Experts trying to salvage Rim Fire lumber

SAN ANDREAS – It would take four to eight years for lumber mills in the region to process all the logs that could be salvaged from the 400-square-mile Rim Fire.  The problem is they’ll only have about a year to do it.  It will be next summer by the time foresters will have been able to survey the burned timber stands and offer contracts that logging companies can bid on. By then the trees will have been dead for a year. Forestry experts... Read More

Students participate in county government

CAP’S Calaveras High School student project participated in the October 29th Calaveras County Board of Supervisors meeting. Read the story in below in the Enterprise and watch the video here on CAP’s webpage. Calaveras Enterprise, November 1  Read More

Water district examines one-time fee waiver

By Stephen Crane | Posted: Friday, October 25, 2013 /The Calaveras Enterprise The Calaveras County Water District board revisited its delinquent billing policy at its board meeting Wednesday in hopes of finding a new approach to an old problem. “People get behind (on their bill) and it’s very difficult for them to get out of the hole,” said Mitch Dion, general manager of the district. If a bill is neglected long enough, the water is turned... Read More

Bridges to be replaced, but not anytime soon

By Stephen Crane | Posted: Friday, October 25, 2013 / The Calaveras Enterprise Two river crossings – one that was destroyed a decade ago – will likely not be replaced for years to come. Environmental requirements were named as the main holdup. The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday and voted unanimously to approve the allocation of more than $1.2 million in federal dollars for the environmental assessment and design phase of... Read More

Boom goes bust in Calaveras

October 23, 2013 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – Crews this week are demolishing and hauling away one of the last visible reminders of the Calaveras Cement plant that provided material for construction of such major landmarks as the California Aqueduct, the Bay Bridge and Pardee Dam. A row of 100-foot silos that once stored cement was left behind when most of the rest of the old plant was removed in 2005. The Calaveras Cement factory last operated in... Read More

Forest Service seeks input on year-round recreation

October 22, 2013 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comments on how it will respond to proposals for year-round recreation at ski resorts operating in national forests. In recent years, ski resorts including Bear Valley Mountain ski area on Highway 4 in Alpine County have been seeking to expand recreation in times outside the traditional ski season. Examples include disc golf, hiking and mountain biking. Bear Valley... Read More

After the Rim Fire: What’s next for the Sierra?

Foothill Conservancy President Katherine Evatt and local consultant John Hofmann talk about management needs in the Sierra’s forests. Calaveras Enterprise op-ed, October 11  Read More

Reservoirs remain well below historical averages

An updatable graphic available on Twitter shows the current as well as historic averages of California’s reservoirs. See here. National Weather Service, October 13  Read More

Outdoor Amador is ‘Rollin’ on the river’

Editor’s note: The next few installments of Outdoor Amador will detail Mike’s kayak trip down the Mokelumne River, from the Lake Camanche Dam to the California Delta. Here The Mokelumne River begins in the Stanislaus National Forest, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It starts its long journey down to the Pacific Ocean by flowing out of Highland Lakes, an area that can be easily accessed via a jeep road off Highway 4. You can drive or walk... Read More

First the Rim Fire, then the politics

In the wake of the state’s third-largest wildfire, Rep. Tom McClintock, is responding by pushing a radical rewrite of environmental laws that would give timber firms a free hand to salvage usable trees left behind by the blaze. A second bill backed by the GOP wants to double timber cuts in federal forests. Read Story Here  Read More