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monolith
climber
SF bay area
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May 29, 2015 - 11:26am PT
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All stations now at 0.0% of normal
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Gary
Social climber
From A Buick 6
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May 29, 2015 - 01:42pm PT
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We're in the process of redoing the yards. We stopped watering a while back.
The plan is to use drought tolerant California natives. Like DMT, we'll be feeding the native bugs and birds. We won't need the bird feeder any more.
Buckwheat and sages will be the backbone.
We've tore up some concrete. Where we do need walks, we'll be using flagstone set in sand, not grout. We've had problems finding someone willing to do that. We want the water to soak into the ground as much as possible, not runoff into the street.
We'll be leaving some bare ground also, for the solitary ground bees.
Just need to get the kid from taking 20 minute showers.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 29, 2015 - 02:48pm PT
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Where we do need walks, we'll be using flagstone set in sand, not grout.
you might consider crushed (decomposed) granite
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tripmind
Boulder climber
San Diego
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May 29, 2015 - 03:03pm PT
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In San Diego county, the majority of the best lakes to fish have been drained to a small fraction of their total capacity, much of this has happened over the past 2 years.
At lake morena, you can walk on about 80% of the lakebed, probably more these days, only a small part of the lake still has water in it.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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I am not a vegetarian nor vegan, but one can't deny what Moby (the "rocker") has to say:
"Animal products are just egregiously unsustainable, from a resource perspective," he told Rolling Stone. "It takes up to 500 pounds of grain to make one pound of beef. And it goes without saying that 500 pounds of grain is food that could be fed directly to people. It just doesn't make sense to funnel food resources through animals. It's a really irresponsible and inefficient way of using food resources."
This interactive article really puts things into perspective:
272 gallons of water were used to make this plate
I'm shooting for Meatless Mondays & Thursdays.
And how bad is the drought?
176 drought maps reveal just how thirsty California has become
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son of stan
Boulder climber
San Jose CA
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Jun 10, 2015 - 02:22pm PT
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Thunderstorms almost everyday in the Sierra this spring. Is any run off making it down to the reservoirs?
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John M
climber
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Jun 10, 2015 - 02:36pm PT
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its not raining that much.. some places maybe. what we really need is lower elevation rain for the trees. Its been predicted by the forest service that the area around Oakhurst could see 50 percent die off of trees by the end of august. Not sure what that statistic means.. 50 percent of trees attacked by beetles. 50 percent of all trees. or what.
I hope it is wrong but Its pretty wild how fast things changed this spring. In April you could see dead trees here and there. By the end of May you could see whole clumps of dead trees in most places. But 50 percent still seems pretty drastic.
http://www.sierrastar.com/2015/06/03/73359_tree-mortality-rate-could-reach.html?rh=1
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son of stan
Boulder climber
San Jose CA
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Jun 10, 2015 - 05:09pm PT
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California is located in the desert latitudes. Namibia, Chile, Morocco are
what the state should look like. And it would without the Sierra.
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Gary
Social climber
From A Buick 6
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Jun 10, 2015 - 07:27pm PT
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Where we do need walks, we'll be using flagstone set in sand, not grout.
you might consider crushed (decomposed) granite
The flagstone is going on a sub base of gravel, with sand on top, then compacted. The flagstone will set on that base, and DG will go between the stone. It's been very stable so far. But we're going broke with this project!
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jun 10, 2015 - 10:30pm PT
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area around Oakhurst could see 50 percent die off of trees by the end of august. Not sure what that statistic means.. 50 percent of trees attacked by beetles. 50 percent of all trees. or what.
What might not be obvious is how overgrown the forest is, due to fire suppression. As such, it is a very unhealthy forest to start with.
Take the example of the below two photos taken at the same spot: one taken in 1915, before fire suppression, and one taken in 2008---look at the trees in the background. Most people do not realize that the first is what a healthy forest density actually looks like.
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John M
climber
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Jun 10, 2015 - 10:41pm PT
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Yes.. I am aware that it is overgrown, but 50 percent dead trees means an extreme fire danger. Plus we don't have enough mill capacity, so most of it will go to waste. Great big beautiful Ponderosa and Sugar Pines dying left and right. Pains my heart.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jun 10, 2015 - 11:52pm PT
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it doesn't go "to waste" if it is left in place... the resources bound up in the dead tree go back to the forest
"waste" is a human value judgement, meaning, not of use to humans...
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Jun 11, 2015 - 12:34am PT
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do those dead trees contain MSG? Gluten?
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jun 11, 2015 - 01:11am PT
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hey there say, john m... thanks for the link... and ken m, thanks for the share... and ed, as well...
many thoughts, all tied in together...
just thinking and learning, as i read and go through all this...
i grew up through a drought time and it was a sad worry... this, of course, all these years,
is far worse... :( being what it is... :(
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jun 11, 2015 - 01:25am PT
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hey there say, all... i was just curious... could the large plastic islands of garbage, floating in the pacific ocean, ALSO (as the sun? reflects? on this) affect --
the weather, etc, that in-turn affects the weather, elsewhere... ?
just wondering if anyone has a link for that or if it even means anything, as to weather connections and no rain, etc...
thank guys... don't know why, but i just started wondering, tonight...
will be back later and see if you all know or found some links...
i will look, around, too and see what i can find, if anything...
not that it helps, but i was just wanting to know how that works... if it does...
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tripmind
Boulder climber
San Diego
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Jun 11, 2015 - 07:10am PT
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A healthy forest is self regulating, and in fact dead wood creates a huge list of new opportunities for insects and wildlife to take advantage of.
The majority of wildfires are caused by human activity, which is why inhabited areas need fire suppression and prevention programs.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jun 11, 2015 - 11:07pm PT
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"waste" is a human value judgement, meaning, not of use to humans...
Well, inasmuch as this is a forum for humans to discuss things, is it not a place for that judgement to occur??
If the forest were managed for natural growth (I don't think we really want the fires, because of what it does to air quality), we wouldn't have all those artificially overgrown forests, with all the problems that come from that.
Of course, we have the problems happening NOW. All those dead trees are all a artificially created fire hazard. It would be like stacking firewood 20 feet high ten feet thick around your house. You can wait for the spark, or you can do something. The alternatives are not legion.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Jun 12, 2015 - 09:14am PT
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It's not that the bark beetles are just "making a living," or that a healthy forest is one with a more moderate tree density.
The interesting thing to me is what it means for the firs and pines to be attacked at these elevations. What will be replacing these tree species? Certainly, if the firs are susceptible to beetles, then other types of flora will become more prevalent at these lower elevations. The winters are not cold enough to kill off the beetles season over season.
I was at a vista and saw that brown trees ran in rows. I was told that this was due to the drought, and those were areas where there wasn't enough water in the soil to sustain the trees.
50% die off in Oakhurst--man. And it's not just there, I see massive die-offs in most forests I visit in Cali.
As a note, via Merriam-Webster:
Definition of ATTACK
transitive verb
1: to set upon or work against forcefully
2: to assail with unfriendly or bitter words
3: to begin to affect or to act on injuriously (plants "attacked" by aphids)
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