Free Republic

LANCASTER [California] - A 230-megawatt solar power facility has been proposed on 2,100 acres of fallow farmland 1½ miles north of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. Environmental studies overseen by Los Angeles County planning officials have started on the project, which is proposed at 170th Street West and Avenue D by San Francisco-based NextLight Renewable Power and which is planned to tie into Southern California Edison power lines that cross the Antelope Valley. A meeting to describe the proposal and to solicit suggestions from the public and local organizations on what environmental issues should be examined is scheduled for...

Bring tennies, water for 8 miles of trails at reserve If you haven't been out to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve yet, don't worry. There are still weeks of blooms left. The show "will get better before it gets worse," said Sissy Feitelberg, management service technician for the California State Parks Mojave Desert Sector. The reserve was jammed all weekend with cars, lots of motorcycles, and on Sunday, bicycles. According to Feitelberg, even the overflow parking lots were full. "A couple of rattlesnakes popped out, too." Merchandise is "flying off the shelves" at the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretive Center....

Out on Lancaster's west side sits the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. Downtown, at the State Parks Mojave Desert Information Center, senior park aide Judy Elgin fields phone call after phone call inquiring about the reserve. "Almost every call we get this time of the year is, 'Are there poppies yet?' When I tell them there are no poppies yet, some people are really disappointed," Elgin said. However, since Wednesday, Elgin doesn't have to disappoint callers - the reserve has its first poppy of the season. The 1,800-acre reserve, on Lancaster Road (Avenue I) at approximately 150th Street West, might...

LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is open and ready for visitors. State park officials opened the reserve on March 5, the earliest it has opened for full operation since 1976. "All kinds of people are coming," said Judy Elgin, a senior park aide with Mojave Desert State Parks. This year's California poppy crop is especially big and bright, a result perhaps of the blossoms receiving more nutrients that allow them to grow better, Elgin added. In addition, many other wildflowers are in bloom such as owl's clover, lupines and cream cups. Wildflower displays are expected to peak...

LANCASTER - Poppies are popping already and hope blooms for a beautiful spring of wildflowers. The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve already has poppies blooming, said Milt Stark, president of the Poppy Reserve Mojave Desert Interpretive Association. "We had a lot of rain out there, the poppies are doing well; you just don't know what the weather is going to be," he said. The reserve has received more than 16 inches of rain, but wet weather doesn't always translate into a bumper crop of the bright flowers, which are affected by strong winds, humidity and temperature. A few years back,...

Soft rolling hills, their sides ablaze in the vibrant colors of Antelope Valley's wildflowers, are a very inviting sight to all - even sheep. While many people converge upon fields of California golden poppies with cameras to hopefully catch a wonderful memory, sheep are hoping to catch a meal. In fields of wildflowers located near the Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve, located 15 miles east of Lancaster, herds of sheep graze on poppies and other wildflowers, a spring ritual that is believed to enhance future poppy blooms. The sheep are not grazing on poppies in the reserve. They munch...

A bountiful harvest of poppies popped out of the ground this year, making for a spectacular, colorful carpet of blossoms - a prelude of sorts to this weekend's 12th annual California Poppy Festival at Lancaster City Park. The two-day outdoor festival will feature an assortment of musical acts and special attractions, including the Celtic Market Square, an expanded version of last year's popular Celtic Corner. The Celtic Market Square will feature sheepdog demonstrations by dog trainers Ted and Janna Ondrak of Drummond Ranch; roaming, kilted bagpipers; a Celtic harpist; and an arts and crafts market with vendors garbed in traditional...

By all accounts, this year's crop of poppies, the state flower, has been one of the most bountiful in recent memory, although they were a bit shy with the weekend's blustery and cloudy weather. On Sunday, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the naming of the poppy as the state flower, about 100 members of the community took the long and winding drive out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve to mark the occasion. "We couldn't have asked for a better poppy season," keynote speaker Assemblywoman Sharon Runner said, adding she is happy to be involved with the park "so...