Sierra Nevada Mountains

Forest fires in the Sierra Nevada have grown larger, more frequent and more damaging in the last two decades, according to a study that suggests much of the blame rests with the government's century-long war on wildfire. The study, published online this month in the journal Ecosystems, found that between 1984 and 2006, the proportion of burned areas where no trees survived increased, on average, to nearly 30%, from 17%. Climate is playing some role, the study said.

EVERY road sings its own tune. Route 66 is a classic, sometimes raucous ditty from Chicago to L.A.; Highway 1 a twisty ballad to the voluptuous California coast; and U.S. 395 a mandolin-driven ode to the West that evokes images of cowboy boots and roadside diners. Route 395 is our mother road. Its two-lane panoramas of the Eastern Sierra -- especially from Lone Pine to Mono Lake -- are an invitation to shift into a simpler time.

THE smell of steaks sizzling on a campfire grill wafted through towering tamarack and Jeffrey pines as the sun set over the saw-toothed crest of Duck Pass in the Eastern Sierra about eight miles south of Mammoth Lakes. We sat on folding chairs around the crackling fire, sipping beer, while our cook prepared a dinner of surprising delicacy.

More than 400,000 acres of wild land in the Eastern Sierra Nevada should be made protected habitat for an endangered mountain sheep, the federal government said. The proposed habitat for the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep runs from Tuolumne County to Tulare County and juts into the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe national forests.

SACRAMENTO -- It stood for most of a century in the High Sierra north of Yosemite National Park as a rare vestige of the Old West -- a rustic lodge where visitors could spend the night, eat a hearty meal and pack into the rugged wilderness on a mule train. Early Monday, a fire reduced Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station to smoldering debris.

A woman died after she and two companions were caught in an avalanche while skiing in the Twin Lakes area of the Eastern Sierra backcountry, according to Mono County sheriff's deputies. The avalanche occurred just before noon Wednesday near Black Smith Canyon. Joshua Feinburg, 30, of Mammoth Lakes was treated at the scene. The woman, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was airlifted to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. The third skier was able to go for help.

After four months of painstaking work, government scientists have identified a lost Army airman whose remains were locked in a Sierra Nevada mountain glacier for 63 years. The man, identified as Leo A. Mustonen of Brainerd, Minn., died at 22 when a training flight from Sacramento crashed on remote Mt. Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park. Three other airmen also died in the crash.

The chemical traces of prehistoric raindrops in crumbling boulders have led Stanford University researchers to conclude that the Sierra Nevada is at least 40 million years old, much older than previously thought. New geological evidence shows that the traditional estimate of 3 million to 5 million years old appears far too low, three Stanford geoscientists said in a paper published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Controversial logging legislation by a San Joaquin Valley congressman would hasten several timber projects in the Sequoia and Sierra national forests, environmentalists say. The plan by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) has been presented as a way to keep forests healthy and sawmill workers employed. But environmentalists say it threatens vulnerable species, as well as Giant Sequoia National Monument. A House hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

For thousands of U.S. Marines, the road to Afghanistan goes through an isolated training facility here in the Eastern Sierra where they share the rugged Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest with civilian hunters, backpackers and skiers. On a recent weekend, several hundred Marines were on an overnight march to test their land navigation, communication and outdoor survival skills. As they returned to base camp Sunday morning, hunters dressed in orange vests were driving their four-wheel-drive vehicles up the mountain in hopes of bagging deer.