"Update on fire near the lighthouse area:
Acreage: 5.6
75% containment as of 4 PM
Crews do not anticipate any further fire growth at this point.
Started:10:35am. Location: near the end of the LH Access Rd

Thank you to all participating agencies! Red Flag thru tomorrow evening."

Via PRNPS

An iconic shot of the vegetation fire in Point Reyes today up. (Thx SP)

Elk activists protested in Point Reyes today outside of McClure's Ranch.

A better view of the vegetation fire in Point Reyes out by the Chimney Rock caused by a downed power line. (Thx SP)

There is a vegetation fire in Point Reyes out by the Chimney Rock caused by a downed power line. One to two acres in low grass.

Water rescue underway off Dillon Beach for a kayaker missing since this morning.

Absolutely packed day in West Marin. Be prepared for a lot of traffic. And a medical emergency which required helicopter transport in Inverness. Hopefully that person ok.

URGENT: As you may have seen at the post offices, Inverness is in a Stage 1 Water Emergency Shortage . Please refrain from any outdoor watering Friday through Monday. (thx TB)

LINK: https://www.invernesspud.org/r...

If you would like to help support the Arti Cafe in Lagunitas which was vandalized last night, there is a GoFundMe page set up here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/reb...

If you have ever eaten at the Arti Cafe in Lagunitas, you know how kind and loving they are and how good their food is. Last night, in a despicable act of hatred and cruelty, someone vandalized their restaurant.

MORE PHOTOS: https://www.facebook.com/nicol...

"A man who was killed in a motorcycle crash in West Marin on Tuesday has been identified as Daniel Cameron Turchie, 19, of Pinole, the coroner's office said.

The crash happened at about 6 p.m. Tuesday on Shoreline Highway north of Point Reyes Station and about 300 yards south of the Giacomini Ranch, the Marin County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division said.

Turchie was riding north when he failed to take a sweeping turn in the road, crossed into the other lane and struck a utility pole, the coroner's division said.

He was found unconscious 30 feet down an embankment. Resuscitation efforts failed at the scene, the California Highway Patrol said."

FULL STORY: https://www.marinij.com/2020/0...

Fatal motorcycle accident on Rt. 1 just north of Point Reyes. Both lanes closed for now, please avoid the area. (thx BM)

"The Point Reyes National Seashore released a final version of a controversial plan Friday to extend leases of historic ranches in the park and to cull some tule elk to prevent conflicts with private ranching.

In its final environmental review of the park's general management plan amendment, the National Park Service's preferred option is to extend leases for private ranchers from five-year terms to up to 20-year-terms. The 24 ranching families in the park and neighboring Golden Gate National Recreation Area would also be able to diversify their livestock beyond cows on a case-by-case basis to include other animals such as goats, chickens and pigs.

To address conflicts between the free-roaming Drakes Beach tule elk herd and ranches, the plan would allow park staff to kill some elk to keep the population to 120 elk. The herd had 138 elk as of the last count in late 2019."

"David Evans, owner of the D. Rogers Ranch lease in the seashore, said he was pleased with the park's proposal, saying it will ease the uncertainty of short-term leases, provide more economic security through livestock diversification, promote improved land stewardship and potentially allow visitors to access ranches."

"Fleur Dawes, communication director for In Defense of Animals, said the park service should expect more pushback including protests and other actions in the coming weeks."

FULL STORY: https://www.marinij.com/2020/0...

FINAL PLAN: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/d...

Found by the side of the PR/Petaluma Rd near the olive ranch. Stolen? Trash? (Thx BM)

More fire weather coming. Make sure you are prepared. "Early indications is that this early Oct event will have potential to bring record heat to CA and possibly other areas. This will coincide with weak offshore flow, so should spread all the way to coast and bring extreme wildfire burning conditions once again."

Sign up for local alerts:
Marin County -www.alertmarin.com
Marin Sheriff - local.nixle.com

Get your defensible space ready:
https://youtu.be/otMDwt03E-o

Have a plan and a go bag;
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/em...

Very important voting info from Wade Holland in the Point Reyes Light: "The good news about November's general election is that voting in person at a polling station will be available on four days, from Saturday, Oct. 31, through Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The bad news is that only three polling stations will be open in all of West Marin.

Covid-19 is impacting this year's election in many ways, including reducing the number of polling stations in the county from 89 to just 29. The three West Marin polling places will be at the Bolinas Community Center, the San Geronimo Valley Community Center and the West Marin Health & Human Services Center on Sixth Street in Point Reyes Station. These centers will be open for voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

A major change this year is that Governor Gavin Newsom has directed that a vote-by-mail ballot be sent to every registered voter. Lynda Roberts, Marin's registrar of voters, recommends using the mail-in ballots rather than going to the polls. She also urges that completed ballots be mailed back well before Election Day. To be counted, vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day, Nov. 3, and received by the county by Friday, Nov. 20.

Ballot drop-off boxes will also be available around the clock through Election Day at 12 locations in the county, including at the Bolinas Community Center and the Health & Human Services Center in Point Reyes Station.

Voter pamphlets will be mailed on Sept. 24, and the vote-by-mail ballots will be sent out on Oct. 5."

FULL STORY: https://www.ptreyeslight.com/a...

Don't feed the coyotes please. "A woman was hospitalized this week after a coyote bit her leg on Tennessee Beach in the Marin Headlands, authorities said.

The woman told park rangers the coyote was acting aggressively as it approached her Tuesday afternoon on the remote beach in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. After the animal bit her, she walked the 1.7-mile trail back to Tennessee Valley Road and drove to a hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries, according to a spokesman for the National Park Service.

Using a piece of the woman's clothing, park officials are attempting to collect a sample of the coyote's DNA. The genetic information will be used to identify and track the animal as part of a new program that aims to address the growing problem of coyotes approaching people in search of food in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, said park service spokesman Charles Strickfaden.

He said park rangers have noted a "large increase" in reports of people feeding coyotes. As a result, "food-conditioned coyotes" are increasingly approaching visitors to beg for food."

LINK: https://www.marinij.com/2020/0...

Car accident on SFD in Inverness by Dream Farm Rd. Hopefully everyone ok. Drive safe, the roads are slick today.

"Nearly one in three people here in Marin County will leave, part of the roughly 700,000 who his models suggest may abandon the broader Bay Area as a result of sea-level rise alone."

https://www.nytimes.com/intera...

REMINDER: Areas closed to all visitors due to the Woodward Fire.

The area and all trails south of Limantour Road and Bear Valley Road, west of Highway 1 (aka Shoreline Highway), and north of Stewart Trail are closed to all visitor access until further notice.

These areas include, but are not limited to:

Limantour Road is closed to all visitor access until further notice.

The Bear Valley area is closed to all visitor access until further notice. This includes:
Bear Valley Visitor Center Access Road
Bear Valley Visitor Center
Bear Valley Picnic Area
Bear Valley Trailhead
Earthquake Trail
Kule Loklo
Morgan Horse Ranch
Woodpecker Trail

Coast, Glen, Sky, and Wildcat Campgrounds are closed until further notice. Campers will receive a notification and refund via email.

Also closed are Bear Valley Trail, Horse Trail, Sky Trail, Laguna Trail, Glen Trail, Greenpicker Trail, and Coast Trail north of Stewart Trail.

MORE INFO: https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn...

Via Point Reyes National Seashore "Happy 58th Birthday Point Reyes National Seashore!! On September 13, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore. To learn more, visit nps.gov/pore." (Photo WMF)

"#WoodwardFire Update, 09/13/20 Firefighters will perform a burnout operation about 10 a.m. at the Bear Valley Visitor Center to provide a defensible space for the center's Morgan horses."

LINK: https://twitter.com/PointReyes...

This video does a good job of explaining why and when when the air quality will get better. Short answer: next week.

https://twitter.com/PaulKPIX/s...

[Sound On] At Kehoe Beach in @pointreyesnps hundreds of blackbirds gather around sunset in the thick fog and smoke.

LINK: https://twitter.com/westmarinf...

Via Point Reyes National Seashore "For those of you who have been asking about the wildlife in Point Reyes during the #WoodwardFire, we thought you might be happy to see that this bobcat was caught on camera just outside of Incident Command Post (where we coordinate as a team) yesterday."

LINK: https://twitter.com/PointReyes...

It was orange yesterday. The smoke is so thick right now. Some additional information about all of that:

"To get a sense for how dark it was in CA yesterday, here are solar radiation observations from my backyard weather station for 3 recent days. Much darker than a typical foggy day, and it was effectively sunset ~3 hours too early."

"The orange skies this morning are a result of wildfire smoke in the air. Strong winds over the past few days transported ash from fires in northern California and the Sierra Nevada into the region.

These smoke particles scatter blue light & only allow yellow-orange-red light to reach the surface, causing skies to look orange. If smoke becomes too thick in a certain area, most of the light will be scattered & absorbed before reaching the surface, which may cause dark skies."

"Very little change in the smoke across the SF bay area the next 18 hours."

RADIATION LINK: https://twitter.com/feet_pinoc...

ORANGE LINK: https://twitter.com/AirDistric...

SMOKE UPDATE LINK: https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea...

Wires down on PR/Petaluma Rd past farm stand. Expect delays. Thx @alexporrata

"Effective today (9/9/20) at 4 p.m., the Marin County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with the Marin County Fire Department is lifting the remaining Evacuation Warnings in West Marin."

Local Point Reyes Station radio station KWMR featured on the home page of the LATimes.com web site today.

"In a place where local news is otherwise a once-weekly paper or a conversation at the post office or local market, the radio station has long been a trusted source of knowledge when emergencies hit.

"There is a weird parallel between COVID and a wildfire in a way in that they are these dynamic situations but they are slow moving also," (Jeff) Manson said. "Stuff isn't changing hour to hour and yet people are really hungry for information."

He and (Amanda) Eichstaedt have learned if they don't put out facts, small town gossip will take over."

LINK: https://www.latimes.com/califo...

An incredible shot of the #woodwardfire in Point Reyes. Taken Aug 20, 2020. (Thx FP)

Some local residents have asked about the salinity intrusion that happened to the wells in Point Reyes Station. Here is the North Marin Water District's post from Aug 20th explaining what happened:

"Salinity Intrusion in West Marin System Source Wells
Unprecedented salinity intrusion has occurred in two wells which North Marin Water District uses as sources of drinking water in the West Marin system.

These two wells, located near the former Coast Guard housing property in Point Reyes Station, have experienced periodic and seasonal salinity intrusion for many years. In 2015, NMWD completed permitting and construction of a well and pipeline that brings water from a different source, out of the reach of tides. This third well is situated approximately a mile and a half east of Point Reyes station adjacent to the Gallagher ranch.

Unfortunately, the third well is unable to produce enough water to meet 100% of the volume demands of our customers in the summer months and the salinity intrusion at the Coast Guard wells has continued to worsen, likely due in part to sea level rise.
This year, under dry-year water conditions, we have seen the salt levels in the water produced from the Coast Guard wells rise to unprecedented levels. While there is no direct health concern from the salt for most people at this concentration, it does affect the taste. Customers that may be on sodium restricted diets should consult their physicians to see if the additional sodium is a concern for them.

Additionally, bromide, a component of the salt water that has increased, can also contribute to the formation of disinfection byproducts. We have taken every action available to keep disinfection byproducts as low as possible and continue to monitor their concentrations. If they rise to an unsafe level we will, in consultation with the California Division of Drinking Water, communicate this to our customers.

In order correct the situation, North Marin Water District is actively working to construct additional sources of water that are not prone to salinity intrusion. The acquisition of land, planning and permitting have been going on for two years. We hope to have this new source constructed and available for water supply in 2021.

Emergency water conservation measures remain in place and reduced water use decreases our dependence on wells impacted by salinity intrusion.

More information about water quality can be found at https://nmwd.com/your-water/wa...

If you have questions or concerns that are not addressed here, please call Pablo Ramudo, Water Quality Supervisor at 415-761-8924."

FULL POST: https://www.facebook.com/North...

PR LIGHT ARTICLE:
https://www.ptreyeslight.com/a...

The Point Reyes National Seashore is closed today, as are all of the local beaches like Shell Beach and Chicken Ranch. Someone reported seeing kayaks in the Nicasio Reservoir today, that is also not allowed. With COVID and the heat, these are challenging times. But we're also dealing with the #woodwardfire and a red flag warning and need to give first responders, law enforcement and fire fighters the time, space and focus to do their work. Thank you. Be safe.

Here is the video update from the new #woodwardfire incident command for today.

"We saw an increase in activity last night. Not unplanned, cleaning up the unburned fuel, no threats to the containment lines. Today's plan is to have hand crews out cleaning up fire lines.

Prepared for the warm, windy day. Critical fire day today. Ridge tops never cooled off and primed us for another hot day today. Around 100.

This is the last hot day, pattern change, a storm system moves through the area which will bring us gusty winds this evening.

Then we will transition back to the marine layer putting the fire back into relative humidity.

Challenging weather for all the fires in the state with the wind coming. We have two strike team engines to be prepared.

Also potential power shut offs and safety shut offs, but not targeting Marin County as of now.

Might see a helicopter today keeping things cool and within the perimeter."

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Anyone else seeing the #woodwardfire flames tonight? Here is a shot from the Point Reyes Station mesa. (Thx AW)

Via Marin County: "Stinson Beach has been shut down as traffic and crowding has become a problem on #Hwy1."

LINK: https://twitter.com/kcbsamfmtr...