Skip to main content
Donate

Rangers Need More Eyes on the Skies for Next Bald Eagle Count

By City News Service
February 6, 2017
Support Provided By
The banded female bald eagle “K-02” sits in a tree at Lake Hemet. The eagle was born in captivity at the San Francisco Zoo and hatched at Catalina Islands as part of the bald eagle recovery program. After being released, the eagle flew extensively around
The banded female bald eagle “K-02” sits in a tree at Lake Hemet.  | U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Forest Service rangers are in need of more eyes to scan the skies during this weekend's eagle watching expeditions in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The Forest Service's third bald eagle count of the winter will be conducted Saturday in multiple locations.

USFS personnel anticipate that more eagles have migrated to lakeside areas in the Inland Empire since December because of intense winter weather farther north.

The agency's 39th annual winter census began in early December and will conclude on March 11. This Saturday's outing will be the next to last opportunity of the season for ``citizen scientists'' to help gauge the region's bald eagle population, according to USFS spokeswoman Gerrelaine Alcordo.

Outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers who want to help out need no prior experience -- just warm clothes, a pair of binoculars and an hour to spare for each count, Alcordo said. Participants will receive brief orientations before trekking into the woods.

Eagles generally nest in the lakeside areas from late November to early April. Radio tracking devices attached to some birds show that, in a given year, they can migrate to the region from as far north as Alberta, Canada.

Because of hunting and habitat destruction, the American bald eagle was nearly driven to extinction in the past century. The birds were declared endangered in the 1970s. However, with some 10,000 breeding pairs identified across the continental United States, they were removed from the Endangered Species List in 2007.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the eagle count at Lake Hemet is asked to call (909) 382-2935; at Lake Perris, (951) 940-5600; Big Bear Lake, or Lakes Arrowhead and Gregory, (909) 382-2832; and Silverwood Lake, (760) 389-2303.

Rangers noted that eagle counts will be canceled during inclement weather. Showers are expected in some inland locations Friday, but the disturbances are likely to clear to the east by Saturday, according to
forecasters.

More information is available here: www.fs.usda.gov/sbnf.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters