Jeff's orientation talk for Sagehen visitors.

A visitor recorded Jeff's orientation talk...

Baby squirrels

What's cuter than a pail full of baby squirrels? Nothing I can think of.

Jeremy found a nest in the air filter while servicing the snowcat today. Not too uncommon. But this time, there were four noses looking up at him.

We had to move the little varmints, so I shot this video while we were at it.

We put them in a bucket and the mother moved them to new digs this afternoon when things quieted down.

Thanks to Per Johan and Frank Ritcey for additional wildlife footage.

It's dumping!

After almost 2 months without snow, we finally got hammered with 10.5' in the upper basin.

Dropping trees.

During a wind storm in May, a dead tree fell & hit the Leopold Cabin. Before we repair the damage, we have to remove the remaining dead & dying trees in the area, so that this doesn't happen again.

A Winter Visit to Sagehen.

Sagehen Creek Field Station is a fully functional winter facility, even though a few things about access are a little different than in the summer season. Watch this video to get a tour of Sagehen in the winter.

Update, 2018: while this video is still quite explanatory and accurate, there have been some important changes at Sagehen.

The climate is shifting. Some years there is little or no snow at the station elevation. We do still get monster snow years, though, so you can't know for sure in advance.

The road is now kept open with a large snowcat, so there are very few days when it's not possible to drive to the facilities with a 2WD vehicle. High clearance helps, but is not mandatory. You should remain flexible in your scheduling, however! If you absolutely must get out in the morning after a storm for a flight, a meeting, or something else, you should plan ahead and leave your vehicle at the highway before the storm hits.

The Outdoor Meeting area in the Upper Camp is now covered with a permanent roof, so it's more useful in the shoulder seasons, or when it rains.

The Library is no longer a computer and GIS lab. It's just a meeting space, now that most people use and bring laptops.

We did add the 3 tall weather towers Jeff mentioned; we also remodeled and updated the Upper Bathhouse and many of the other spaces, but we did not build the Master Plan.

And we lost Buster and Nut, the cats :( Buster vanished, and Nut got old.

00:11:56

Conservation & Research Agreement signed for the North Fork of the American River

On September 26, 2006, a consortium of land owners & managers including: the North Fork Association, Chickering Partnership, USDA Forest Service Tahoe National Forest, US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station & Regents of the University of California signed a Conservation and Research Agreement (with introductory letter) addressing future cooperative management of the approximately 19,670 acres of public & private lands in this watershed.

This agreement creates a common management vision for the headwaters of a unique watershed that contains many remarkable features, including a population of mountain yellow-legged frogs, diverse botany & the largest stand of California old growth forest outside of the National Park system.

More info about CSFRS.

See a brief video preview of the area. 00:17 -- for PC [.wmv-2.75M] | for Mac [.mp4-639K]