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Explanation: In this evocative night skyscape a starry band of the Milky Way climbs over Yosemite Valley, Sierra Nevada Range, planet Earth. Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon on the wintry scene, though. Standing nearly opposite the Sun in the constellation Taurus, the wandering planet joins yellowish Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster. Below, Orion always comes up sideways over a fence of mountains. And from there the twin stars of Gemini rise just across the Milky Way. As this peaceful winter night began, they followed Auriga the charioteer, its alpha star Capella near the top of the frame.

Research conducted by Dr. Gwen Robbins, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University, finds there is no evidence of cannibalism among the 84 members of the Donner Party who were trapped by a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the mid-1840s. Remains from the Donner party’s Alder Creek campsite were excavated by a team of archaeologists from the University of Montana and the University of Oregon Museum. A sample of bones from the campsite hearth was analyzed by Robbins and Kelsey Gray, an Appalachian graduate. They will present the results of this project this week at...

A federal appeals court has barred logging in the Sierra Nevada forest. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the federal government failed to explore other ways to raise money to fight forest fires when it approved a plan to award timber contracts to cut down trees on three sites. The Forest Service says the logging of commercially valuable trees is needed to help pay for thinning of less desirable smaller trees and brush. Environmental groups say the logging plan fails to protect scarce species such as the California spotted owl, martin and Pacific fisher. Attorney General Jerry Brown...

WASHINGTON Angry lawmakers lambasted environmentalists at a congressional hearing Thursday over their opposition to a new bill to speed logging in the Sierra Nevada. "If we have a forest fire it's your fault, and I hope your group will take the responsibility when we're not thinning out the forests properly," Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, scolded Craig Thomas, director of the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, interrupted Thomas to accuse him of trying to destroy the last saw mill in the area. "If you stop these sales, sir, with your lawsuits, this logging company is going to...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - The mountain yellow-legged frog has survived for thousands of years in lakes and streams carved by glaciers, living up to nine months under snow and ice and then emerging to issue its raspy chorus across the Sierra Nevada range. But the frog's call is going silent as a mysterious fungus pushes it toward extinction. "It's very dramatic," said Yosemite biologist Lara Rachowicz. "One year, you visit a lake and the population will seem fine. The next year you go back, you see a lot of dead frogs scattered along the bottom of the pond. In...

California hasn't built a major reservoir in decades, and its most important reservoir by far -- the Sierra Nevada snowpack -- is in danger of shrinking because of global warming. Water agencies say those facts, coupled with projected population increases, mean that it is time for the state to get serious about building new dams. "Failure to consider these potential changes and develop the storage to address it will all but guarantee a future that swings from extreme floods to droughts on a regular basis," the Association of California Water Agencies reported in a "blueprint" for statewide water planning in...

RENO, Nev. - The strongest storm of the season so far in the Sierra Nevada dropped as much as 3 feet of snow, snarling travel through the mountain range but improving ski resort conditions. Controls were lifted Monday morning on the two major highways linking Sacramento, Calif., to resorts in the Lake Tahoe area: Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and U.S. 50 over Echo Summit, authorities said. However, the third major trans-Sierra highway, California Highway 88, remained closed near Kirkwood, Calif., because of avalanche-control efforts. Chains or snow tires were required on other highways in the area. The Kirkwood Mountain...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The population of the Sierra Nevada could more than triple in the next 35 years, threatening many of the mountain range's Gold Rush-era towns with sprawl, gridlock and pollution, according to a report released Tuesday. Much of the 400-mile-long range is designated as national forest, park land or wilderness. It also holds plenty of private land where development could change the face and feel of the mountains, warns the Sierra Nevada Alliance, a 12-year-old coalition of more than 60 environmental organizations. About 600,000 people live in the 20 California and three Nevada counties that divide the...

Eight towns would love to land the new Sierra Nevada Conservancy headquarters, projected to eventually have 70 employees and a $10 million budget. But only two showed up at the historic first meeting of the conservancy board Thursday in Sacramento, and both were from Nevada County. Nevada City used a laid-back approach in its pitch, but Truckee came on like a runaway snowboarder. Auburn, Colfax, Placerville, Amador City, Ione and Jackson were no-shows. “Give us your serious consideration,” said Truckee Mayor Craig Threshie in a lengthy speech that trumpeted the town’s location, history and commitment to the range. “We have...

The Sierra Nevada, historically a majestic battleground for competing local interests, comes under the stewardship of the state's newest and biggest conservancy this week. Proponents say the 25-million-acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy will be more than a protector of the mountain environment - it will also be an incubator for jobs and economic growth. The conservancy's 13 voting board members - seven state appointees and six county supervisors - will hold their first meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento at the state Energy Commission building, 1516 Ninth St. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is the ninth conservancy created by the Legislature...

Standing above a riverbank in the majestic Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, six Arhuaco Indians bowed their heads as tribal leaders chastised them for joining Colombia's Marxist guerrillas. But the event also marked the first time that members of the Arhuaco tribe had abandoned the rebels and rejoined their tight-knit community. The days-long ceremony offered a glimmer of hope for the Arhuacos and other indigenous groups struggling to survive amid Colombia's brutal civil war. "I have my kids. I have my wife," said Roger, 27, one of the six former rebels. "I understand that this is the road that I...

After signing the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill along the Bear River, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a thumbs-up to dignitaries and the media. From left are Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz; state Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman; California EPA Secretary Terry Tamminen; and Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City. The Union photo/John Hart Standing on a wide gravel bar with the Bear River flowing gently by him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill Thursday to the sound of bipartisan applause. "California is where the conservation movement began, and today we are happy to continue this noble tradition," Schwarzenegger said....

Bear River Canyon, Placer County -- Framed by a crystalline stream and steep slopes carpeted with ponderosa pine and black oak, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday authorizing the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a new state agency dedicated to preserving the 25 million acres of forest, meadow and craggy granite peaks that comprise John Muir's "Range of Light."

09-23) 16:56 PDT COLFAX, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose a woodsy mountain setting Thursday to sign legislation establishing a 25 million-acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy, while also signing nearly 20 other bills to protect the Pacific Ocean, curb smog and clean up blighted urban land. With numerous strokes of the pen, Schwarzenegger opened 1,100 miles of car pool lanes to hybrid cars, established the nation's first Cabinet-level Ocean Protection Council in state government and barred cruise ships from burning garbage and dumping sewage inside state waters. He also banned commercial fishing fleets from bottom trawling along designated parts of...

California Farm Bureau Federation vigorously opposes a measure approved by the Legislature last week that calls for the creation of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, an added layer of government that could impact members in 22 counties throughout the Sierra Nevada region. "We are extremely disappointed," said Bill Pauli, California Farm Bureau Federation president. "This legislation is contrary to the governor's California Performance Review and deserves to be vetoed." For almost four years, Farm Bureau and other business groups have worked to oppose legislation that would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy and further increase government ownership of private lands. The government...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces decisions on bills that would create a Sierra Nevada conservancy, require economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like superstores and promote recycling of cell phones. Also headed to his desk are measures that would bar kids under 14 from using tanning salons without a doctor's approval, require schools to notify parents when they serve students irradiated food and give consumers at least 30 days to claim rebates. California lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to dozens of bills as they rushed to wrap up their 2004 session by Friday. The Sierra Nevada bill,...

SACRAMENTO - The Senate on Wednesday revived an effort to require a paper trail to ensure that electronic voting machines aren't tampered with and accurately record voter preferences. Meanwhile, the Assembly approved a bill that would create a state conservancy to help protect the Sierra Nevada from overdevelopment, and the Senate passed legislation requiring economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like superstores. The Senate also approved a bill by Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, that would require that all touch-screen voting machines used after Jan. 1, 2006, give voters paper receipts verifying how they voted. The machines would also have...

SACRAMENTO - The Senate on Monday approved creation of a state conservancy to protect the majestic Sierra Nevada, but another environmental bill, which would ban smoking on state beaches, stalled as lawmakers began the last days of their 2004 session. The conservancy bill, by Assemblymen Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City, and John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, cleared the Senate on a 21-14 vote and was returned to the Assembly, which approved a somewhat different version of the legislation in May. If the Assembly adopts the Senate changes, the legislation will go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The beach-smoking bill, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz,...

Dear Sierra Friends, A very good Friday afternoon to you all! In case you had not heard, I wanted to make sure you knew that the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill, AB 2600, will be heard on the Senate Floor this coming Monday, August 23. Senator Bruce McPherson (R—Santa Cruz) will be presenting AB 2600 as the bill’s official floor jockey. Below, I am including material we’ve put together on the highlights of the consensus reached by Assemblyman Leslie and Assemblyman Laird and the Schwarzenegger Administration. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by phone or e mail....

State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, said he fears water rights in the Sierra could be jeopardized by a conservancy aimed at protecting the mountain range's resources, such as the South Yuba River, shown here off of North Bloomfield Road. State Sen. Sam Aanestad on Monday attacked the idea of a Sierra Nevada Conservancy, fearing it will infringe on property and water rights. Despite Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the plan, the Republican legislator last week voted against a compromised version of the bill, which would create an organization aimed at gathering grants and other funds to protect and improve...