This week, we were lucky enough to see snow and wildlife in Lake Tahoe. Although it is visited by skiers during the winter months, many people don't notice the wildlife. One of the most obvious species is the Ponderosa Pine. It's a triangular shaped pine that is an important wood source in California. These pines grow at high altitudes in the Sierra Mountains of Nevada and California. Ponderosas grow to about 100 feet and each needles is grouped into 2 groups. Sometimes, they are plagued by a yellow fungus called Dwarf Mistletoe that rots the heart of the bark. The fungus comes in a yellow cover, and looks somewhat like coral. Many trees die due to this highly contagious mistletoe. A similar species is the Jeffrey pine. The two can be distinguished by the shape of the pine cone. Jeffrey pine cones are pointed inwards, making them easier to handle. We call them Gentle Jeffs. On the other hand, the ponderosa pine has pine cones pointing outwards, which we call prickly ponderosas. These germinate best when a wildfire occurs.
Near Spooner Lake, NV, I found a 9 inch pine cone that recently fell. I picked it up and it felt nice and smooth. I carefully shook it over a bag, and dozens of tiny maple-like seeds flew down from the cone. I put the pine cone back and took the seeds. After a few days in the fridge, the seeds germinated. The 15 seeds were then planted into a pot. 13 out of the 15 grew into little Jeffrey pine trees. We are adding these to our native Sierra Nevada collection, which were grown from seeds. In that collection, 13 Jeffrey Pines, 1 Grand Fir, 1 California Incense Cedar, a store bought Redwood, 6 Lemmon's Willow, 3 Arroyo Willow, and 1 Monterey Pine grow. We hope for the trees to grow tall and strong, and attract many native birds, butterflies and other insects.
We are very happy to tell you that the Happy Craft not only worked, but flew to a hight of 50' in a ALLOWED drone space in Lake Tahoe, California. Although the drone camera is not 8K like advertised, we were able to upscale the 720p footage to 4K at 60p.
The Drone footage will be featured in an upcoming film called Push Me Away 2. It is a new documentary about the Sierra Nevada.
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