- Author: Robert J Keiffer
The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center has been blessed with several in-kind donations of products to assist the completion of the Rod Shippey Educational & Field lab Facility. As part of a energy-efficient HVAC (heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system there is a very large fan that plays a key role in air movement within the large "multipurpose room" or "Extension Hall".
This large fan is actually manufactured by the Big Ass Fan Company located in Kentucky. It has a 12 foot wide diameter, and moves air subtly, efficiently, and quietly. The company first built fans for large open horse-arenas .... hence the name... but they now make many, many sizes and styles of fans. The company generously donated this fan to the cause ... which really helps to stretch the budget dollars even further.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
Here at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center in southeast Mendocino County, the Northern Pacific Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis oreganus) is rather common. Construction workers have encountered four during the building project of the new Rod Shippey Educational & Field Lab facility. And, the other day one was coiled up near the front door of the main office building.
No matter what the age or size of the rattlesnake, all can be identified by the wide, triangular head, vertical eye pupils, narrow neck, stout body, and strongly keeled scales. Here you see a fairly young one about 14 inches long ... probably a one-year-old juvenile.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
Most folks, even advanced "birders", do not know that Mendocino County has more nesting pair of Peregrine Falcons than any other county in the 48 contiguous states. During the intensive survey work of the 1980s, when the species was federally listed as endangered, Mendocino County had over 20 of the known 60-or-so nest locations in California. From the uppermost elevations of the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center I can point out five Peregrine Falcon nest locations, all which have been simultaneously active in certain years. All of these are in a 10-mile diameter area.... probably the most dense nesting group anywhere in North America.
This morning an injured immature bird was rescued from the lower portion of the Center. It appears to have minor wing damage, and I suspect that the cause was a collision with a power line. The bird is in transport to The Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County as I post this. Hopefully the outcome will be good ... and the bird can be released back into the wild in the near future.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
During the mid-1960s the University of California, upon the request of UC President Clark Kerr, world-famous still photographer Ansel Adams was commissioned to "photograph the future of UC". Ansel Adams took over 6700 photographs of the University of California, from one end of the state to the other, and comprised what constitutes his second largest body of work. This work is called the Fiat Lux Collection, and is now housed at the UC Riverside - California Museum of Photography.
Part of Ansel Adams's work was a visit to the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center (then called the Hopland Field Station) during May of 1966. We know of several photographs from this work, but suspect that there are maybe up to 20 or 30 from the Center.
The below photograph, discovered in a UC Berkeley basement, we suspect is one of these. Other from this collection from Hopland can be viewed at www.zazzle.com/ansel+adams+posters, such as "Sheep - Hopland Station" and "Grove - Hopland Station".
We very much would like to have copies of these various prints framed and on display in our new soon-to-be-open Rod Shippey Educational & Field Lab building. If you have an interest in donating one of these prints to the cause please contact us.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
As the Rod Shippey Educational and Field Lab Facility nears its rough completion we all look forward to a bright and well-lit future of extension work that will take place within. Most final lighting fixtures are now in place, most floor finishes are completed, but we still await the tri-fold glass doors for the north side of the building and a few other odds-and-ends.
We are carefully budgeting our remaining funding for the final completion work ... much of which must be done by our HREC staff. Kitchen appliances, tables, chairs, and other interior needs still need to be purchased. Donations are still welcomed to support the vision.