Safety -- Downed Power Lines (Video)

Do you know what to do if you are near a downed power line? Last winter we had a downed power line near Keystone Point, and this spring there was another downed line across Spring Road. Watch the following video to learn how to stay safe if confronted by a downed power line.

(Note: If you want to watch in full screen, click the "YouTube" icon in the lower right corner.)

If you see a downed power line:

• Stay as far away from it as you can; do NOT touch; assume it is "live".
• Call Bear Valley Electric: (800) 808-2837 or (909) 866-4678.
• Do not drive over downed power lines.
• Stay in your car.
• If in danger, jump away from car and land with both feet together.
• Keep feet together and shuffle away to safety (at least 35 feet away).

T-Shirts Are Here!

The Summer 2016 T-shirts have arrived and they look awesome! If you don't have yours yet and you ordered one or more, please contact Steve Hammer to check on the status of your order. The 2016 T-shirt color is black. If you didn't order one, I'm afraid you are out of luck. The shirts are made-to-order only, and there are no spares for sale in the Hammer garage!

Thanks, Steve and Marti, for your usual excellent job in the design, production, and distribution of this year's Southwest Shore T-shirts and sweatshirts.

2016 Summer Celebration

Come celebrate summer with us again on the Southwest Shore. Remember how much fun we all had at the Centennial Celebration in 2012? Many of us suggested that we get together more often as a group, so we are partying again this year on July 30. Don't miss it!

For planning purposes we need a preliminary indication of how many people are coming. By June 15 (next week) please send us your Preliminary RSVP information: Cabin Number, Family Name, No. of Adults, and No. of Kids. If your plans later change, please let us know ASAP so we can update our counts for food, tables, etc. We really need your help by sending your RSVP promptly. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

As indicated on the invitation, the cost is free for the first 5 people from each cabin. For additional adults, the cost is $20 per person. Extra kids are free!  The Summer Celebration food, drinks, and other expense is being funded by annual owner dues collected over the past several years. If you have not paid dues on a regular basis over the years, or if you are bringing extra people, please make a contribution to the "Tips and Contributions" jar on the day of the event. We are counting on everyone to help share the cost of the party equitably. Please do what is right and fair for your fellow cabin owners.

Laurie Large and Betsy Curley are once again organizing the party. They did a wonderful job on the Centennial Celebration, and we're grateful that they volunteered to do it again. If you would like to help Betsy and Laurie with this summer's celebration, please email them:  Betsy (bbcdcurley@cox.net) or Laurie (laurlarge@yahoo.com). 

Lake Permit Procedures - Update

Last year there was much confusion and frustration about how to get Lake Permits for non-registered (i.e., non-CF) water craft, such as kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddle boards, etc., because of the quagga mussel inspection requirements imposed by BBMWD. (See SWS newsletter article.) This year (2016) BBMWD has largely implemented the procedures proposed last year by SWS owner John Lengsfelder (Cabin 51). Follow this link to read the detailed 2016 Lake Permit procedures.

Forest Service Approval for Maintenance and Improvements

UPDATE on July 2, 2016: Heather Mobley is no longer the Special Uses Administrator for the Big Bear Tract. Maintenance proposals and questions should now be directed to Scott Evans (909-382-2808;  saevans@fs.fed.us)

Cabin painting

We recently asked our Forest Service Special Uses Administrator, Heather Mobley, to clarify the ongoing need to request approval from the Forest Service for any proposed maintenance and improvement activities on our recreation residence cabins. We discussed this topic a couple years ago at an Annual Meeting and in a blog post on our website. Heather responded with the following email. If you have questions, please contact Heather directly at the email or phone number shown in her email below.

---

July 20, 2015

Thank you for asking a great question.  Yes the proposal process is still in effect.  We started providing for a formal process in 2012 because of the recent reorganization of the forest and the need to streamline workload.  However, the need to receive approval for maintenance and improvement activities has always been in effect as it states in Part II, Section A & B of your permits:

II. IMPROVEMENTS

A. LIMITATIONS ON USE. This permit authorizes only occupancy of a recreation residence. Nothing in this permit gives or implies permission to build or maintain any structure or improvement or to conduct any activity, unless specifically authorized by this permit. Any use not specifically authorized by this permit must be proposed in accordance with 36 CFR 251.54. Approval of such a proposal through issuance of a new permit or permit amendment is at the sole discretion of the authorized officer. Improvements requiring specific approval shall include but are not limited to signs, fences, name plates, mailboxes, newspaper boxes, boathouses, docks, pipelines, antennas, water and sewer facilities, and storage sheds.

B. PLANS. All plans and revisions to plans for development, layout, construction, reconstruction or alteration of improvements on the authorized lot must be prepared by a licensed engineer, architect, or landscape architect, in those states in which such licensing is required, or other qualified individual acceptable to the authorized officer. These plans and revisions to these plans must be approved by the authorized officer before commencement of any work.

We haven’t sent out a letter to state as much lately, but the concept applies, we are still requiring proposals be submitted by August 31st of each year in order to be considered over the following winter and responded to by April 1st of the following year.  So if folks want to do maintenance or improvement to their permitted infrastructure, including utilities, they need to submit a completed proposal by August 31st in order to receive a Notice to Proceed by April 1st of the next year. 

Thanks,

Heather Mobley
Special Uses Permit Administrator
Forest Service
San Bernardino National Forest 
p: 909-382-2804
hmobley@fs.fed.us

P.O. Box 290 
Fawnskin, CA 92333
www.fs.fed.us 

Brush Removal Project

The Healthy Forest Fuels Reduction Project was completed in October 2014. As part of the contract terms, the forestry vendor was allowed to leave large logs and small brush piles on the ground, so long as they were not too close to cabins (75-100 feet) or blocking pathways. If you have logs or a brush pile that is a problem, please immediately contact Dick Fisher (310-573-9981; difisher@roadrunner.com). We will have the forestry vendor revisit our area one more time to clean up all these problems, so submit your requests promptly.

Even though the brush piles left by the forestry vendor are not close to cabins, they still constitute a fire hazard on the hillside. We ask all cabin owners to clear these piles off their lots by dragging them to a nearby roadside location. A wood chipping service will come through the Southwest Shore at the end of July to remove all these brush piles from our area, at no cost to Southwest Shore cabin owners. If there are additional piles later in the summer, the chipping service will come back and pick those up after Labor Day. Branches up to 10” diameter will go through the chipper, so please clear as much brush and branches from your lot as possible. If you have questions about this project, please contact Gary Stahl (310-373-8986; stahlg47@cox.net).

Note: The chipping service gets grant money from a government agency, and must submit a record of how many man-hours were spent on this fire prevention task, including the hours spent by cabin owners hauling the brush and branches to the road for chipping, as well as the hours spent on pine needle cleanup. Please keep track of your hours. We will advise cabin owners about how to report this information to us, so that we can summarize and submit it to the chipping service.

2015 Annual Dues Suspended

Centennial Picnic -- kids' water relay

The Southwest Shore steering committee has determined that there are sufficient funds in the SWS General Fund to cover our anticipated expenses for at least the next few years, as well as to provide a reserve for unanticipated situations. Therefore, we are suspending the collection of the $100 annual dues payment, effective immediately. Please do NOT send any dues payments this year.

Some people have proposed that we use some of our surplus funds to have another Southwest Shore family picnic, subsidized by the SWS General Fund. It may be too late to organize an event for the current summer, but if you are interested and willing to work on planning a future family event, please send us you name, ideas, and comments using our SWS Contact Form.

Searching for Rocky

The Forest Service is looking for Flying Squirrels

Hello, Big Bear Tract Cabin Owners,

The Forest Service has asked us to communicate to you the following appeal for information about flying squirrels in our local forest. Please read their message and news release, and then reply with your feedback to the email or telephone number shown below. Thanks very much. ____________________________________________________

Dear Recreation Residence Tract Residents,

If cabin owners have seen any flying squirrels at their tracts, we would like to hear from them. We are particularly interested in the following information:

• Name/address of site
• Approximate dates/years of observations
• What was the flying squirrel doing?
• Do you see them regularly?

Please share this email with as many cabin owners and users as possible.  If anyone has sightings to report, please contact our District Wildlife Biologist, Robin Eliason. Her contact information is below. Thank you. We appreciate your help.

Robin Eliason District Wildlife Biologist Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest Mountaintop Ranger District Phone: 909-382-2832 Fax:  909-866-2867 reliason@fs.fed.us

P.O. Box 290 41374 North Shore Drive Fawnskin, CA 92333-0290

____________________________________________________

NEWS RELEASE

U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest For Immediate Release Contact: John Miller at (909) 382-2788 Twitter: @sanbernardinonf

In Search of the San Bernardino Flying Squirrel – Have You Seen One?

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., April 21, 2015 – If you have seen a flying squirrel, the US Forest Service would like to hear from you. The San Bernardino flying squirrel is a subspecies of the northern flying squirrel. It is only known from the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains although it has not been seen in the San Jacinto Mountains for about twenty years.

Flying squirrels are closer in size to chipmunks than our larger native gray squirrels. They are nocturnal and have large flaps of skin that connect their front and hind feet. These flaps of skin allow them to glide from tree to tree. They do not fly in the same way that birds do – no flapping is involved. Their flat tail is used as a rudder to steer as they glide.

US Forest Service biologists have been studying flying squirrels on the Mountaintop District of the San Bernardino National Forest since the early 1990’s. Research is needed to have a better understanding of the current distribution, their habitat requirements, and the status of the population. Much of what we know about the distribution is based on reports from residents who see flying squirrels at their bird feeders at night or those who have found dead flying squirrels.

If you have seen flying squirrels in our local mountains, please report the sighting information to Robin Eliason (reliason@fs.fed.us 909-382-2832). Photographs would also be appreciated.