclamation is below.



Nearly fifty years after the last American troops returned home from the Vietnam War, which claimed the lives of more than 58,000 U.S. service members, including 5,822 Californians, we honor the brave men and women who selflessly answered our nation's call at a time of great turmoil and strife.

Whether drafted or volunteered, our Vietnam veterans served with honor and distinction in one of our nation's most challenging wars, and amid deep social, political and cultural divisions throughout society. Upon returning home, these veterans — many of them bearing lifelong physical and mental scars — were not met with the gratitude, respect and care befitting of their heroism and sacrifices.

Each year, we must recommit ourselves to honoring the legacy of our Vietnam veterans and upholding the lesson they have imparted — welcoming home our service members is essential, but only the first step in our duty to serve and support them.

California is proud to stand by our veterans and remains steadfastly committed to connecting them and their families with the benefits they have earned and deeply deserve.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim March 30, 2022, as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed on the 29th day of March 2022.

Gavin Newsom
Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State


Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A south county contractor said he is running for the Middletown Unified School District seat that is the focus of a special election in June.

Bryan Pullman is seeking the seat, which was forced to go to a special election after a petition was filed against a provisional appointment made by the board in December. That special election has been consolidated with the June 7 statewide primary.

Also on the ballot for the seat is parent and school volunteer Charise Reynolds.

Both Pullman and Reynolds were among the 10 candidates the Middletown Unified School Board interviewed in December when it filled the seats vacated by Thad Owens and LaTrease Walker by appointing Allison Berlogar and Annette Lee, respectively.

However, Lee’s appointment was challenged by a petition, which resulted in Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg calling the special election. Until that election takes place, the fifth seat on the board will remain vacant.

The proponents of the petition that led to the special election were Cobb resident LaTrease Walker, and Hidden Valley Lake residents Charles Green and Austin Pullman. Austin Pullman is Bryan Pullman’s son.

Bryan Pullman said he has lived in Middletown for many years, moving to the area in 1972 as an eighth grader.

He said he has lived in Lake County continually ever since, minus a stint in the Army.

“I am married to a local girl, and we raised four children, all of them also graduated from MUSD,” Pullman wrote in an announcement. “We now have 12 grandchildren, many of them living in Middletown. I am very much invested in this town!”

Pullman said he has many years of business experience, much of it as a public works contractor, while mostly working for cities, counties, universities, schools and the state.

“I understand budgets, have good people skills and know how to work through bureaucracies. I believe in negotiation and compromise but also believe that there are times when I need to hold the line,” he said.

Since last year, Pullman has been a frequent presence at the Middletown Unified School Board meetings, and has been critical of the district over its adherence to state COVID-19 mandates, including the requirements for masking that have since been relaxed.

“Education in our state is facing many challenges and that is certainly the case in our small town as well. I believe we need to bring control of our district back to the people who are raising families here. We need to attract and retain the best teachers, staff and administrators that we can. Budgets need to be controlled but they need to be balanced so that there are funds to attract people who are committed to educating the future members of our community in the best manner possible,” Pullman said in a written statement.

“We need to ensure that the curriculum is in keeping with the values of the parents in the Middletown area and not based upon what Sacramento thinks is needed for us based upon the needs of large cities in our state — or worse yet, Washington telling us what they want us to teach, holding us hostage by attaching funding to our level of cooperation,” Pullman said.

“We need to ensure that our students are free to experience school in a safe and healthy environment that also takes into consideration their freedoms and psychological health and growth. Students and staff also deserve to have medical freedom to make their own decisions about their personal safety and health. These challenges seem to be gone, but there will be other challenges that will come before us, and we need to be able to react to them in a thoughtful and responsible way that addresses our unique situation,” Pullman continued.

He said the board needs to listen to the people who come and petition them for change, and then they must act upon that information to improve the education environment in the schools.

“The students must come first, and I believe this is the main purpose of the board, to ensure the success of the students. Parents are responsible for their children’s education and the school needs to be responsive and sensitive to what the parents feel is important,” he said.

Pullman said funds need to be budgeted for keeping the school grounds and facilities in the best possible shape, for safety reasons as well as aesthetics.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — This week Mendocino National Forest fuel managers are planning to conduct the Westshore Understory Burn, a low-intensity prescribed fire of approximately 90 acres west of Lake Pillsbury and north of the Eel River on the Upper Lake Ranger District.

Contingent upon safe weather and fuels conditions, fire managers will start ignitions on Wednesday, March 30, through Friday, April 1.

Crews will carefully monitor the burned area throughout the burn window into the weekend and the following week.

Fuels in the Westshore area were previously treated, and the unit is one of the remaining green stands that survived the 2020 August Complex and the 2018 Ranch Fire.

Reintroducing low-intensity fire can reduce buildup of hazardous fuels, restore forest ecosystems and improve safety of local communities.

Forest officials remind residents and visitors to avoid the project area. Smoke may be visible in the Lake Pillsbury basin and has the potential to impact roads at times.

Motorists are asked to use extra caution when driving in areas of smoke. Motorists should slow down, turn on headlights and watch out for equipment and firefighters working along roads.

Real-time updates on the Westshore Understory Burn will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MendocinoNF and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MendocinoNF.

Domestic migration’s role as the main driver of population change intensified between 2016 and 2021, resulting in population gains in some counties and declines in others.

New population estimates for July 1, 2021, allow us to look at recent trends in county population change.

Natural change (the difference between births and deaths), domestic migration and international migration all contribute to how an area’s population changes over time. Some have grown mostly through domestic migration while others have traditionally grown more through natural increase (more births than deaths).

However, in recent years the national pattern has shifted in substantial ways.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to amplify existing trends of decreasing births, increasing deaths and slowing international migration, shifts in the remaining component — domestic migration — have become more prominent and are noticeably altering county growth patterns across the nation.

The maps below illustrate how widespread these differences are.

Between 2015 and 2016, counties gaining population (in dark orange, dark green, or dark purple) were located across the country, with concentrations in the West, in Texas metro areas like Dallas and Houston, and in most of Colorado and Florida (Figure 1).

There was also a cluster of gaining counties in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

In 65% of gaining counties, net domestic migration was the largest contributing component of change in absolute terms.

Counties shaded light orange, light green or light purple lost population between 2015 and 2016.



As the map shows, many of the areas that lost population (in parts of the Great Plains, the Rust Belt, and the Mississippi Delta), also did so largely because of net domestic migration.

In some parts of the country like Maine, southwest Virginia and West Virginia in Appalachia, the biggest component was natural change.

Fast forward to 2020 to 2021, and you can see a widespread change in these patterns.

During this period, more than half of counties (58%) gained population; domestic migration was the major component of change in 90% of them.

The role natural change played in 2020-to-2021 population shifts is also clear: A large swath of counties that lost population mostly because deaths outnumbered births stretched through Appalachia from southwest Virginia all the way to upstate New York.



Although natural decrease (where deaths outnumber births) wasn’t always the largest component, it occurred in 73.1% of counties — a record high.

While this comparison only considers two points in time five years apart, it does show just how unique change was amid the pandemic.

Census demographers provide more information on natural change and domestic migration in other stories.

Luke Rogers is chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch. Kristie Wilder is a demographer in the Population Division.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A well-known businesswoman with a long history of volunteerism and support of community causes has been chosen as the 2022 Lake County Woman of the Year.

On Monday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that the honor had been given to Jennifer Strong.

Every year, Rep. Thompson selects inspiring women from California’s Fifth District to recognize their contributions and efforts over the last year.

After the 2015 Valley fire, Strong founded the Rotary Fire Relief Fund and raised more than $1 million to support fire survivors.

“Her efforts have made our recovery easier, and her leadership is inspiring,” said Thompson.

“As a member of the Lakeport Rotary Club, she is known for organizing the Konocti Challenge which raises millions of dollars for Lake County. I am proud to recognize her as the 2022 Lake County Woman of the Year and I look forward to seeing what she continues to accomplish for our community,” Thompson added.

Strong also is owner of Strong Financial Network.

The Woman of the Year Recognition Ceremony was started in honor of Women’s History Month to recognize the service of women in our community.

In addition to Strong, the women in the other counties in the Fifth District who Thompson has selected for Woman of the Year honors include Tina Wong, Contra Costa County; Betty Labastida, Napa County; Betty Rhodes, Napa County; Hazel Wilson, Solano County; Lisa Diaz-McQuaid, Sonoma County; and Elizabeth Quiroz, Sonoma County.

NORTH COAST, Calif. — A Ukiah woman died on Monday evening in a three-vehicle crash on Highway 20 near Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County.

The California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah Area office did not release the name of the 49-year-old woman — who was riding as a passenger in a Mini Cooper that was involved in the collision — pending notification of next of kin.

The crash occurred at 5:28 p.m. Monday on Highway 20 east of Potter Valley Road during rainy conditions, the CHP said.

Based on witness statements, statements from the parties involved and the dash cam footage, the CHP said that Rafael Esquivel, 60, of Ukiah was driving a blue 2004 Mini Cooper eastbound as Michael Schmuckley, 66, of Portland, Oregon, was driving a blue 2018 Toyota Tacoma westbound.

Kurt Jensen, 49, of Clearlake was driving a black 2019 Ford Explorer westbound just behind Schmuckley, the CHP said.

At the time of the crash, the roadway was wet. The CHP said Esquivel drove through standing water causing his Mini Cooper to lose traction with the roadway. The Mini Cooper began to spin and went into the westbound lane.

The CHP said the front of the Mini Cooper collided with the driver’s side of Schmuckley’s Toyota Tacoma, which caused the Toyota to lose control and spin.

The Mini Cooper continued to spin out of control into the westbound lane and the car’s right rear collided with the front of Jensen’s Ford Explorer.

Passing motorists stopped to assist and helped extricate the Mini Cooper’s occupants. The CHP said the female passenger was unresponsive and died of her injuries at the scene.

Neither alcohol nor drugs are believed to be contributing factors in this collision, the CHP said.

Esquivel suffered major injuries, Jensen had moderate injuries and Schmuckley had none, officials said.

The CHP said the crash remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to contact the CHP’s Ukiah Area office at 707-467-4420.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In a brief special meeting on Monday afternoon, the Yuba Community College District Board voted to appoint a Clearlake resident to fill a board vacancy.

The board, which met at the Lake County Campus in Clearlake as well as online, approved the provisional appointment of Douglas Harris to fill the unexpired term of William Roderick, who resigned in early February.

Roderick, elected in 2020, represented Trustee Area 7, which includes a portion of Lake County running from Clearlake Oaks in the north to Middletown in the south, as well as parts of Colusa and Glenn counties.

While Roderick’s term ends in 2024, Harris’ provisional appointment will be in effect until the next regularly scheduled board of trustees election on Nov. 8, unless a petition is filed to challenge it, according to board documents.

After Roderick’s resignation, Board President Dennise Burbank appointed a Board Ad Hoc Committee that included herself and fellow trustees Susan Alves and David Wheeler to oversee the appointment process, board documents show.

Harris, the only applicant, has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls and a master’s degree in social work from San Francisco State University.

He’s worked as a part-time instructor in human services and sociology at Yuba Community College’s Lake County Campus, and has been a clients’ rights advocate and social worker, a paralegal and housing counselor.

Harris also has extensive volunteer involvement on the Lake County Campus site council, Habitat for Humanity, planning councils and care committees, and in community groups including the Redbud Audubon Society, the Middletown Arts Center, the Lake County Land Trust and the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association.

He received support from District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, who was one of Harris’ students at the Lake County Campus; Dr. Annette Lee, who worked with Harris at the campus for 16 years; academic counselor Ingrid Larsen; and Dr. Laurie Daly, professor of Early Childhood Education, also at the Lake County Campus.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom swore in Justice Patricia Guerrero to the California Supreme Court – the first Latina justice to serve on the bench of our state’s highest court.

A highly regarded jurist, Justice Guerrero’s nomination to the court was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments last week.

Raised in the Imperial Valley by immigrant parents from Mexico, Justice Guerrero has served as an associate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One since 2017 and has wide-ranging experience as a trial court judge, partner at a major law firm and assistant U.S. attorney.

The governor swore in Justice Guerrero in Sacramento at a ceremony joined by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Martin Jenkins, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carol Corrigan, Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Judith McConnell and other members of the judiciary, legislators, and Justice Guerrero's father Jorge, sister Claudia, husband Joe, and sons Anthony and Christopher.

“This is a proud day for all Californians,” said Gov. Newsom. “A first-generation Californian and daughter of the Imperial Valley, Justice Guerrero’s extraordinary ascent to serve as the first Latina justice on our state’s highest court is not only an incredible personal achievement, it is an inspiring example of California’s enduring promise that any dream is possible, no matter who you are or where you come from. Justice Guerrero’s brilliance, integrity, work ethic and rich insights will make an invaluable contribution to the court. I’m confident that Justice Guerrero will continue her life’s work to uphold our fundamental rights and freedoms and advance equal justice and opportunity for all Californians.”

“I’m incredibly honored to take the bench on our state’s Supreme Court, and I thank everyone who has made this day possible,” said Justice Guerrero. “I am here because of the courage, sacrifices and dedication of my parents and my grandparents who, like so many others, came to this country with the hope of a brighter future for their children. I hope that my journey encourages the next generation of leaders to pursue their dreams, and I look forward to taking on this opportunity to uphold the rule of law and work to ensure equal justice under the law for every Californian.”

Justice Guerrero replaces Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who left the bench effective Oct. 31, 2021.

“Your appointment is a testimony to not only your extraordinary judicial career, but also to your devotion and commitment to the citizens of California and their access to justice,” wrote Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, in a letter to Justice Guerrero. “Your appointment is an important reminder of how far we have come and of how far we have yet to go. I know you will make our country proud. You already have.”

As an appellate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Justice Guerrero authored numerous opinions to protect the rights of consumers and individuals, while also ensuring that defendants’ constitutional rights are protected and that all parties, including the government, are treated fairly and consistent with the rule of law.

She served as a Judge at the San Diego County Superior Court from 2013 to 2017 and was Supervising Judge for the Family Law Division at the Court in 2017. Justice Guerrero was hired as an Associate at Latham & Watkins and became a Partner in 2006. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California from 2002 to 2003.

“To be the first Latina on the California Supreme Court and make history, it is clear that one must have an exceptional life story. Justice Patricia Guerrero is already inspiring young Latinas to set their sights higher and believe they can be anything they want to be,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth G. Macias. “Justice Guerrero will be a justice who will uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of all Californians, including the voiceless and the vulnerable. Thank you, Governor Newsom and Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis Céspedes, for recognizing the importance of having a California Supreme Court that reflects the people of this great state. The California Latino Judges Association joins Governor Newsom and Justice Guerrero in celebrating this historic moment.”

“The appointment of Justice Patricia Guerrero as the first Latina to serve on the California Supreme Court is truly a historic milestone for the judiciary and citizens of the State of California,” said retired California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno. “I have every confidence that she will serve with distinction. Her academic credentials, her litigation experience in the trial courts as a lawyer and as a judge – civil and criminal – as well as having served as an appellate justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, amply confirm that she is exceptionally well-qualified to serve on our State’s highest court. I applaud Governor Newsom for this exceptional and well-deserved appointment.”

“Congratulations to Justice Guerrero on this historic and well-earned achievement,” said Vilma Martinez, former President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF. “I applaud this latest example of Gov. Newsom’s commitment to ensure that our judiciary reflects the marvelous diversity of our state.”

Justice Guerrero has contributed many hours of pro bono work, including as a member of the Advisory Board of the Immigration Justice Project, to promote due process and access to justice at all levels of the immigration and appellate court system.

She has assisted clients on a pro bono basis in immigration matters, including asylum applications and protecting vulnerable families by litigating compliance with fair housing laws.

The chief justice of the California Supreme Court named her to the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the California Bar Exam and Justice Guerrero has been active in the Chief’s “Judges in the Classroom” civics program.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An event that teaches students about the importance of agriculture is soon to return.

The fourth Annual Lake County Ag & Natural Resources Day will be held at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, May 4.

A committee of the Lake County Fair Foundation is hard at work to bring the event’s agricultural and natural resource learning experiences back to Lake County students, in-person.

The event was canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New this year is a second opportunity, Ag & Natural Resources Career Day, which will take place the following week, on Wednesday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to noon.

At the career day event, high school students can learn from local farmers, businesses and educational trade schools about possible career paths. The goal is to showcase the many opportunities in the agriculture and natural resource industries that are located in Lake County.

If you or someone you know would like to support these important events, sponsorship packages are available through the Lake County Fair Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Funds will be used to cover event costs and fund transportation for schools which could otherwise not attend.

Community members, businesses, and service clubs can support the event through sponsorships, exhibits, demonstrations and volunteering efforts.

Preregistration is required and must be submitted by April 8.

Educators should communicate with school administrators to coordinate attendance to either event.

You can learn more about the event at www.lakecountyfairfoundation.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information, contact Blair Smith at 209-269-6766 or Sheli Wright at 707-263-6181.

LAKEPORT, Calif. — Prospective students recently were able to participate in an event at the Mendocino College Lake Center that introduced them to the campus and educational opportunities there.

On Thursday, March 17, the Mendocino College Lake Center hosted its first campus event in over two years.

Nearly 200 students from Kelseyville High School, Clear Lake High School, Upper Lake High School, Terrace Middle School and Mountain Vista Middle School were able to attend College Day to explore the Lakeport campus while meeting with college staff and faculty representing a variety of support services and educational programs.

The focus of the event was to provide potential incoming college students with information about the many career paths possible through an education at Mendocino College.

“It was invigorating to see our local Lake County students discover options for their future they did not know existed,” says Dean of Centers Amanda Xu. “The Lake Center is proud to be a resource to promote their higher education and career goals.”

Student Service programs in attendance included the Mendocino College Foundation, CalFresh outreach, tutoring, MESA, transfer counseling, disability resources, student equity, Native American student resources, Lake Family Resource Center, CAMP, Financial Aid, and EOPS. Academic departments included: Administration of Justice, Automotive, Child Development, English as a Second Language, English, Digital Arts and Media, Photography/Recording Arts, Athletics, Computer Science, Fire Science, Emergency Medical Services, Nursing, Theater, and Communications.

The college thanked the Lakeport Kiwanis group, who sponsored lunch for all student attendees.

Upcoming events at the Mendocino College centers include College Day at the Mendocino College North County Center in Willits on Thursday, March 31; the Registration Fiesta at the Mendocino College Lake Center in Lakeport on Thursday, May 12; and the Job Fair and Registration Fiesta at the Mendocino College Coast Center in Fort Bragg on Friday, May 13.

For more information, visit www.mendocino.edu.

BERKELEY, Calif. — For someone who admits to "childlike excitement" at the prospect of a snowstorm, Andrew Schwartz has the perfect job.

He's the new manager of the University of California, Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, or CSSL, the only continuously manned snow research outpost in the Western U.S.

He arrived there last April, and so far, he's loving it. His first season in the 75-year-old U.S. Forest Service building — both a lab and a home for him, his wife and two dogs — in Soda Springs, California, saw the second highest October snowfall ever in the Sierra Nevada and the highest snowfall for any December in recorded history.

That was good news at the onset of winter, Schwartz said, but the so-called "whiplash weather" that has become normal in California — unusually dry months followed by abnormally wet months — makes forecasting the season's snowpack highly uncertain.

A lightly dusted January was followed by a nearly dry February, which ended with a 16-inch dump of new snow three weeks ago. Less than 10 inches of snow has fallen since, and predictions are for a drier than normal spring — again.

Because the size of the snowpack determines the water flow into the state's rivers, streams and reservoirs in the spring — and the water available for agriculture, fish, industry and homes — runoff predictions also are highly uncertain.

That means that daily records from CSSL and monthly snow-depth measurements at many other sites in the Sierra Nevada are critical for state and federal water managers who monitor and plan water usage across the West and in California.

"The site is kind of unique in that there's a lot of the same measurements being made with multiple different instruments," Schwartz said. "The benefit of having us up here is that during storms, we continue manual measurements. There still isn't really a unified way of accurately measuring new snowfall, so the best way that we really have is to go out and put a pole in the middle of it and measure it by hand with rulers."

The intermittently snowy conditions so far this season are perfect for the revitalized role of the lab, which includes testing low-cost, 3D-printed snow depth sensors — prototypes created for water managers in developing countries by the 3D-Printed Automatic Weather Station, or 3D-PAWS, initiative at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado — and testing new instrumentation for the California Department of Water Resources. These projects help maintain the lab's prominence in snow science, he said.

"The snow lab was the pinnacle of snow science for a very long time, and still is, for a large portion of California," Schwartz said, noting that the lab sits in one of snowiest places in the U.S. "Snow science is more important than it's ever been, especially in the West, where snow contributes so much to our water resources."

The lab has an unparalleled record, going back more than 75 years, of daily or even hourly temperature, snowfall and snowpack measurements. While there are several hundred automated snow and precipitation stations throughout the Sierra Nevada, only CSSL has a snow scientist on site to cross-check measurements — there are four different instruments in Schwartz's backyard that measure precipitation — and provide a measure of the water content in the snow every two to three days.

"We have those long records to look at over the last 75-odd years to really try to determine what the current trends in temperature and precipitation are, compared to some of those stations that might only have a few years of data," he said.

Snow Lab Hill

Situated on Forest Service land on what locals call Snow Lab Hill, at an elevation of 6,894 feet in Soda Springs, an unincorporated community 10 miles from Truckee, the lab has been a vital, but sometimes mysterious, gem.

Schwartz plans to increase its visibility, with outreach to the community and schools and, by making all the snow and precipitation data available online, to the whole world.

One idea he hopes to realize is a simple and inexpensive snow sensor that could become a backyard staple for citizen scientists interested in local snow conditions. It would be somewhat like the 3D-PAWS device, which emits a sound pulse downward toward the snow and measures the time it takes for the reflected pulse to return, which gives the height of the snowpack.

The device Schwartz is working on can be mounted outdoors and linked to the internet via Wi-Fi in a dense network of sensors, much like the popular PurpleAir network of air quality sensors that has become vital to Westerners during the ever-expanding wildfire season.

"I have been thinking about this citizen science project for the last three years," he said. "Thousands or tens of thousands of sensors, most in mountainous regions, would be a big increase in the number of data points, giving us a better idea of how much water is up here in the snowpack and also allow for better quality control of our instruments. It would bulk up the data available to DWR and be science for everyone."

Tasked by DWR with testing new instrumentation and training its staff how to use it, Schwartz is making the snow lab indispensable to the agency, which manages and allocates water throughout the state.

The lab has always been an important asset to California, because of its continuous records of snow and rain precipitation and temperature going back to the lab's founding in 1946. With the addition of Southern Pacific Railroad data, the snow lab can see trends in snowfall back to 1879.

"The benefit of having this long record is we can see the trends that are starting to emerge from things like climate change," Schwartz said. "For example, the lab has seen an increase in overall precipitation, but a decrease in snow. With that, it's going to make managing the water that comes out of the snow pack a little bit more challenging."

Sierra snowpack is like a water tower

As Schwartz explains it, "The snowpack is effectively a water tower that sits up on top of the mountain and allows stored water to slowly trickle into reservoirs and streams."

With more rain and less snow, the water more quickly enters the reservoirs and streams and more quickly evaporates or gets whisked downstream into the ocean. That means less water during the summer for agriculture, home and urban use, and for fish.

When the lab was built, it was one of three outdoor snow labs in the montane West, that were joint projects between the U.S. Weather Bureau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to understand the water and hydrology of the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada.

It is the only one that has survived. It eventually reverted to the U.S. Forest Service, which operated it from 1954 to 1995, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, shut it down and its seven full-time employees either retired or were reassigned. Luckily for the long-term snow record in the Sierra, UC Berkeley stepped in to keep it open, but with only one staff member, Randall Osterhuber, who retired in 2019.

Luck again stepped in. Robert Rhew, UC Berkeley associate professor of geography and faculty director of the campus's Central Sierra field stations, sought input about the lab's value from many of the agencies that have relied on CSSL data or even built instruments on site — DWR, the National Weather Service, the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service, UC Davis, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Desert Research Institute, among others.

"Each group extolled the importance of continuing Snow Lab operations, which ultimately convinced the university to allow a new station manager to be recruited," Rhew said.

Schwartz saw the job notice as he was finishing his doctorate in atmospheric science at the University of Queensland, Australia, where he wrote his thesis on the effects of bushfires, or wildfires, on the snowpack — ironically, while looking out his window at palm trees and learning to surf. He was excited, but his wife, Megan, even more so. He applied and was snapped up.

Born and raised in Denver, Schwarz said that he always loved playing in the snow — hence, his excitement at impending blizzards.

He chose to study meteorology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver while interning at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, in Boulder, where he focused on the impacts of winter weather on airports and plane deicing, or keeping planes free of ice. Upon graduation, he became an associate scientist at NCAR before applying to graduate school and shifting his focus to the impact of fires on the snowpack.

"Fire alters the characteristics of the watershed — it removes trees, allowing greater sun exposure that melts snow, and the char on the trees falls on the snow and soaks up more sunlight, causing faster melt," he said. "All of this can affect the timing of water coming out of the snowpack."

Schwarz’s work on wildfires and snowpacks undoubtedly helped him get the CSSL job, but so did his expertise fixing equipment and his willingness to do the mundane maintenance required at every field station.

When his family moved in after the lab had been empty for 18 months, he had to clean out spiders, mice, ground squirrels and all the drains.

He picked up a well-used SnowCat in Sacramento and an old, but mildly used, snowmobile through Craig's List, both of them necessary for getting up Bunny Hill Road in the winter and checking snow levels at another UC Berkeley field station, Onion Creek Experimental Forest, about 8 miles west of the CSSL.

He and his wife don't claim that life is easy. The December storms left them without power for several days around Christmas, and any storm could keep them homebound for days, if not weeks.

But local activities — snowboarding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing in the winter, mountain biking and kayaking on Lake Tahoe in the summer — provide a welcome break from snow science.

Improvements to the lab are coming, however. The main building is due for an extensive renovation, perhaps this summer, and money from DWR is helping to upgrade the scientific instruments and consolidate them on a platform high off the ground, with new power and Internet cables.

This will help with new collaborations, both on campus, around the UC system and with other California, Nevada and federal agencies, and, ideally, allow undergraduates to visit the lab for research purposes.

"It's great to be working at a place on the cusp of water resources in California at such a pertinent time," he said.

Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.