CLEAR LAKE HORIZONS

Fall 2020 C.L.S.P.I.A.

(Continued on page 3.)

Trail Cameras at the ParkWow! It has been 6 months of collecting video and data of Clear Lake State Park’s natives. The trail cameras from day one captured the diversity of the park’s animal life. Highlights of the first six months are: black bears in the Upper and Lower Bayview campgrounds; numerous bobcat sightings in all areas of the park; and fox, herons, mink, opossums, raccoons, and rats showing themselves along the shorelines of Cole Creek and Kelsey Slough. Deer keep showing us how seasonal they are in the locations around the park. The raccoons own the shorelines at night, while the Great Blue Herons take over in the daytime. Having no campers until early July gave the animals free reign of the park, but as campers started to arrive it didn’t seem to bother the summertime animals. Cole Creek campground continued to see large numbers of fox, raccoons, and opossums, even with campers 30 feet away. Kelsey Slough camera has also been busy capturing fawns, mink, hawks, and an amazing assortment of life.

The cameras were tripped more than 10,000 times with 6,006 animal sightings recorded. Raccoons are the most photogenic, with over 1,400 recordings. Deer came in second with over 1,000 recordings. Please check the chart at the end of the article to see everything that has been recorded from February 4 to July 31. Just a note: these are sightings, not animal counts; we don’t have 1,074 deer in the park!The trail camera YouTube videos drew the most attention on our CLSPIA Facebook site, as we created summaries at the end of each month. If something was very special, like sighting our two black bears, a video posting was made soon after the camera’s data was downloaded. The cameras are checked by Anita and myself once per

week. Batteries are recharged and installed about every 3 weeks. Five cameras are now being used, and these have been moved occasionally due to false trips by weather conditions, bad location where nothing is being captured, or too many people.

All in all it has been a great addition to the CLSPIA collection of educational information.

Website Links:CLSPIA Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaStatePark/

CLSPIA YouTube Video Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlt7dpkiufHKItJnP6f9XCj913i-wbAad

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A Message from the CLSPIA Board

Ah yes, none of us can remember a time like this: Covid-19, Covid-19 restrictions, fires and smoke, excessive heat, looming PG&E PSPS, virtual school, high unem-ployment; and yet throughout the entire ordeal Clear Lake State Park has remained open in one form or another. In the beginning (March 2020) the park was closed to all

camping, the visitor center and diorama were closed, school programs, junior rangers and nature walks were suspended, but we could still walk and hike in the park. For many this was one bit of freedom that helped to maintain our sanity.

The entire park is now open for camping, except for the group campground, which remains closed indefinitely, but because of the excessive fire danger, campfires are not permitted. I think all of us are thankful for the state park and the staff who have worked hard throughout the spring and summer to maintain the park and keep our park experience enjoyable. To express CLSPIA’s thanks and appreciation to both the permanent and seasonal park staff for all their work this summer, we hosted a lunch at the pavilion, complete with sandwiches, chips, drinks and home-made ice cream. All the staff enjoyed the lunch and the ice cream was the big hit for the hot smoky day.

The board has continued to meet on occasion and business con-tinues. Our revenue has been severely reduced because of the decrease in firewood and quagga mussel sticker sales, but we are hopeful that with fall and the cooler weather the firewood sales will pick up.

We have some new and long awaited permanent employees at the park. Terri Lopez is the new “Program Manager for Interpretation and Education for the Northern Buttes District” with her office in Oroville, and Kirk Thomas Olsen is the new permanent part-time “Interpreter I” assigned to both Clear Lake State Park and Anderson Marsh State Historic Park. Both parks now have a new Supervising Ranger, Chris Glenn, and the promise of two new rangers fresh out of the academy that will be assigned to the park once they successfully complete their field training. The board is looking forward to working with the staff to reconstitute and revitalize the volunteer education and interpretation programs that we have sorely missed these past six months.

All of the board members want to thank our members for their continued and greatly appreciated support and remind everyone the park remains open for your sanity walks. Brad Barnwell

Clear LakeHorizons

is published by the

Clear Lake StatePark

InterpretiveAssociation

www.clearlakestatepark.org

Association OfficersPresident - Rich SimpsonSecretary - Brad BarnwellTreasurer - Julie BerryVerna Schaffer - Editor

Verna Schaffer - PublisherKathy Barnwell - Membership

Brad Barnwell - Publicity

CLSPIABoard of Directors

Brad BarnwellKathy Barnwell

Julie BerryRon Hess

John MaleyPaul Medlin

Bob SchoenherrAnita Benzing

Verna SchafferOleta SimpsonRich Simpson

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(Trail Cameras -- from page 1.)

Total Species Sighted February March April May June July34 Acorn Woodpecker 0 3 8 12 8 3

253 American Crow 1 5 12 54 113 681 Bewick’s Wren 0 0 0 1 0 05 Black Bear 0 1 3 1 0 0

335 Black Bird Species 0 0 123 97 87 2833 Black-crowned Night Heron 0 12 7 2 0 12

1,074 Black-tailed Deer 253 210 163 123 180 14524 Bobcat 1 2 5 12 2 2

350 California Quail 0 69 148 78 25 3021 California Scrub-Jay 1 4 5 3 4 4

9 Canada Geese 0 0 0 9 0 01 Common Raven 1 0 0 0 0 0

21 Coyote 5 12 4 0 0 018 Dove Species 8 0 3 3 1 324 European Starling 0 0 10 3 11 0

107 Great Blue Heron 0 17 26 23 21 202 Great Egret 0 1 1 0 0 0

65 Green Heron 0 0 14 12 19 2081 Grey Fox 2 2 17 6 22 32

2 Lizard 0 0 2 0 0 0115 Mallard 12 30 28 33 11 1

14 Mink 0 2 1 2 0 92 Muskrat 0 0 1 0 1 09 Northern Flicker 0 0 2 3 2 23 Oak Titmouse 0 1 0 1 0 1

262 Opossum 5 22 56 41 64 7475 Pied-billed Grebe 0 69 6 0 0 023 Rabbit species 2 4 7 3 7 0

1,407 Raccoon 71 141 339 329 201 32671 Rat species 0 6 5 33 11 16

6 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 0 2 430 Skunk 0 6 11 3 9 1

7 Spider species 0 2 2 2 1 0647 Squirrel species 19 46 126 111 243 102

3 Towhee species 0 0 1 1 0 199 Wild Turkey 36 53 5 1 4 0

6 Wilson’s Snipe 1 1 4 0 0 0767 Wood Duck 97 383 145 130 8 4

6006

The Loss of Leona ButtsIt is a sad time for CLSPIA members and the nature lovers of Lake County with the passing of Leona Butts in early July of this year. Leona and her late husband D.A. (passed in 2016) were active in many organizations in the county, but we knew them both as active volunteers with both Clear Lake State Park and Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, as well as Redbud Audubon. Leona was an active member of the CLSPIA board from the winter of 1998/1999 to the spring of 2011. She served as the publicity chairperson and donated hundreds of hours each year to the board and volunteer programs. As an example of her hard work and dedication to the park, at the annual fall open house and celebration of Docent Awards in 2007 she was honored by California State Parks director, Ruth Coleman, with the presentation of the Superior Achievement Award, the Volunteer Golden Medallion. Leona had volunteered 1700 hours of service and had created an award winning docent manual, slide presentations for birding in the park, as well as leading nature walks and tours of the natural history museum. At the presentation of the award director Ruth Coleman stated in her commendation, “Your peers and thousands of Park visitors will be forever in your debt for your hard work, enthusiasm, and generous assistance.

California State Parks extends its heartfelt gratitude.”

As you can imagine, Leona was a personal friend of many of the past and present CLSPIA board members and volunteers. She was a hard working dedicated member of the Clear Lake State Park family and had a good heart. She will be sorely missed. Brad Barnwell

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This has been a year when CLSPIA has had to throw away the proposed budget and fly by the seat of our pants. From Covid closures, to fires, from canceling annual events to no sales from our Visitor Center, it has been a time to just take a breath and maintain.

And we have done just that. With thanks to our members, and our patrons (we promise the Thank-You dinner in 2021 will be better than ever) we are surviving the missed opportunities to support our Park financially.

We have been able to set aside over the course of the past few years, $31,000.00 to be used for a fu-ture campfire center -- to hold everything from Junior Ranger programs to evening campfire talks and gatherings. Your membership dues of $10 and $18 and your Patron memberships at $100 have helped us accomplish that goal. Membership, along with firewood sales, sales from the Visitor Center, and a percentage of mussel sticker sales make up the majority of our income each year.

Please keep on supporting us, as we support Clear Lake State Park. There are more good things in store. Until we see you again, stay safe and stay well.

Julie Berry, Treasurer

CLSPIA Financial Report

Photo by Roberta Lyons

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Board ActionsMarch 2020 through June 2020 – no meetings were held due to Covid-19 and Park closures

The Board approved cancellation of the Wildflower Breakfast and photo contest via email on March • 13.

July, 2020

Terri Lopez (CAL) reported the following:•

Kirk Olsen started working in April as our new Interpretive Ranger. He is currently work-• ing on our volunteer program and creating virtual school programs for CLSP and AMSHP;

Christopher Glenn is our new Supervising Ranger and he started in early August;•

Two academy cadets have been hired for the Park and they will be doing their field train-• ing with Aaron at Oroville;

The Board agreed to cancel the annual membership meeting until restrictions are lifted. The State • Park does not allow group activities for more than 50 people, and our total current membership exceeds the maximum allowed.

The planning to re-establish a facility for Campfire Programs began in the Spring of 2016. CLSPIA • has set aside $31,000.00 to get this project moving. Terri Lopez had nothing new to report on this project.

Terri reported that State staff will conduct a walk through evaluation for our submitted plan to • update trail, directional, welcome and flora and fauna signage in the park.

The Board regretfully agreed to cancel the Patron Dinner this year due to the Covid 19 pandemic.•

The Board agreed to purchase a backup pump for the fish tank, at the request of Wendy Lieberg.•

Due to our increased cost to purchase firewood, it was agreed to increase the price to $10/bundle • beginning August 1, 2020.

The annual park staff appreciation lunch will be held on August 27, 2020.•

August, 2020

Chris reported on plans to fix up the old concession building.•

Chris responded to the Board’s concerns about speeding drivers in the park. He will get some new • signage and alert all staff.

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Clear Lake State Park Maintenance Dedicated Workforce – 2020-2021 projects

The Clear Lake State Park (CLSP) maintenance staff has been through quite a lot the past few years. With the State Parks transformation, we experienced a lot of supervision and employees promoting and moving around to other state parks, along with many departmental changes. We also went through quite a bit with fires, floods and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the best things to come out of the changing weather, loss of employees and transformation is teamwork.

The Northern Buttes maintenance team (includes CLSP) has stood fast and are some of the most dedicated employees I have worked with in the department. With the ebb and flow of employees, many fires and a couple floods, CLSP has received a lot of support from the district. I want to give a shout-out to the maintenance staff throughout the Northern Buttes district and thank you for all your support and dedication carrying out the parks mission. I know I speak for all when I say the parks we are charged with are our second homes, families; we take pride in protecting, preserving, and providing a safe clean place for our visitors. Now with Covid-19, parks maintenance services are more relevant than ever. We provide clean safe places for people to get outside, recreate and get peace of mind, making our staff even more ap-preciated: we love our jobs, we love our parks! This year’s maintenance projects will focus on customer service elements. One project will be installing token machines. This year we will see a few token machines installed in various ADA accessible locations throughout the park. The token machines will replace the need for quarters and add an experience to visit-ing the park. Tokens have become very popular to park visitors who collect them. The token will highlight CLSP animals; for example bass, hitch, various birds, and maybe our K-9 Blitz. The token machines make it more convenient for customers; they put in a dollar and get tokens -- no need to go out of the park to find quarters. They also make great souvenirs -- col-lect them all!

Another project that is planned this year is installing new boat-charging stations and in addition, new car-charging stations. These projects will provide up-graded charging stations for boats that will look good and perform better. The car-charging station will provide electric charging opportunities for visitors who may want to come to Lake County where there are not many car-charging stations available to the public, possibly making CLSP a destination. Soon they can get in a quick hike while charging their electric vehicle.

(Continued on page 7)

Heidi Cantrall, PMW-1 retriev-ing a trash can at Kelsey Creek

Campground

I think we can all agree we have seen many days in which we have had to adjust or adapt to the unexpected changes that have become our way of living. Our endurance continues to be challenged as we rely on our inner strength not to falter. Our reliance on one another grows, our need to be among others grows and the desire to once again enjoy nature calls to us.

During these months, the staff at Clear Lake State Park have been ensur-ing the park is cared for. They have continued to provide their services and worked through the constraints that have been directed under the pandemic, as well as shifting their attention to provide assistance to the latest fires that had threatened the surrounding communities.

The question now is what happens from here? The management of the park -- employee recruit-ment and supervision; maintenance of the infrastructure and park grounds; resource protection; visitor education and community engagement -- all continues to strengthen and grow. Though we are not able to provide all of the visitor services that we have seen before, we are continuously moving forward in preparation when we are able to. At this time the Visitor Center remains closed.

The exciting announcement is two new employees have started work at Clear Lake State Park and within the newsletter you will be introduced to them. The Interpreter position is a newly added position, and will be working on the interpretive and educational programs for the park along with volunteer management. The Supervising Ranger position has been filled and we are looking forward to the fresh perspectives he brings to the operation and management, and soon we will see two new Rangers joining the park staff.

Between serving as the Cooperating Association Liaison (CAL) and being the Northern Buttes District Program Manager for the Interpretation and Education, I have a lot of enthusiasm and I am very optimistic that our partnership with the park’s Interpretive Association is only going to grow in strength. This developing collabora-tion between us will enable opportunities in the interpretive and educational programming to be offered at the park.

As I view the blue skies that we haven’t seen in several weeks, I find we are going to see many wonderful things yet to come.

Terri Lopez CAL

CAL Report

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(Park Maintenance -- from page 6)

Other projects include installing benches in various locations for visitors, upgrading the trail signage, repairing the board-walk with new treks, and installing a new modular home for employee housing. These projects, along with our usual op-erations of keeping the park safe and looking great on a daily basis, are our ongoing goals for 2020 - 2021. Whatever arises -- floods, fires, Covid-19 – whatever it is, the maintenance team is ready to jump in, roll up our sleeves and do our best.

Thank you CLSPIA for your support. Wendy Lieberg, Park Maintenance Chief 1 Northern Buttes District - Clear Lake State Park

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Patrick Daly- PMA working along with district staff.

Introducing: Chris Glenn, Supervising Ranger

I was a junior ranger in 1989 at Van Damme State Park. I have worked for state parks for almost 16 years. I am married with three kids. I have one dog, one rabbit, one pig, seven chickens, one dwarf goat, nine ducks (and ducklings if anyone wants them). I enjoy roofing, pouring concrete and good BBQ. I like the great outdoors and all the wildlife in it. I am happy to be part of Clear Lake State Park and the Northern Buttes District. I plan on working very hard for everyone. Thank you very much for this opportunity,

Introducing: Kirk Thomas Olsen, Interpreter I Kirk was born and raised in Ventura, California. Where he grew up was north of the town, an area locals called the Rincon. His family lived right on the ocean and there were chaparral-covered hills on the other side of the 101 highway.

Being so close to the Pacific Ocean and what was then undeveloped land provided a natural environment to grow up in, learning to appreciate nature. Kirk saw all kinds of marine life on the beach, in tide-pools, and just offshore. In the hills, right behind the beach, there were jackrabbits and red-tailed hawks. This gave him his appreciation for nature and the natural world.

He would probably have become a marine biologist except for the challenge of being terrible at any kind of math beyond simple Algebra. He went to the only Junior College in the western U.S. that trained Zookeepers but left after being bitten by a lemur. Kirk then did some internships that led to jobs with California State Parks.

Kirk worked as a Park Aide and Park Interpretive Specialist at Donner State Park, Hearst-San Simeon State Park, Fort Ross State Historic Park, Salt Point State Park, and Plumas-Eureka State Park.

He has been a guide at Hearst Castle and Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay State Park. He has an A.S. in Wildlife Biology from Feather River College and a B.A. in Environmental Education from Prescott College in Arizona. Kirk worked for six years to become a permanent state park employee and is thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity to provide interpretation to park visitors at Clear Lake State Park.

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2020 Member ListA big THANK YOU to the 61 paid members listed below! Please check the list for your name to be sure we have your 2020 membership renewal. As a volunteer group, our mission of education and in-terpretation is funded through membership dues, fundraisers, and sales from firewood, quagga mussel stickers, and our Visitor Center store. All funding sources have either been reduced or eliminated this year, and the reduction in program expenses does not make up for the lost revenue.

If your name is not on the list below, please consider renewing your membership now - and help us to increase our membership by sharing this newsletter with your friends!

Thank you for your continued support. We hope you are able to get out and enjoy the beauty, sights and sounds of autumn in the park! Kathy Barnwell, Membership

INDIVIDUAL members

Kelly F. Cox Barbara Harris Darlene Hecomovich Bella Kluyt Elyse Mengle Susan RodeVerna SchafferJanice Stokes Marilyn Waits Vicki Winkle

FAMILY members

Bill & Roberta Beat Cathy Dion Donald & Margaret Eutenier Virginia Graziani Bob & Beth Keiffer Mike & Dena Keithly Susan & Roberto LozanoJeff & Jayne Lyon Tom & Pam Lyon Sheila O’Hara & William Fre-drikssonEllie Perinoni & David House

Patrick & Janet Peterson Kathleen & Thomas Scavone Jim & Susanne Scholz Stephen & Nancy StetzerChuck & Joan Sturges Janet & Robert Swedberg Yvonne Walters BUSINESS members

Joanne Jameson Twin Pine Casino & Hotel

PATRON members

Bradley & Kathy Barnwell John & Julie BerryHenry Bornstein & Gae Henry John & Betty Brookes Bernie & Lynn Butcher, Tallman HotelKim & Olga Clymire Kim & Charlie Eadie Pam Harrington Leanne & Jim Harvey

Myron & Marilyn Holdenreid Larry & Kathy JansenWilliam & Mary Kettenhofen Madelene Lyon Harry & Roberta Lyons Pam & Gary Maes John & Vicki Maley Pat McFarlandSandy MouraTom & Val Nixon Keith & Denise Petterson Russ & Joyce PorterfieldCameron & Sharon Reeves Carolyn & Skip Rohner Deb Sally & Ken LingBob Schoenherr & Anita Benz-ingRich & Oleta SimpsonBob & Nancy Smith Jay T. Smith Bobbi & Neil Towne Sean & Jeannette TowneLisa & Paul Vartabedian

One of the 81 fox sightings capturedon the trail cameras.

Clear Lake State ParkInterpretive Association5300 Soda Bay RoadKelseyville, CA 95451

2020 CLSPIA Membership FormClear Lake State park Interpretive Association (CLSPIA)

NAME _________________________________________________________________ PHONE _______________________________

ADDRESS _____________________________________________________________ E-MAIL _______________________________

*ANNUAL CLSPIA MEMBERSHIP FEES for 2020 (Please check those that apply) [ ] Individual ($10) [ ] Family ($18) [ ] Business ($50) [ ] Patron ($100) [ ] Contribution [ ] Gift Membership (for another)

PAYMENT (Please check one): [ ] Check [ ] VISA Card [ ] Master Card or online at www.clearlakestatepark.org

CARD # ______________________________________________________ EXPIRATION DATE _______________________________ SIGNATURE (if using credit card) _____________________________________________________________________________________

INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING at the PARK? (Please check any and all)

[ ] Park Newsletter [ ] Board of Directors [ ] Wildflower Brunch [ ] Special Events

Clip and Mail to -- CLSPIA -- 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville, CA 95451

* MEMBERSHIP CARD ENTITLES MEMBER TO 10% DISCOUNT ON VISITOR ITEMS. Note: If you are reading Clear Lake State Park Horizons for the first time and find the goals and activities interesting enough to pursue further, we would welcome your inquiry into becoming a volunteer docent. It really is lots of fun, as well as highly educational. If you are interested, please call the Ranger’s office at 279–2267.