Storm damage in Berlin Township, Ohio, from a derecho that moved through the region on June 13, 2022. This derecho is one of nine billion-dollar disasters to strike the U.S. so far in 2022. Credit: NOAA National Weather Service-Cleveland/Neil Fischer. June kicked off a very warm and dry start to meteorological summer for the U.S., according to experts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
The year so far also brought nine separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters to the nation — including tornado outbreaks, damaging hail and extreme drought.
Below are more highlights from NOAA's U.S. monthly climate report for June.
Climate by the numbers
June 2022
The average June temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 70.7 degrees F (2.2 degrees above average), making it the 15th-warmest June in 128 years.
Above-average warmth dominated much of the nation last month. Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi each had one of their top-10 warmest Junes on record, while Texas saw its fifth warmest on record. Alaska had its ninth-warmest June in the 98-year period of record for the state.
June precipitation across the U.S. was 2.33 inches — 0.60 of an inch below average — tying with 1930 as the 12th-driest June in the historical record.
Despite the below-average precipitation, some states saw a rather wet month. New Mexico had its fifth-wettest June on record, with Washington State and Oregon ranking seventh and eighth wettest, respectively.
Year to date (YTD, January through June 2022)
The YTD average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 48.7 degrees F, (1.2 degrees above the 20th-century average) ranking in the warmest third of the record. California and Florida both saw their seventh-warmest YTD on record, while South Carolina had its eighth warmest.
The precipitation total was 13.84 inches, 1.47 inches below average, which ranked in the driest third in the January-through-June record. California saw its driest such YTD on record, while Nevada and Utah ranked second and third driest for this six-month period, respectively.
This U.S. map is plotted with nine billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that occurred in the first six months of 2022. For details, please visit the website, ncdc.noaa.gov/billions. Credit: NOAA/NCEI.
Billion-dollar disasters
There were nine individual billion-dollar weather and climate events across the U.S. during the first six months of 2022, including:
• Three severe weather events. • Two tornado outbreaks. • Two hail storms. • A derecho event. • A broad drought event.
For this six-month period, the 2022 disaster count ranks fifth highest behind 2017, 2020, 2011 and 2021. With an estimated cost of $2.2 billion, the costliest event so far this year was a severe weather event that occurred across the South between April 11 to 13, 2022.
Since 1980, when NOAA began tracking these events in the U.S., the nation has sustained 332 separate weather and climate disasters where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (based on the Consumer Price Index adjustment to 2022) per event. The total cost of these 332 events exceeds $2.275 trillion.
Other notable climate events from this report
An intense wildfire season continued: June saw large wildfires burning across portions of the South and Southwest, as many others grew rapidly in Alaska. One million acres burned in Alaska by June 18 — the earliest such occurrence in the calendar year in the last 32 years.
By July 1, 1.85 million acres had been consumed, the second-highest June total on record and the seventh-highest acreage burned for any calendar month on record for Alaska. Across all 50 states, more than 3.9 million acres have burned from January 1 through June 30 — nearly 2.3 times the average for this time of year. Lake Mead hit a record low: In late June the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, located outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, saw its water level drop close to the dead pool stage — the elevation that prevents water from flowing downstream from the lake’s dam.
On June 30 the water elevation was 1,043.02 feet — the lowest elevation since the 1930s when the lake was first filled.
A map of the United States plotted with significant climate events that occurred during June 2022. Please see the story below as well as the full climate report highlights at http://bit.ly/USClimate202206offsite link. Credit: NOAA/NCEI.
The House of Representatives on Friday voted to approve two bills that together would protect the right to reproductive care and the right to travel across state lines for medical care.
The bills voted on were the Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 8296) and the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act (H.R. 8297).
The bills passed mostly along party lines and are expected not to be able to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the Senate’s filibuster.
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05), who represents a portion of Lake County in Congress, said he voted to pass both bills.
“When the Supreme Court released their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, they laid the groundwork for states to criminalize abortion and strip health care away from millions of women,” said Thompson. “The Supreme Court’s dangerous decision turns back the clock and strips rights away from Americans. My granddaughters will now have fewer rights than their grandmother. Access to reproductive care protects the health, well-being, and autonomy of women — that is why action to reverse the Supreme Court’s misguided ruling is imperative.
“Today, I was proud to vote for two bills that will protect the right to reproductive health care and ensure Americans are not penalized for crossing state lines to access health care. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to act on this legislation and deliver protections for women across the country,” he said Friday.
Thompson said access to comprehensive health care must include access to abortion — and the ability to access care should not depend on where you live.
He said the Women’s Health Protection Act restores the right to abortion nationwide ensuring all Americans – regardless of where they live – can make their own decisions about their lives and their futures.
Since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion and reversed nearly 50 years of precedent established in Roe v. Wade, abortion has been banned in at least 10states, with more bans expected soon. These bans force people to travel to other states where abortion care remains legal.
Thompson said the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act “protects Americans from extremist policies and groups by ensuring no person acting under state law can prevent, restrict, impede, or otherwise retaliate against a person traveling across state lines to obtain a lawful abortion.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Another key department head in the county of Lake has resigned after less than a year on the job.
Mary Darby, who has been Community Development director since October, has tendered her resignation following a Tuesday closed session evaluation with the Board of Supervisors.
Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein confirmed to Lake County News that Board Chair EJ Crandell accepted Darby’s resignation on behalf of the board.
Darby’s last day with the county will be Nov. 4, Rothstein said.
“Staff are working to prepare for Board discussion of a recruitment strategy to fill this important County position,” Rothstein said in an email.
He said that discussion is expected to take place during the board’s meeting on Tuesday, July 19.
Lake County News emailed Darby to ask for comment but she did not respond.
The Board of Supervisors hired Darby on Aug. 31, with her appointment effective on Oct. 4. In a Sept. 9 special meeting, the board appointed Darby in an extra-help capacity ahead of her official appointment date.
Officials at the time hailed her skill sets and experience as key to helping the county take the next steps to improve the department, which plays a key role in the county’s development and economy.
Darby, a University of California, San Diego graduate who also holds a Master of Arts degree in city planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology, has spent most of her career in Georgia. She said at the time of her hire that she had been hoping to return to California.
She said she looked forward to providing Lake County with professionalism, loyalty and a high standard of customer service, and pledged that her team would operate with one main goal — “Successful results!”
Since her hire, the board had five scheduled closed session performance evaluations with Darby. Such evaluations usually happen once or twice a year at most.
Darby’s departure emphasizes the county’s ongoing challenge in filling the Community Development director’s job.
She is the sixth person to head the department since the start of 2016.
Darby’s resignation follows by less than a month that of Dr. Erik McLaughlin, the Public Health officer.
McLaughlin, who was on the job for less than four months and was working remotely from his home in Las Vegas, also gave the board his resignation following a June 21 closed-session performance review, the fifth of his tenure.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used one of its navigation cameras to take this panorama of a proposed landing site for the Mars Sample Return lander that would serve as part of the campaign to bring samples of Mars rock and sediment to Earth for intensive study. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is conducting its science campaign, taking samples at Jezero Crater’s ancient river delta, but it’s also been busy scouting.
The rover is looking for locations where the planned Mars Sample Return, or MSR, Campaign can land spacecraft and collect sample tubes Perseverance has filled with rock and sediment.
The sites being scouted are under consideration because of their proximity to the delta and to one another, as well as for their relatively flat, lander-friendly terrain.
Mars Sample Return is a historic endeavor that would retrieve and deliver samples of that faraway terrain for intensive study in laboratories on Earth to look for signs of past microscopic life on the Red Planet.
The strategic partnership between NASA and European Space Agency, or ESA, would involve multiple spacecraft, including a rocket that would launch from the surface of Mars.
Engineers planning a Mars landing prefer to work with flatter ground because rocks and an undulating surface are harder to land on. With that in mind, the MSR Entry, Descent, and Landing team is looking for a pancake-flat landing zone with a 200-foot (60-meter) radius.
“The Perseverance team pulled out all the stops for us, because Mars Sample Return has unique needs when it comes to where we operate,” said MSR Program Manager Richard Cook of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Essentially, a dull landing place is good. The flatter and more uninspiring the vista, the better we like it, because while there are a lot of things that need to be done when we arrive to pick up the samples, sightseeing is not one of them.”
The first stage of MSR is already in progress: Perseverance has cored, collected, and sealed nine samples of Mars rock to date. The ninth, collected on July 6, is the first from Jezero Crater’s ancient river delta. The plan is for Perseverance to drop, or cache, sample tubes on the surface to await later retrieval during MSR surface operations.
Choosing an area that lacks large rocks (especially those over 7 1/2 inches, or 19 centimeters, in diameter), sand dunes, and steeply angled terrain would go a long way toward easing the path for an MSR recovery vehicle to efficiently grab tubes before heading to the MSR Sample Retrieval Lander and its Mars Ascent Vehicle.
The MSR team calls the area they’ve been looking at the “landing strip” because – at least from images taken from spacecraft in orbit – it appears to be as flat and long as a runway. But they needed a rover’s-eye-view for a closer look.
“We had been eyeing these locations since before Perseverance’s landing, but imagery from orbit can only tell you so much,” said Al Chen, Mars Sample Return Systems Engineering & Integration manager at JPL. “Now we have some up-close-and-personal shots of the landing strip that indicate we were right on the money. The landing strip will more than likely make our shortlist of potential landing and caching sites for MSR.”
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Campaign promises to revolutionize humanity’s understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instruments around the world.
The campaign would fulfill a solar system exploration goal, a high priority since the 1970s and in the last three National Academy of Sciences Planetary Decadal Surveys.
This strategic NASA and ESA partnership would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and the first launch from the surface of another planet.
The samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover during its exploration of an ancient lakebed are thought to present the best opportunity to reveal clues about the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for past life.
By better understanding the history of Mars, we would improve our understanding of all rocky planets in the solar system, including Earth.
Learn more about the Mars Sample Return Program here.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used one of its navigation cameras to take this image of flat terrain to be considered for a Mars Sample Return lander that would serve as part of the campaign to bring samples of Mars rock and sediment to Earth for intensive study. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Enough trash to fill trash bags lining the entire California coastline twice over. That’s how much trash has been removed in the first year of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative.
In just the first 12 months since the $1.1 billion multiyear cleanup effort began last July, Clean California has removed 12,700 tons of trash — which would fill enough trash bags to line the California coastline two times — from California’s roadways, funded 231 projects to revitalize underserved communities, and created nearly 1,500 jobs, with thousands more expected in the coming years.
“It’s simple: all Californians deserve clean streets. That’s why we’re cleaning up California like never before in our state’s history,” said Gov. Newsom. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done in just one year to make the Golden State a cleaner, safer place to call home – and we’re just getting started.”
California roadsides have less trash, underserved communities statewide are receiving beautification and safety upgrades, and hundreds more Californians have stable jobs in just the first year of Clean California.
“Clean California is helping communities throughout the state break the destructive cycle of litter and create public spaces we can all take pride in,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “Thanks to Governor Newsom’s vision, California is cleaner, communities are addressing blight, and hundreds more of our fellow Californians have dependable work. I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish together in Year 2.”
First-year highlights of Clean California include:
Litter cleanup: Caltrans collected more than 756,000 cubic yards (12,700 tons) of litter from the state highway system – which would fill enough trash bags to line the entire California coastline two times. This is a 183 percent increase in litter removal compared to 2020, when Caltrans collected 267,000 cubic yards of trash.
Job creation: Caltrans hired more than 700 new team members as part of Clean California, including 470 maintenance positions to collect litter and remove graffiti. Forty-five of these maintenance workers have already earned promotions within the department. Caltrans also expanded its partnership with the Butte County Office of Education Back 2 Work program, adding 82 crews in counties throughout California. The $127 million contract has already created 760 jobs and will fund more than 4,000 positions that provide income and job training to Californians who have experienced barriers to employment, such as homelessness, addiction and incarceration. Clean California grant-funded projects (see below) are estimated to create another 7,200 jobs.
State beautification projects: 126 beautification projects with a total budget of $312 million are underway to transform and connect communities along the state highway system. Nearly all the projects – 98 percent – will benefit underserved communities. Humboldt County residents and visitors are already enjoying the first completed project, a new parklet along the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge near State Route 255.
Local grant projects: Nearly $300 million in Clean California grants is funding 105 local projects statewide to remove litter and transform public spaces with community markers and public art in underserved communities.
Adopt-A-Highway Program: Clean California created a $250 monthly volunteer incentive stipend through the Adopt-A-Highway Program, increasing highway adoptions by more than 800 in a matter of months.
Dump day events: Nearly 150 free events throughout the state allowed the public to safely dispose of more than 50,000 cubic yards of litter, including more than 15,400 tires and 4,100 mattresses.
In the coming year, Caltrans looks to continue the momentum by removing 1.2 million cubic yards of trash from the state highway system – 60% more than the first year. For more information, visit www.CleanCA.com.
Editor’s note: The Registrar of Voters Office updated this release to correct the end date for filing.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A big slate of seats on local school and special district boards will be up for election this fall.
The Lake County Registrar of Voters office said the numerous school and special district elections have been consolidated with the Nov. 8 general election.
The first day a candidate may file for office is Monday, July 18; the last day is Friday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m.
Official declaration of candidacy forms for eligible candidates desiring to file may be obtained from the Lake County Registrar of Voters office in person at 325 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, during regular office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office is closed on county holidays and weekends.
For additional information call 707-263-2372 or toll-free at 888-235-6730.
The Elections Office said eligible voters have the opportunity to file for candidacy for the following offices.
Mendocino-Lake Community College District
Trustee Area No 6: One vacancy, four year term
Yuba Community College District
Trustee Area No 7: One vacancy, two year unexpired term
Lake County Board of Education
Trustee Area No 3: One vacancy, four year term Trustee Area No 4: One vacancy, four year term Trustee Area No 5: One vacancy, four year term
Kelseyville Unified School District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Konocti Unified School District
Three vacancies: Four year terms
Lakeport Unified School District
Two vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Lucerne Elementary School District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Middletown Unified School District
Three vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Upper Lake Unified School District
Three vacancies: Four year terms
Kelseyville Fire Protection District
Three vacancies: Four year terms
Lake County Fire Protection District
Four vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Lake Pillsbury Fire Protection District
Three vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Northshore Fire Protection District
At-large, one vacancy: Four year term Lucerne zone, one vacancy: Four year term Nice zone, one vacancy: Four year term
South Lake County Fire Protection District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Anderson Springs Community Services District
Three vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Butler-Keys Community Services District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Redbud Health Care District
Zone 2, one vacancy: Four year term Zone 4, one vacancy: Four year term
Buckingham Park Water District
Three vacancies – 4 year terms
Callayomi County Water District
Three vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Clearlake Oaks County Water District
Two vacancies: Four year terms
Cobb Area County Water District
Three vacancies: Four year terms
Konocti County Water District
Three vacancies: Four year terms
Upper Lake County Water District
Two vacancies: Four year terms One vacancy: Two year unexpired term
Villa Blue Estates Water District
Three vacancies: Four year terms Three vacancies: Two year terms
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Next week the candidate filing period opens for the city of Clearlake’s Nov. 8 municipal election, in which two city council seats will be up for election.
Those seats are held by Russell Cremer and Dirk Slooten, and both men confirmed to Lake County News on Friday that they intend to seek reelection.
Both Cremer and Slooten served on the Clearlake Planning Commission. Cremer was appointed to fill a vacancy in May 2018 and in November 2018 both men were elected for the first time. Slooten is in his second year as mayor.
Also on the ballot is the city treasurer job, which has been vacant for many years and is filled by staff.
The city reported that the candidate filing period begins on Monday, July 18, at 8 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12. That period would be extended to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 17, for non-incumbents if either Cremer or Slooten didn’t file.
Candidate packets will be available in the Administrative Services/City Clerk’s Office, 14050 Olympic Drive, by appointment only.
Candidates are asked to schedule an appointment time with the clerk to go over the packet disbursal process, which takes one hour.
For more information, contact the Administrative Services/City Clerk’s Office at 707-994-8201, Extension 106, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
This cluster of galaxies, called Stephan’s Quintet, is a composite image produced from two cameras aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA/STScI
The James Webb Space Telescope team has released the first science-quality images from the new telescope. In them are the oldest galaxies ever seen by human eyes, evidence of water on a planet 1,000 light-years away and incredible details showing the birth and death of stars. Webb’s purpose is to explore origins – of the universe, of galaxies, of stars and of life – and the five images released on July 12, 2022, make good on that promise.
Once the suite of instruments onboard all cooled down and were running smoothly, astronomers wasted no time in putting Webb to work. Each of the first images contains enough data to produce major scientific results on their own.
Webb was designed to collect light across the entire red to mid-infrared spectrum – wavelengths of light that are blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. And with its giant mirror and sun-shade blocking infrared emitted by the Sun, Earth and Moon, Webb can produce images of a sharpness never before achieved by any other telescope.
The buzz among professional astronomers like me has been electric since members of the Webb team shared tantalizing test images. And the real images are even better than anyone could have hoped for. During the presentation where the first images were released, Webb project scientist Jane Rigby remarked “for Webb there is no blank sky, everywhere it looks it sees distant galaxies.” Most of those galaxies were invisible until now.
This photo shows gravitational lensing and many bright galaxies, but the smaller, fainter, less distinct galaxies in this image are some of the oldest light ever detected by a human-made object.NASA/STScI
Ancient galaxies and the early universe
The first Webb image the world saw is of a galaxy cluster known to astronomers as SMACS 0723. It lies in the southern hemisphere sky and is 5.12 billion light-years from Earth.
The detail of the thousands of individual galaxies in the image is stunning. It is like the universe in high definition, and I encourage you to look at the full resolution image and zoom in to truly appreciate the details.
The large white galaxies in the middle of the image belong to the cluster and are similar in age to the Sun and Earth. Surrounding and interspersed among the cluster galaxies are more distant galaxies, but stretched into spectacular arcs as if seen through a magnifying glass. And that is exactly what is happening. The background galaxies are much farther from Earth but appear magnified, as their light is bent toward Earth by the gravity of the much closer cluster.
In the background you can see faint red galaxies scattered like rubies across the sky. Those galaxies are even farther away. By measuring precise attributes of their light, astronomers can tell that they formed over 13 billion years ago and even determine the abundance of different elements in these early galaxies.
Webb is not only producing incredibly sharp images, but it is doing so easily when compared to its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990. As Rigby quipped, “… the Hubble Extremely Deep Field took two weeks of exposure, Webb went deeper before breakfast.” Once Webb carries out longer observations that allow it to collect more light from faint stars or galaxies, astronomers will be able to see some of the first stars and galaxies that formed right after the Big Bang.
The James Webb Space Telescope is sensitive enough to not only detect light that passes though the atmospheres of distant planets, but to measure the strength of this light at different wavelengths – as shown here – which can suggest the presence of water or other molecules in an atmosphere.NASA/STScI
Understanding planets around other stars
The second reveal was not of an image but a spectrum – a breakdown of the strength of light at different wavelengths.
Webb pointed its mirror at the exoplanet WASP 96-B – a giant hot gas planet orbiting a star about 1,000 light-years from Earth – as the planet passed in front of its parent star. During this transit, a portion of the star’s light was filtered through the planet’s atmosphere and left a “chemical fingerprint” in the light’s unique spectrum. The specifics of this fingerprint strongly suggest that there is water vapor, clouds and haze in the atmosphere of WASP 96-B.
As Webb moves on to observe smaller planets that could potentially harbor life, astronomers expect to detect the fingerprints of oxygen, nitrogen, ammonia and carbon in the form of methane and other hydrocarbons. The goal is to find biosignatures of life – that is, chemistry that would point toward the atmosphere being modified by living organisms.
The technical challenge of doing this type of observation, called transit spectroscopy, is enormous, and this initial result barely scratches the surface of the scientific content of the spectrum.
Fine details seen in this image of the Carina Nebula offer clues to how stars are born.NASA/STScI
Galactic dances and the lives of stars
The last three images showed the incredible resolution of Webb’s optics as the telescope explored the birth and death of stars.
Webb’s ability to capture light in the mid-infrared range allows its cameras to cut through dense clouds of dust and gas. This ability helped Webb to capture spectacular details of the Carina Nebula where stars are born.
The Webb telescope can take high resolution images using multiple cameras with each revealing different details, as demonstrated in these side-by-side photos of a dying star.NASA/STScI
Webb is also excellently suited to study the end of a star’s life. As stars get old, they can puff off their outer layers and form nebulas like the stunning Southern Ring Nebula, which was imaged by Webb. The image revealed never-before-seen details of successive waves of matter expelled by the dying central star. While Hubble was unable to see through the expanding cloud of dust and debris, Webb provided the first look at the binary star system that formed the nebula.
The last photo from Webb’s coming out party showed Stephan’s Quintet, a group of five galaxies 300 million light-years from Earth, interacting in a cosmic dance. Thanks to the suite of complementary instruments aboard Webb, the telescope can simultaneously pick up details of individual stars in these galaxies, see the cold dust and gas fueling star formation within these galaxies and – most remarkably – block out the stars, gas and dust to see the material swirling around the supermassive black hole at the center of one of the galaxies.
Webb also captured data on the spectra of hundreds of individual star-forming regions in the Quintet, which will take months to analyze and study.
Webb is the result of 25 years of work by thousands of scientists, engineers and administrators belonging to an international collaboration of space agencies, companies, research centers and universities worldwide. John Mather, a project leader for Webb, emotionally described the journey: “This was hard to do. It is difficult to express just how hard this was. There were so many thousands of ways it could have gone wrong.”
But it didn’t go wrong. It all came together, and now humanity’s greatest space telescope is open for business.
This story was updated to correct the description of the photo of the Southern Ring Nebula.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more new dogs ready and waiting to go to new homes.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
The following dogs are available for adoption. The newest additions are at the top.
“Betsy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Betsy’
“Betsy” is a female American pit bull mix with a short white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50236145.
“Bluey.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bluey’
“Bluey” is a male retriever mix with a short black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50552999.
“Hakuna.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Hakuna’
“Hakuna” is a male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
“Precious.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Precious’
“Precious” is a female terrier mix with a short tan and black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50467529.
“Sadie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Sadie’
“Sadie” is a female German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49802563.
“Taz.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Taz’
“Taz” is a male Labrador retriever mix with a short black coat and white markings.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50467817.
“Andy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
“Bear.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 48443153.
“Big Phil.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Big Phil’
“Big Phil” is a 13-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a blue coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49951647.
“Bro.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bro’
“Bro” is a male terrier mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
Bro is dog No. 50262527.
“Colt.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Colt’
“Colt” is a male Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with a short rust and black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49812106.
“Hondo.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Hondo’
“Hondo” is a male Alaskan husky mix with a buff coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s dog No. 50227693.
“Kubota.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Kubota’
“Kubota” is a male German shepherd mix with a short tan and black coat.
He has been neutered.
Kubota is dog No. 50184421.
“Matata.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Matata’
“Matata” is male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
“Newman.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Newman’
“Newman” is a 1-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a black and white coat.
He has been neutered.
Newman is dog No. 49057809.
“Terry.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Terry’
“Terry” is a handsome male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He gets along with other dogs, including small ones, and enjoys toys. He also likes water, playing fetch and keep away.
Staff said he is now getting some training to help him build confidence.
He is dog No. 48443693.
“Ziggy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Ziggy’
“Ziggy” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.
He has been neutered.
Ziggy is dog No. 50146247
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Emily E. Schlickman, University of California, Davis; Brett Milligan, University of California, Davis, and Stephen M. Wheeler, University of California, Davis
Wildfires in the American West are getting larger, more frequent and more severe. Although efforts are underway to create fire-adapted communities, it’s important to realize that we cannot simply design our way out of wildfire – some communities will need to begin planning a retreat.
Paradise, California, is an example. For decades, this community has worked to reduce dry grasses, brush and forest overgrowth in the surrounding wildlands that could burn. It built firebreaks to prevent fires from spreading, and promoted defensible space around homes.
But in 2018, these efforts were not enough. The Camp Fire started from wind-damaged power lines, swept up the ravine and destroyed over 18,800 structures. Eighty-five people died.
Across the America West, thousands of communities like Paradise are at risk. Many, if not most, are in the wildland-urban interface, a zone between undeveloped land and urban areas where both wildfires and unchecked growth are common. From 1990 to 2010, new housing in the wildland-urban interface in the continental U.S. grew by 41%.
Whether in the form of large, master-planned communities or incremental, house-by-house construction, developers have been placing new homes in danger zones.
First Street Foundation created a national wildfire model that assesses fire risk at the local level to help communities understand and prepare. The map reflects the probability wildfire will occur in an area in 2022.First Street Foundation Wildfire Model
It has been nearly four years since the Camp Fire, but the population of Paradise is now less than 30% of what it once was. This makes Paradise one of the first documented cases of voluntary retreat in the face of wildfire risk. And while the notion of wildfire retreat is controversial, politically fraught and not yet endorsed by the general public, as experts in urban planning and environmental design, we believe the necessity for retreat will become increasingly unavoidable.
But retreat isn’t only about wholesale moving. Here are four forms of retreat being used to keep people out of harm’s way.
Limiting future development
On one end of the wildfire retreat spectrum are development-limiting policies that create stricter standards for new construction. These might be employed in moderate-risk areas or communities disinclined to change.
An example is San Diego’s steep hillside guidelines that restrict construction in areas with significant grade change, as wildfires burn faster uphill. In the guidelines, steep hillsides have a gradient of at least 25% and a vertical elevation of at least 50 feet. In most cases, new buildings cannot encroach into this zone and must be located at least 30 feet from the hillside.
While development-limiting policies like this prevent new construction in some of the most hazardous conditions, they often cannot eliminate fire risk.
Development-limiting policies can include stricter construction standards. The illustration shows the difference between a home on a steep hillside that is hard to defend from fire and one farther from the slope.Emily Schlickman
Halting new construction
Further along the spectrum are construction-halting measures, which prevent new construction to manage growth in high-risk parts of the wildland-urban interface.
These first two levels of action could both be implemented using basic urban planning tools, starting with county and city general plans and zoning, and subdivision ordinances. For example, Los Angeles County recently updated its general plan to limit new sprawl in wildfire hazard zones. Urban growth boundaries could also be adopted locally, as many suburban communities north of San Francisco have done, or could be mandated by states, as Oregon did in 1973.
Halting construction and managing growth in high-risk parts of the wildland-urban interface is another retreat tool.Emily Schlickman
To assist the process, states and the federal government could designate fire-risk areas, similar to Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps. California already designates zones with three levels of fire risk: moderate, high and very high.
Incentives for local governments to adopt these frameworks could be provided through planning and technical assistance grants or preference for infrastructure funding. At the same time, states or federal agencies could refuse funding for local authorities that enable development in severe-risk areas.
In some cases, state officials might turn to the courts to stop county-approved projects to prevent loss of life and property and reduce the costs that taxpayers might pay to maintain and protect at-risk properties
Threehigh-profileprojects in California’s wildland-urban interface have been stopped in the courts because their environmental impact reports fail to adequately address the increased wildfire risk that the projects create. (Full disclosure: For a short time in 2018, one of us, Emily Schlickman, worked as a design consultant on one of these – an experience that inspired this article.)
Incentives to encourage people to relocate
In severe risk areas, the technique of “incentivized relocating” could be tested to help people move out of wildfire’s way through programs such as voluntary buyouts. Similar programs have been used after floods.
Local governments would work with FEMA to offer eligible homeowners the pre-disaster value of their home in exchange for not rebuilding. To date, this type of federally backed buyout program has yet to be implemented for wildfire areas, but some vulnerable communities have developed their own.
The city of Paradise created a buyout program funded with nonprofit grant money and donations. However, only 300 acres of patchworked parcels have been acquired, suggesting that stronger incentives and more funding may be required.
Removing government-backed fire insurance plans or instituting variable fire insurance rates based on risk could also encourage people to avoid high-risk areas.
Another potential tool is a “transferable development rights” framework. Under such a framework, developers wishing to build more intensively in lower-risk town centers could purchase development rights from landowners in rural areas where fire-prone land is to be preserved or returned to unbuilt status. The rural landowners are thus compensated for the lost use of their property. These frameworks have been used for growth management purposes in Montgomery County, Maryland, and in Massachusetts and Colorado.
Incentivized relocating can be used in severe risk areas by subsidizing the movement of some people out of wildfire’s way. The illustrations show what before and after might look like.Emily Schlickman
Moving entire communities, wholesale
Vulnerable communities may want to relocate but don’t want to leave neighbors and friends. “Wholesale moving” involves managing the entire resettlement of a vulnerable community.
This technique, though, has drawbacks – from the complicated logistics and support needed to move an entire community to the time frame needed to develop a resettlement plan to potentially overloading existing communities with those displaced.
In extreme risk areas, wholesale moving could be an approach – managing the resettlement of an entire vulnerable community to a safer area.Emily Schlickman
Even with ideal landscape management, wildfire risks to communities will continue to increase, and retreat from the wildland-urban interface will become increasingly necessary. The primary question is whether that retreat will be planned, safe and equitable, or delayed, forced and catastrophic.
A homeless encampment in Lakeport, California, that was removed on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department. LAKEPORT, Calif. — Lakeport Police officers and Lakeport Public Works staff on Wednesday removed a significant homeless encampment from public property.
The camp was located along the shoreline of Clear Lake, off the east side of the private properties of 1 First St. and 2 C St., said Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.
The persons using the encampment were trespassing across the private properties to gain access.
For approximately the past two years this location has been a regular site of camps and a source of concern for surrounding residential and commercial property owners for numerous reasons including safety, sanitary conditions and fire danger, Rasmussen said.
He said that in recent months several wildland fires have started in the area and caused threats for surrounding neighborhoods.
Officers surveyed the property and contacted the occupants numerous times over the past few months in efforts to mitigate the situation.
Police officers and their embedded crisis responder from Lake Family Resource Center worked with occupants to offer resources from the many agencies working on homelessness in Lake County.
On July 6, by Rasmussen’s direction, the property was ordered vacated, with written notices posted as well as personally served on occupants giving them sufficient time to remove their belongings.
On both July 6 and July 13, officers took crisis and outreach staff from Lake County Behavioral Health with them to offer additional resources for any persons remaining in the encampment. The written notices and removal times are required by federal court case law decisions.
Upon arrival at 7 a.m. Wednesday, three occupants were located in the camp. Rasmussen said the occupants were again offered and one did accept resources and transportation to a local homeless shelter. The person’s valuables which could not be transported to the shelter were secured and safeguarded.
The other two individuals declined resources and were ordered to vacate immediately or face arrest. They left the area without further incident, Rasmussen said.
A crew of 10 public works and police staff with necessary equipment proceeded to clean the camp and rehabilitate the area over the next nine hours. Rasmussen said this work included hauling off 75 yards of garbage totaling 22,360 pounds.
The homeless encampment in Lakeport, California, that was removed on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, contained more than 10 tons of trash. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department. Rasmussen said that had this trash not been removed, when the Clear Lake water levels returned to full or higher, it would have entered the lake.
On Thursday, another 10-person crew rehabilitated the area to ensure it is safe and clean and to reduce fire danger.
In the future, Rasmussen said officers will conduct extra patrol of the area to ensure the encampment does not reestablish.
The cleanup process alone, not including all of the previous outreach, is estimated to have cost the public $15,000, he said.
Rasmussen said the removal of homeless camps from public property is complex. “When we take this action we want to be sure that the problem will not just move down the street to the next neighborhood or business district. For this reason we are very persistent with offering resources and assistance with connecting people to programs including those for housing, medical care, behavioral health and drug and alcohol addiction.”
He added, “The most significant reasons we see people being in a homeless situation are behavioral health and substance abuse problems. Many of the people causing issues for neighborhoods and businesses are people who refuse our assistance because they do not want to recognize or change their conditions.”
Additionally, Rasmussen said many of the tools his agency had used previously to deal with misdemeanor criminal behavior have been removed by voter or legislative initiatives.
“Much of this type of criminal behavior affects the lives of the residents and business owners and generally makes people feel unsafe or hesitant to use their public spaces or even being able to run their business,” he said.
“It is sometimes difficult for us to address this bad behavior but we want the community to know we continue to work hard every day to keep Lakeport safe,” Rasmussen said. “Please continue to contact us with your concerns.”
Cooking and food items at the homeless encampment in Lakeport, California, that was removed on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department.
State wildlife disease specialists have confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Eurasian H5N1 Avian Influenza in three wild birds found in Colusa and Glenn counties.
The birds were collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 5 during a mortality event at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex and submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center for preliminary testing.
On July 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the detection of avian influenza H5N1 in two Canada geese and one American white pelican and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Laboratory.
These are the first detections of avian influenza H5N1 in wild birds in California. Although avian influenza viruses naturally circulate among waterbirds, the strain of H5N1 currently in circulation in the U.S. and Canada has been causing illness and death in a higher diversity of wild bird species than during previous avian influenza outbreaks. The virus also remains highly contagious for domestic poultry.
Currently, there are no confirmed cases of avian influenza in domestic poultry in California.
According to data compiled by the USDA, avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in at least 1,825 individual wild birds in 42 states and the District of Columbia since January 2022. Additionally, infection has been confirmed in 386 commercial and backyard domestic poultry and mixed-species flocks in 37 states. Prior to its detection in North America, avian influenza H5N1 activity had been on the rise across Europe since October 2021.
Avian predators and scavengers may be exposed to avian influenza viruses when feeding on infected waterbirds. Infection with avian influenza viruses among songbirds, including many common backyard birds, appears to be rare.
However, feeding and providing water to wild birds is discouraged, especially in the vicinity of backyard poultry or other captive birds such as ducks, geese, pigeons, doves and parrots. Increased concentration of wild birds at feeders and bird baths may lead to fecal contamination of the local environment, which may aid in disease transmission.
Wild birds should be excluded from entering enclosures for domestic and pet birds, and food and water should not be shared between wild birds and domestic or pet birds.
CDFW’s Wildlife Health Laboratory, in coordination with partners, is continuing to monitor wild bird populations for signs of illness and investigating mortality events. The public may report dead wild birds using CDFW’s mortality reporting form. For guidance on orphaned or injured live wild birds, please contact your nearest wildlife rehabilitation center. Be advised that some wildlife rehabilitation centers may have restrictions on the wildlife species they will admit.
An informational flyer addressing frequently asked questions is available on CDFW’s website.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control considers the transmission risk of avian influenza to people to be low, but recommends taking basic protective measures (i.e., wearing gloves and face masks and handwashing) if contact with wild birds or domestic poultry cannot be avoided.
Practicing biosecurity is the most effective way to keep domestic poultry and pet birds healthy. Please visit the California Department of Food and Agriculture, or CDFA, and USDA websites for biosecurity information. Sick and dead poultry may be reported to the CDFA hotline at 1 866-922-2473.
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