Supes send letters to Fish and Wildlife

BISHOP - Paul Preston from New California is the scheduled speaker for FREE EASTSIDE meeting on Wednesday, May 15 at 6:00 p.m. at Whiskey Creek Banquet Room. Mark your calendars and come hear what’s going on in our state. Get involved! Invite a friend! For questions call or text Lynette at (760) 937-5668

BIG PINE - The Big Pine American Legion Auxiliary Unit 457 will be hosting a Memorial Day Service on Monday, May 27, at 11:00 a.m. in the Big Pine Veterans’ Memorial on the corner of Highways 395 and 168. The community is welcome to help distribute grave flags on the headstones of our veterans starting at 8:00 a.m. at Crocker Cemetery then onto Woodsman Cemetery. The Big Pine Cemetery District has over 180 veterans including 15 from the Civil War.

Inyo County Supervisors unanimously approved two letters supporting efforts to prevent mountain lions from killing mule deer and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep at its Tuesday meeting.

The letters will be sent to the State Fish and Game Commission and local legislators in hopes that they will help the county advocate for the management of the predatory mountain lion population that is devastating the deer and sheep populations.

Supervisor Jennifer Roeser noted there had once been a recovery plan for the endangered sheep that was adopted and funded by legislation.

“The state legislature, at the behest of Inyo and Mono County Supervisors, in the early 2000s had adopted the recovery program had implemented it, and had funded it,” she said. “So we wanted to add the legislators to our advocacy letters.”

Roeser suggested staff reach out to Mono County representatives to work together on the reimplementation of a recovery program in the area.

Supervisor Trina Orrill said she would like to partner with Roeser to make that happen.

“As far as continuing to go forward in this, I think it would behoove this board to perhaps stick with the precedent of having two counterparts from each working together because there’s always more power in number and I would be happy to be alongside her in that,” Orrill said.

Roeser further explained that the recovery plan included “technical responses” to lions that may be more of a problem, but that currently there are only a few options for responding to those mountain lions.

She said the most commonly used method is translocation, but that option may be becoming less effective as lions that have been relocated elsewhere are returning to the area and continuing to target the local wildlife.

“One of the reasons they’re having difficulty with translocation is other regions that were identified in the recovery plan have now said they’re not willing to engage in receiving these translocated lions,” Roeser said. “So somehow that has to be done, so biologists within districts have no options as to where to take the lions except within their own districts.. but when these lions are translocated they come right back so it’s not effectively managing the program.”

The board hopes the letters will gain the attention of the proper authorities and that they will receive help in protecting the sheep and deer populations through effective management of the mountain lion population.

Supervisors also unanimously approved fee increases within the County Clerk, Recorder, and Elections divisions.

Clerk/Recorder Danielle Sexton said her department’s service fees haven’t been analyzed since 2017, and with expenses increasing, accommodation for the changes is warranted.

During a recent review of the fee schedule, it was noted that Inyo County’s clerk/ recorder fees were comparatively low to other counties in California, prompting Sexton to suggest a few changes.

Among the various fee changes proposed on Tuesday was a $6 increase from $20 to $26 for a fictitious business name statement and one certified copy. Other changes include a $5 increase for the issuance of a marriage license and the establishment of a $10 onsite civil marriage ceremony witness fee.

Sexton said the $10 marriage witness fee was justified by the amount of time it takes for an employee to greet the wedding party, witness the ceremony, sign the wedding license and assist in taking wedding photos. The department estimated the time needed to complete the witness process to be 11 minutes.

“I thought it was really fair and well researched and validated,” Roeser said.

The new fees will become effective July 1.