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NORTH COAST, Calif. – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is planning to conduct helicopter surveys of elk in Mendocino County on March 12, 13, 14 and 15.
Aerial surveying is a common technique used by wildlife biologists to count deer, elk, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep populations throughout the state.
Many of the elk living in Mendocino County are found on private property, which means residents, tourists and motorists passing through the area may notice low-flying helicopters surveying for elk over private property during these days.
Aerial surveying is a common technique used by wildlife biologists to count deer, elk, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep populations throughout the state.
Many of the elk living in Mendocino County are found on private property, which means residents, tourists and motorists passing through the area may notice low-flying helicopters surveying for elk over private property during these days.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Guerneville woman died on Tuesday night after her SUV went off Highway 20 and down an embankment.
In its Wednesday report, the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not release the name and age of the woman who died in the wreck pending notification of her next of kin.
The CHP said the solo-vehicle crash occurred at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 20 near Walker Ridge Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.
The woman was driving a 1999 Toyota 4Runner westbound on Highway 20 just east of milepost marker 38.35 at an unknown speed when the wreck occurred, the CHP said.
Riding as the passenger in the vehicle was 20-year-old Isabella Rosario Moon of Chico, according to the CHP report.
For reasons that the CHP said are so far unknown, the driver allowed the Toyota to veer to the right side of the road and onto the dirt shoulder.
The CHP said the driver overcorrected and steered the Toyota back to the left where the vehicle overturned in the middle of the roadway, sliding off the south side of Highway 20 and down a dirt embankment.
As the Toyota was going over the embankment, the driver – who the CHP said was not wearing her seatbelt – was ejected from the vehicle. Radio reports indicated that firefighters and CHP officers who arrived at the scene found her unresponsive. The CHP said she died of her injuries at the scene.
The CHP said that Moon, who was wearing her seatbelt, sustained minor to moderate injuries.
Firefighters transported her to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital, where the REACH 6 air ambulance picked her up and transported her to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, officials reported.
It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs are contributing factors to the collision, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
In its Wednesday report, the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not release the name and age of the woman who died in the wreck pending notification of her next of kin.
The CHP said the solo-vehicle crash occurred at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 20 near Walker Ridge Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.
The woman was driving a 1999 Toyota 4Runner westbound on Highway 20 just east of milepost marker 38.35 at an unknown speed when the wreck occurred, the CHP said.
Riding as the passenger in the vehicle was 20-year-old Isabella Rosario Moon of Chico, according to the CHP report.
For reasons that the CHP said are so far unknown, the driver allowed the Toyota to veer to the right side of the road and onto the dirt shoulder.
The CHP said the driver overcorrected and steered the Toyota back to the left where the vehicle overturned in the middle of the roadway, sliding off the south side of Highway 20 and down a dirt embankment.
As the Toyota was going over the embankment, the driver – who the CHP said was not wearing her seatbelt – was ejected from the vehicle. Radio reports indicated that firefighters and CHP officers who arrived at the scene found her unresponsive. The CHP said she died of her injuries at the scene.
The CHP said that Moon, who was wearing her seatbelt, sustained minor to moderate injuries.
Firefighters transported her to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital, where the REACH 6 air ambulance picked her up and transported her to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, officials reported.
It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs are contributing factors to the collision, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – One person died and another was injured in a single-vehicle crash on Tuesday night east of Clearlake Oaks.
The crash occurred shortly after 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the area of milepost marker 37 on Highway 20 near Walker Ridge Road, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Radio reports stated that a white SUV had gone off the highway and down an embankment. CHP officers at the scene estimated the vehicle was between 100 and 200 feet down the embankment and off the road.
When firefighters and CHP officers first arrived, they found the driver to be in critical condition and unresponsive, and they requested an air ambulance respond to the Walker Ridge area, based on radio reports.
Shortly afterward, firefighters reported over the air that the driver had died, which the CHP separately confirmed.
A passenger in the vehicle was reported to have minor injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to Adventist Health Clear Lake, according to scanner traffic.
A short time later, radio traffic indicated that REACH 6 was requested to respond to the hospital and transport that patient to an out-of-county trauma center.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The crash occurred shortly after 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the area of milepost marker 37 on Highway 20 near Walker Ridge Road, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Radio reports stated that a white SUV had gone off the highway and down an embankment. CHP officers at the scene estimated the vehicle was between 100 and 200 feet down the embankment and off the road.
When firefighters and CHP officers first arrived, they found the driver to be in critical condition and unresponsive, and they requested an air ambulance respond to the Walker Ridge area, based on radio reports.
Shortly afterward, firefighters reported over the air that the driver had died, which the CHP separately confirmed.
A passenger in the vehicle was reported to have minor injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to Adventist Health Clear Lake, according to scanner traffic.
A short time later, radio traffic indicated that REACH 6 was requested to respond to the hospital and transport that patient to an out-of-county trauma center.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Planning Commission this week will hold a public hearing on a resort and residential project near Middletown.
The hearing, for the purposes of an informational presentation and to receive public comment on the draft environmental impact report for the Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Planned Development Project, will take place beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 12, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The draft EIR is available online here.
Lotusland Investment Holdings Inc. has applied for approvals to develop the project, which is comprised of 49 assessor parcels totaling approximately 16,000 acres – or 25 square miles – at 22000 Butts Canyon Road in Middletown.
If approved, the project would allow for the development of up to 400 hotel rooms, 450 resort residential units, 1,400 residential estates and 500 workforce co-housing units within the zoning district.
The 45-day public comment period ends at 5 p.m. April 7. Written comments can be sent to Principal Planner Mark Roberts, County of Lake, 255 N. Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA 95453, or emailed toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The hearing, for the purposes of an informational presentation and to receive public comment on the draft environmental impact report for the Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Planned Development Project, will take place beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 12, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The draft EIR is available online here.
Lotusland Investment Holdings Inc. has applied for approvals to develop the project, which is comprised of 49 assessor parcels totaling approximately 16,000 acres – or 25 square miles – at 22000 Butts Canyon Road in Middletown.
If approved, the project would allow for the development of up to 400 hotel rooms, 450 resort residential units, 1,400 residential estates and 500 workforce co-housing units within the zoning district.
The 45-day public comment period ends at 5 p.m. April 7. Written comments can be sent to Principal Planner Mark Roberts, County of Lake, 255 N. Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA 95453, or emailed to
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Cal Fire awards $43.5 million in Local Fire Prevention Grants; Lake County group receives $3 million
Fifty-five local fire prevention projects are receiving funding for hazardous fuel reductions, wildfire preparedness planning and fire prevention education.
“We have doubled down on our efforts to clear brush, inspect homes for defensible space and reduce the risk of wildfires,” said Chief Thomas Porter, Cal Fire director. “These 55 local projects will play a critical role in augmenting our fire prevention efforts.”
Among the groups receiving grants is the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, which received $3,019,106 for the first phase of the Lake County Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project.
The center’s award was the fourth-largest of the awards announced Tuesday.
The Clear Lake Environmental Research Center proposal will reduce the total amount of wildfire around communities, homes, infrastructure and other highly valued resources in Lake County in order to lower the lowering the forecast wildfire greenhouse gas emissions occurring without the project area.
“This will be achieved by creating and maintaining fuel breaks, ingress/egress vegetation management, and defensible space around high value assets, all high priority activities to prevent, stop or slow the spread of GHG [greenhouse gas] emitting wildfire. Project will be phased so that other high priority treatments can be accomplished in subsequent phases, and current work can be maintained, to ensure the scale of GHG emission reduction can be sustained and increased in the future,” according to the award announcement.
Other projects receiving awards include a $1.9 million grant to the San Luis Obispo County Fire Safe Council for removing dead and dying trees and other hazardous fuels on 17 treatment areas throughout San Luis Obispo County. This project alone will reduce fire risk in nine communities, and will include a 600-acre prescribed burn near Lopez Lake park.
Another project receiving funding is a public education grant of nearly $100,000 to Forestry Educators Incorporated for its "2020 Forestry Challenge" in El Dorado County. The Forestry Challenge is an academic competition for high school students in technical forestry and current forestry topics. Participants spend four days in the forest learning about the ecology and management of the forested landscapes that provide communities with water, recreational opportunities and wood products.
CAL FIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant Program is part of the California Climate Investments, or CCI.
CCI is a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment – particularly in low income and disadvantaged communities. Award recipients include cities, counties, fire districts, Native American tribes and other non-profits.
These projects all meet the goals and objectives of California’s Strategic Fire Plan adopted in 2019.
Since 2014, Cal Fire has funded over 430 local fire prevention grants totaling more than $150 million. These projects and activities have addressed the risk of wildfire and reduced wildfire potential to communities in wildland-urban interface areas.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police arrested a Lakeport middle school student on Tuesday after the student made threatening statements.
The Lakeport Police Department said on Tuesday that School Resource Officer Ryan Cooley, who is assigned by the department to the Lakeport Unified School District, was notified by school staff regarding a former Terrace Middle School student who was making threatening statements.
The juvenile, who was not on the campus, is currently on probation in Lake County and known to Officer Cooley, police said.
Officer Cooley immediately notified the Lake County Probation Department and both agencies continued the investigation, police said.
Based on information obtained by school staff and Officer Cooley, Lake County Probation officers searched the former student’s residence and located an unloaded .40-caliber handgun. Police said no ammunition was located.
Police said the juvenile was arrested and transported to the Juvenile Hall facility.
All of the involved agencies’ administrations appreciate the good work of officers and staff to quickly resolve this situation, the Lakeport Police Department said.
Because of the “see something, say something,” policy at this time, there was no known danger to any students or staff at Lakeport Unified, police said.
The investigation remains ongoing by Lakeport Police, Lake County Probation and the Lakeport Unified School District.
Editor’s note: Police originally reported that the recovered firearm was a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun. They have since corrected their report to say that it was not a Smith & Wesson.