The California chapter of BHA has been working hard on behalf of the Golden State’s wildlife and wild places this fall. Thanks to BHA’s Armed Forces Initiative and with huge support from the U.S. Marine Corps, the chapter recently completed a monumental project in support of desert bighorn sheep imperiled by the state’s drought. With additional support from several state organizations and NGOs, marines in UH-1Y utility helicopters flew water into remote guzzler locations of Southern California with volunteer support to lay the groundwork and pump the water into the empty guzzler tanks. The project was a huge success and will provide wildlife with additional resiliency to make it through an extreme drought year.
In addition to other stewardship projects on public lands, like packing out over 1,000 pounds of trash from Angeles National Forest, the chapter has been very active with regards to policy. Chapter members put together a detailed comment letter to the Forest Service regarding the closures of all 18 national forests in the state, which were reopened shortly after. The chapter also sent a letter supporting the LWCF nomination of Fay Creek Ranch to the Sequoia National Forest and sent a signature request letter to Gov. Newsom regarding SB 790, which then was signed into law and will help to facilitate wildlife overcrossings in California. Finally, the chapter commented on the California State Coastal Conservancy’s revised public access guidelines, highlighting the importance of hunting and fishing access and infrastructure along the California coast.
To celebrate some of the great work being accomplished across the state, the chapter recently toasted to success at a pint night with special guests from Born & Raised Outdoors, where they raised over $3500 through merchandise sales and a raffle. Cheers!