Happy first day of spring

It’s the first day of spring! We’re excited for future opportunities to witness scenes like previous years’ superblooms at Carrizo Plain National Monument in California, where wildflowers put on spectacular shows. This is also a great time of year to review Leave No Trace principles, so that everyone can enjoy our pristine parks, refuges and wilderness areas for generations. Other helpful resources you can read at home may include identification guides for wildflowers and birds. Photo from 2017 by Bob Wick. (DOI Facebook)

Spring at Headwaters Forest Reserve

Spring into Headwaters and discover wild ginger, Asarum caudatum blooming. Look underneath the heart shaped leaves that shade the violet blooms. The flower has an unusual smell of rotting flesh, attracting flies to pollinate. (BLM CA Facebook)

There's a lot of life out there on the public lands

If you're stuck inside or can't make it out to the Preserve, we'd like to bring as much of the Preserve as possible to you! Check out his video of a rainy day on the Wetlands Walk Trail and enjoy the beauty of nature from afar. (BLM CA Facebook)

BLM California and AmeriCorps complete maintenance projects

This month, a team from AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region worked with staff at BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office to complete maintenance projects on four popular trails: Pushawalla Palms, Hidden Palms, Willis Palms and Indian Palms. The team cleaned, re-lined and replaced signs on the trails to make them more visible for hikers. (BLM CA Facebook)

BLM California restricts in-person access at visitor centers and public rooms

Continuing our service to the public while doing our part to address COVID-19 is very important. Following guidance from the CDC and recommendations from state and local public health authorities, the BLM is temporarily restricting in-person public access to visitor centers and public rooms in our California offices. Please check with individual offices regarding customer services available by phone or email. (BLM news release)

BLM to temporarily suspend entrance fees on public lands across America

After careful consideration and at the direction of Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, the Bureau of Land Management will temporarily suspend the collection of all entrance fees until further notice. (BLM news release)

Sportsmen and Sportswomen Generate Nearly $1 Billion in Conservation Funding

America’s sportsmen and sportswomen generated nearly $1 billion in excise taxes last year that support state conservation programs. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt today announced the disbursement of these funds, generated through excise taxes on hunting, shooting and fishing equipment and boat fuel to all 50 states and U.S. territories by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (DOI news release)

12 Things you didn't know about Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

At the foot of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in Colorado, one small step into Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve may inspire memory of one giant leap for mankind. The park and preserve’s out-of-this-world geography incorporates 149,137 acres of tundra, forest, wetlands and soaring sand dunes in a spectacular array of the country’s most unique geographic formations. (DOI Blog)

California state marine reptile

What is the official California state marine reptile designated in 2012? 

Keep scrolling to find the answer.

Desert Advisory Council postponed

The BLM-California Desert Advisory Council field trip and meeting scheduled for April 3-4 in El Centro has been postponed. The meeting will be rescheduled for later this summer.

BLM seeks comments on 2020 off-highway vehicle recreation proposals

The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comments on the California State Parks, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, off-highway vehicle recreation proposals, which are available for review from March 3 to May 4 (BLM news release)