Winter Carnivore Survey Finds that Wolverines (Gulo gulo)are Likely Extirpated from Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks
Brian R. Hudgens
David K. Garcelon
Institute for Wildlife Studies
PO Box 1104
Arcata, CA 95518
hudgens@iws.org

Recent confirmed photos of a Wolverine at a bait station at Lake Tahoe created a flurry of publicity and hope that perhaps this rarest of California carnivores was making a comeback. A study done in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks recently suggests that the California population, anyway, may be gone.

Trans Sierra Nevada Crest National Parks:
A Proposal to Expand Parklands Robert W. Derlet, MD 
Professor of Medicine
School of Medicine  
University of California, Davis 
Sacramento, CA 
Charles Goldman, Ph.D.
Professor
Environmental Science & Policy
University of California, Davis    Davis, CA

To protect California's increasingly scarce wildlands and water sources, as well as expand recreational opportunities for California and the nation,the authors propose a set of new National Parks in the Sierra, stretching from Mt. Lassen in the north, to the Kern River in the south.

2007 Report on Analysis of Water Quality of Lakes and Streams in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
Robert W. Derlet, M.D.
Professor
University of California, Davis

Dr. Derlet has now accumulated over a decade of extensive water quality sampling of both Yosemite and Sequoia Kings National Parks. Increasingly, he's looking at patterns emerging from his data showing significant differences in water quality depending on whether it receives little or no visitor use; heavy visitor use and use by stock (horses and mules). He's also noting the relative prevalence of algae in lakes and streams and speculates on its causes in otherwise pristine Sierra water.

An Analysis of the 7 July 2004
Rockwell Pass, CA Tornado:
Highest Elevation Tornado Documented in the US
John P. Monteverdi et al
San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA

Tornados near Mt. Whitney?? In July of 2004, a funnel cloud was observed forming over Rockwell Pass (elevation 11,600 feet) in Sequoia Canyon National Park, just north of Mt. Whitney. It was also photographed touching down. Recent analysis shows this to be the highest elevation tornado observed in the US. The article is in PDF and requires Adobe Reader.

Twentieth Century Glacier Change in the Sierra Nevada, California
Hassan Basagic
Graduate Student
Geography Department
Portland State University

Several hundred permanent ice fields and glaciers dot the Sierra Nevada. All of them began to form during the Little Ice Age when the Sierra's climate began to cool in the 1300s. They reached their maximum in the 1850s. In the last few decades most have begun to shrink rapidly. Researcher Hassan Basagic introduces us to the Sierra's glaciers and the direction his research will take.