Trail Guides online
Trail Guides to the Los Padres National Forest and Ventana Wilderness are no longer being sold by the local Chapter. To order via internet visit www.rei.com. Click Books and Maps, then California, then enter "Los Padres" in their search window to get to the Trail Guide.

Artful idea
A group called Future Sea Level has been installing bathtub rings around San Francisco to mark how high the sea will rise with Global Warming. Partners in the art project include the Sierra Club, San Francisco Department of the Environment, Aquarium of the Bay, and Pier 39. Check out their website, www.futuresealevel.org.

Hard labor
Ventana Wilderness Alliance have made repair of the Cone Peak trails a priority for 2007. To join in the fun contact David Knapp, 805-226-7479.

Docents needed
Año Nuevo is looking for volunteers to lead guided tours during Elephant seal breeding season. Training begins September 5. Call 650-879-2032.

Matchmaker
The City of Santa Cruz will extend its participation in a web-based alternative commute program that facilitates carpool matching as well as offering monthly rewards for carpooling, biking, walking, and transit. So far 25% of city workers have subscribed. For more info see www.ridespring.com.

Stay of execution
In an April lawsuit settlement, the U.S. Forest Service agreed to abandon plans to allow 9 large timber sales in wild areas of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and not to offer any new timber sales in Tongass roadless areas until a forest plan amendment is completed. The Tongass is home to the biggest timber subsidies in the nation with Americans paying about $45 million/year to subsidize logging mostly by building unneeded roads. The 17 million acres of the Tongass are home to old growth trees, wolves, bears, salmon, moose, and bald eagles. It is the world's largest temperate rainforest. The Club and other environmental organizations continue their fight to save this magnificent forest.

Corporate welfare
The cost to graze cattle on public lands has just dropped. In 2006 the government charged $1.56/month per cow-calf pair. For 2007 the charge is $1.35/month. That's less than it costs to feed a mouse! Unhappily, the real costs have been shifted to the American public. Unlike corporations, vacationing families get no such breaks. The Bush administration is in the process of raising entrance fees for most National Parks and monuments across the country.

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