Meet the New Lead Interpretation Manager and New Visitor Use Assistant Supervisor

B.G Horvat is Pinnacles National Monument's new Lead Interpretation Ranger.  B.G. is from Kenosha, WI.  He graduated with a B.A. in Geography with emphasis on Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin at Parkside in 2000. He did an internship with Student Conservation Association (SCA) that fall at the Department of Interior with the National Trails System (NTS) as a GIS advisor helping to propose an allotment of $6 million in appropriations to set up a Geographic Information System for the NTS.  He began his Park Ranger career in 2001 as a seasonal Interpreter with Badlands NP.   

In 2002, he worked as a seasonal Education Ranger at Hawaii Volcanoes NP.   In June 2002 he began working at Delaware Water Gap NRA in Bushkill, PA.  In 2003, he worked two seasons at Hawaii Volcanoes.  From 2004 - 2005, he was a permanent Park Guide at Haleakala NP on Maui. In 2005, he returned to Hawaii Volcanoes and worked there for five years, eventually becoming a supervisor in the Interpretation and Education program.  B.G. and his wife are expecting their first child in 2011.

Mark Norbey is Pinnacles National Monument's new Visitor Use Assistant (VUA) supervisor.  Mark was born and raised in Southwestern Michigan, later graduating from Western Michigan University with a Bachelors of Science in Geography and a Minor in Art.  He started his NPS career in Pearl Harbor, on the island of Q'ahu, HI at the USS Arizona Memorial as a Park Guide and worked there on and off for 4 seasons.  This memorial marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates events of that day.

When Mark returned to the mainland, he worked a season each at Bryce Canyon and Grand Tetons as a VUA.  But he had obviously been bitten by the island bug, because he then worked one season at Hawaii Volcanoes as an interpreter, then moved on to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a term position which turned into a permanent one as a VUA for 2.5 years. Virgin Islands National Park has beaches, hills and valleys on the island of St John.  It is part of the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Mark then returned to the mainland to Yosemite as a VUA for 2 years and Lead VUA for 2 more years, before coming to Pinnacles National Monument.  

Our Creation Story

In the time of "Animal Speak" the world was nearly covered with water.  On the Island lived the Animal Speakers.  The leader of all was the Eagle.  The Eagle said we need more land for the people.  Many tried to reach the firmament under the water, it was "Hawk" who penetrated the water and in his talons brought the earth to the surface where the people were waiting.

Eagle, Hummingbird, Crow, Raven and Hawk were hungry.  There was food to be found, but they needed to cook.  Eagle sent Hummingbird to get fire from the Badger People underground, but the Badger People refused to share their fire and sent Hummingbird away.  When Hummingbird returned, Eagle was very angry and sent him back.  The Badger People saw Hummingbird coming and said, "Cover the Fire, Cover the Fire!"  They hid their fire by covering it with deerskin.  But the deerskin had a hole in it, where an arrow had gone through, and Hummingbird reached in with his long, narrow beak and took our a hot ember.  Hummingbird carried it away, but before he could put it safely into his armpit it flamed, turning his throat brilliant red.  That's why Hummingbirds have a red throat, and that is how there came to be fire in the world.  --  Indigenous story - Monterey

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is comprised of the documented descendents of Missions San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz.  Our Tribe had an extensive history of communal activity, shared cultural understanding, collective rituals and beliefs.  The Amah Mutsun occupied the San Juan Valley and beyond long before the Spanish arrived in the late 1700's.

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Tending Native Grasses and Cultivating Relationships through Experimental Restoration in McCabe Canyon

Pinnacles National Monument is using a novel approach to habitat restoration in an area of the monument known as McCabe Canyon. McCabe Canyon is unlike any other area of Pinnacles, in that the canyon contains a large population of deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens) and white root sedge (Carex barbarae), both of which are important materials in California Indian basket weaving. These plants were traditionally managed by California Indians, and they are still valued, used, and managed by California Indian people today. Because of these culturally significant plant species, Pinnacles is working to restore both ecological and cultural processes by asking questions that have not been considered in the monument's 100-year history. READ MORE..

Condor Update!

In the past three months, the 2010 cohort was released, the remaining two central California nests fledged, we're starting to see breeding displays between condors, we are preparing to transfer a condor into captivity, and Jim Petterson continues his outreach regarding the use of non-lead ammunition. Finally, we are happy to report that there were no condor mortalities in central California in 2010!

Last October and November, we released four captive-bred juvenile condors. All four have integrated into the flock nicely and begun to take longer flights. They are regularly seen feeding alongside older condors at the bait station.

In central California, this year turned out to be a slow breeding year for condors. Only two nests proved successful, one in the Big Sur area and the other in Los Padres National Forest. The Los Padres pair included a Pinnacles-released female. Their nest was so remote that we did not actively monitor the nest. Instead we relied upon the information provided by the satellite tracking units on each adult to determine if their nestling was faring well. When the nestling was approximately 120 days old, we hiked out to the nest to affix a radio transmitter. In the following months, Ventana Wildlife Society flew a plane over the area to determine if the nestling was still alive. With every flight the information proved positive. Two weeks ago we started picking up signals for the young bird from Pinnacles. It looks like he has finally started flying high enough that we can detect him from the park. We all hope that this fledgling makes it through the winter and we look forward to the day that he shows up at Pinnacles!

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Meet Valerie Nuttman

Pinnacles National Monument Biological-Science Technician

Valerie Nuttman has been working at Pinnacles National Monument since 1998.  Initially Valerie was a Park Ranger in the Interpretation Division, giving campfire talks and taking visitors on trail hikes.  Valerie's current position is as a Biological Science Technician in the Resource Management Division, and she is the park's official Air Quality Monitor. 

This is only one aspect of the work she does for the park.   She also works with Vegetation Management, either pulling weeds (invasive plant control) or working on restoration projects for native plants. In the new area of the park acquired in 2006, which is called the Bottomlands, she has helped set up testing plots to determine more effective ways of restoring native plants there.   She has recently been working in the park museum, cataloging insect specimens, herbarium specimens, cultural artifacts and fossils.  Cataloguing is an exacting process, recording all of the data on a particular specimen. Yet to come on this project are the small moths.  That qualifies as a challenge to the eyes and the brain!  She is also the chair of the Monument's Green Team, a committee tasked with making improvements in the way the park handles its waste management and how it can increase its use of renewable energy. The Green team develops project proposals for the future to keep Pinnacles a Climate Friendly Park. In addition to all of these valuable tasks for the park, Valerie has been raising two beautiful children, Nathan and Robin. READ MORE...