California Wildfire Season Already Off to a Fast Start
The Weather Channel 5/7/2021 Ron Brackett
California officials have warned that this year’s wildfire season could quickly become the worst on record.
Already fires have burned 18 square miles more than had burned by this time last year, according to new figures from Cal Fire.
Since Jan. 1, more than 20 square miles have burned in more than 1,950 fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That includes fires on all lands in California, including land controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Less than 3 square miles burned in the same time span in 2020.
JUNEAU â Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday proposed letting Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans exchange promised federal land allotments that many say are not available in their cultural regions for state lands.
Details would need to be worked out through the legislative process, with lawmakers eyeing adjournment in about two weeks. Several legislators attended Wednesday s announcement, along with Alaska Native veterans.
Dunleavy said he sees this as an opportunity to right a wrong the federal government should have addressed long ago. We re going to help them get land as close as possible to where they grew up or where they hunted or where they berry picked, especially where they want their families to take part, he said.
Former fugitive accused in 2001 eco-terror case pleads not guilty in Sacramento court
Sacramento Bee 5/6/2021 Sam Stanton, The Sacramento Bee
May 5 Twenty years after suspected eco-terrorists set fire to a horse corral at a federal facility near Susanville, a one-time international fugitive charged in a case alleging numerous arson attacks nationwide pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Sacramento federal court.
Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 53, who was apprehended in 2018 in Havana as he prepared to board a flight to Russia, entered the plea during a Zoom appearance in court on a 2006 federal grand jury indictment charging him with arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the corral fire.
InMaricopa
Construction has begun at the new shooting site in Box Canyon.
Maricopa resident and InMaricopa.com reader Dan Becker sent up a drone recently to photograph the site, where some earth-moving equipment could be seen at work.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is expected to complete its buildout of the 68-acre facility in August. Entrance will be off North Hidden Valley Road, about 10 miles west of Maricopa.
The range is one of five being developed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Maricopa and Pinal counties. Box Canyon is the only Pinal County location.
Nestled in the picturesque Palo Verde Mountains, the area has been an informal shooting site for Pinal County shooters for years.
Print article JUNEAU Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday proposed letting Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans exchange promised federal land allotments that many say are not available in their cultural regions for state lands. Details would need to be worked out through the legislative process, with lawmakers eyeing adjournment in about two weeks. Several legislators attended Wednesday’s announcement, along with Alaska Native veterans. Dunleavy said he sees this as an opportunity to “right a wrong” the federal government should have addressed long ago. “We’re going to help them get land as close as possible to where they grew up or where they hunted or where they berry picked, especially where they want their families to take part,” the Republican governor said.