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The Sierra Snow Man
By Mark McLaughlin
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is without a doubt California’s most valuable natural resource — not for the economic benefit of winter sports, but because it supplies water runoff to nearly 70% of the state’s population. The snowpack is a vital asset that provides high-quality melt-water to millions of people, as well as to industry, recreation, fisheries, agriculture and hydroelectric power generation.
The earliest studies of the Sierra snowpack began here in the TruckeeTahoe region with University of Nevada professor, Dr. James E. Church. Much has been written about Church for his pioneering work in developing the science of snow surveying in the early 20th century, a crucial tool for measuring and predicting water runoff from the Sierra snowpack. Today, winter snow surveys provide important hydrological data for
Sierra Snow Lab at Donner Summit ca 2022
successfully managing reservoir systems in the West.
Dr. Church made many important contributions to our understanding of the Sierra snowpack, but he was not a trained scientist and could not delve into the highly complex physics inherent in this massive reservoir that sustains one of the largest economies in the world. Research into the hydrological complexities of mountain snowpacks began during World War II when government physicist, Dr. Robert Gerdel, moved to Sacramento to establish the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at Soda Springs, California, near Donner Pass.
During the war, the federal government decided that more extensive scientific research was needed to advance the understanding of the hydrologic and physical processes of snow. To facilitate this research, a Cooperative Snow Investigations Research Program (CSIRP) was established as a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Weather Bureau.
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In 1943, Dr. Robert Wallace Gerdel, Ph.D, was the lead physicist at the U.S. Weather Bureau and Technical Director of the CSIRP based in Washington, D.C. As director of the CSIRP, Dr. Gerdel was responsible for locating and designing three snow laboratories, supervising their construction, and developing the research program. Gerdel reviewed the climatological data for locations around the U.S. searching for the best sites that represented deep snow and intense cold. The research stations would be located in the mountainous West — the Willamette Snow Laboratory in central Oregon, the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (CSSL), and the Upper Columbia Snow Lab near Flathead Lake, Montana. The sites reflect three distinct winter-precipitation regimes: mostly rain with some snow, mostly snow with some rain, and exclusively snow, respectively.
Robert Gerdel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 4, 1901, but grew up at Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When he was 12 years old, a botched surgical procedure left him clinically deaf. A doctor had performed a successful tonsillectomy on the boy’s kitchen table, but an infection soon set in that permanently damaged his ear canals. Losing your sense of hearing is a lifechanging event, but Gerdel never let this physical handicap interfere with his plans to become a scientist. Although his high school principal tried to have him committed to the Michigan School for the Deaf, Gerdel successfully persuaded the administrator to give him a chance. He learned to lip-read,
checked the lecture notes of his fellow students, and graduated with good grades.
After high school, Gerdel attended Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Michigan State University) and graduated with a BS in Soil Physics and Chemistry. Not only was the coursework challenging, two of his college professors dropped him from their classes due to his lack of hearing. Gerdel went on to earn masters and doctorate degrees from Ohio State University.
Dr. Gerdel spent nearly two decades in Ohio working for the state and the Soil Conservation Service. He studied the chemistry and physics of soil there and became an expert in the freezing-thawing cycle as it relates to soil instability and erosion. In 1927, he married Grace Gilmor and they later had a son named Charles.
In 1942, Dr. Gerdel and his young family moved to Sacramento where he spent two years designing the infrastructure of the snow laboratories. While the physical facilities of the Central Sierra Snow Lab were still in the planning stages, Gerdel installed temporary weather instruments behind the Soda Springs Hotel near Donner Pass. In 1943, Dr. Gerdel supervised the initial construction of the CSSL buildings and installation of the new equipment. In the first year of the lab’s operation, Dr. Gerdel and his staff produced the nation’s first comprehensive reports on instrumented studies of thermodynamics and hydrodynamics of deep, high mountain snow packs.
Dr Robert Wallace Gerdel at CSSL in Soda Springs 1946. Photo Courtesy of Donner Summit Historical Society.
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At the Central Sierra Snow Lab, Dr. Gerdel pioneered the use of radioactive material to measure the water content and density of the snowpack. During the summer months, individual isotopes of radioactive zinc were placed in remote locations north of Donner Summit and a Geiger counter was suspended over each one. The Geiger counters measured the pulses or oscillations caused by gamma rays emitted by the radioisotope — the oscillations varied depending on the snowpack’s density and water content. The radio-transmitted measurements gave the CSSL scientists constant, real-time data, a real breakthrough in the science of snow surveying.
Today, these “isotopic profiling snow gauges” first designed by Dr. Gerdel are more sophisticated and one of the most accurate methods for measuring snow water equivalent. One version of a modern nuclear gauge utilizes two parallel, but separated vertical tubes, one of which contains the radioactive source, the other a detector. They are automatically raised out of their underground holds and lifted slowly through the snowpack. A density reading is obtained every centimeter as the tubes slide through the snowpack, which yields the snow water equivalent.
In addition to providing reliable conditions for studying the physics of a deep snowpack, the Sierra Snow Lab was critically important to the federal and state control of California’s water supplies and flood control. The research conducted there allowed scientists and technicians to monitor snowfall and snow melt and to predict future needs of the State’s water delivery system known as the Central Valleys Project (California aqueduct).
Around 1960, Dr. Gerdel was assigned to Camp Century, a 200-man U.S. military polar base buried deep under the Greenland Ice Cap. Powered by a portable nuclear reactor, the tunnels and rooms of Camp Century were carved out of solid ice, 40 feet below the glacier’s surface where winds can howl up to 125 mph and the
1946 OSU CSSL Staff on skis and snowshoes.
From Left: Dr. Gerdel, Ashton Codd, Parley Merill, and Bill Enloe. Photo Courtesy of Donner Summit Historical Society.
temperature drop to minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The underground city’s largest tunnel was called “Main Street, a subterranean corridor 1100 feet long, 26 feet wide and 28 feet high. Gerdel was there to witness the world’s first successful ice drilling, which brought up ice cores containing air bubbles thousands of years old. These ice cores revealed clues to prehistoric atmospheres and climate change.
When Robert Wallace Gerdel died on March 27, 1987, at the age of 85, he left behind a legacy of accomplishments. Well-known as a resourceful and professional physicist and engineer, Dr. Gerdel gained international recognition for his research work at snow hydrology laboratories in the U.S., Alaska and Greenland. Over the span of his career, Dr. Gerdel wrote more than 50 scientific papers that were published in technical and professional journals.
Dr. Gerdel’s early efforts to investigate and improve our scientific understanding of the complexities of the vital Sierra snowpack laid the groundwork for a water management system that helped nourish and sustain the growth of California into an economic giant.
Stand and Deliver
by Bob Piercey, Sculptor
Stand and Deliver presents a commanding Western figure rendered with quiet authority and narrative weight. The bronze depicts a lone cowboy—coat draped, hat brim low, bandana drawn up across his face—capturing a moment suspended between confrontation and resolve. The title evokes the language of frontier hold-ups, yet the sculpture itself feels more reflective than aggressive. Rather than explosive action, Piercey chooses restrained tension.
The figure’s posture is key to the composition. The cowboy floats but is solidly grounded and the shoulders slightly forward. His hands, partially obscured by the drape of his coat, contribute to a sense of guard ed readiness.
The slight forward lean draws the viewer inward, as if stepping into his space. This physical stance conveys both defiance and dignity—an outlaw.
Piercey’s handling of surface texture elevates the realism. The folds of the duster coat cascade naturally, creating vertical movement that contrasts with the stability of the base. Subtle detailing in the vest, neckerchief, and hatband demonstrates careful observation of Western attire. The bronze patina enhances this realism: warm chestnut and umber tones dominate, while cooler oxidized highlights appear in recesses, adding visual depth. These tonal variations prevent the sculpture from appearing flat and instead create a living surface that shifts under light.
The base—a polished stone platform resting on a rounded wooden plinth—grounds the piece historically and aesthetically. The reflective stone subtly mirrors the bronze above, reinforcing the figure’s presence while adding a refined presentation suitable for collectors.
Overall, Stand and Deliver succeeds because it balances storytelling with restraint. Rather than dramatizing motion, Piercey captures psychological stillness. The sculpture honors Western heritage while maintaining a timeless quality rooted in craftsmanship and material mastery.
The Bronze Casting Process
Bronze sculptures are typically created using the lost-wax method. Here is a simplified version of the process:
Concept & Clay Model –
The artist develops sketches and sculpts the full figure in clay over a supportive armature.
Mold Making –
A rubber mold is created around the clay to capture every detail.
Wax Casting –
Molten wax is poured into the mold, producing a hollow wax replica.
Investment & Burnout –
The wax is encased in a heat-resistant shell and heated until the wax melts away, leaving a cavity.
Bronze Pour –
Molten bronze is poured into the mold.
Breakout & Finishing –
The shell is removed, metal seams are cleaned, and sections are welded if necessary.
Patina & Sealing –
Heat and chemicals create the final color, and a protective wax coating seals the surface.
This centuries-old process transforms a temporary clay sculpture into a permanent work of bronze.
The Sierra Nevada Red Fox: Ghost of the High Sierra
The Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) is one of North America’s rarest mammals — a high-elevation fox whose survival is tied closely to the rugged crest of the Sierra Nevada. Once thought to be nearly gone from California, this elusive carnivore has reemerged in recent years through careful monitoring and remote camera detections.¹
A Species Shaped by Altitude
Unlike lowland red fox populations, the Sierra Nevada red fox evolved for life in alpine and subalpine environments, generally above 7,000 feet. It is slightly smaller than many
other red foxes and carries dense fur and heavily furred paws that help it travel across deep snow. Color phases range from the familiar red to darker “cross” or nearly black morphs.¹
Historically, the fox occupied high elevations stretching from the vicinity of Lake Tahoe south along the Sierra crest.² By the mid-20th century, however, confirmed sightings had become extremely rare, and for decades biologists feared the subspecies had disappeared from much of its range.³
Elusive by Nature
The Sierra Nevada red fox is naturally rare and exceptionally difficult to study. It inhabits remote ridgelines, subalpine forests, and open volcanic plateaus, often traveling long distances across rugged terrain. Modern detections rely heavily on motion-activated trail cameras and genetic analysis of scat and hair samples.³
Because population densities are low and individuals range widely, even long-term surveys may yield only occasional images. This elusiveness contributed to uncertainty about whether viable populations still persisted in California well into the 2000s.³
Historic Decline
Intensive, largely unregulated trapping in the late 1800s and early 1900s significantly reduced populations. Fur harvest records indicate a sharp decline by the mid1900s.² Although trapping protections were eventually implemented, the population had already fallen to critically low numbers.
In 2021, the subspecies was formally listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act due to its extremely small population size and ongoing threats.¹ At the time of listing, biologists estimated that only a very limited number of individuals remained in California.¹
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The Sierra Nevada red fox faces several ongoing pressures:
Temperature fluctuations and evolving snowpack —
Changes in seasonal temperatures and shifts in the timing, depth, and persistence of Sierra snowpack influence the alpine ecosystems the fox depends upon. Deep, consistent snow historically provided insulation for prey species beneath the surface and allowed the fox a competitive advantage over larger predators less adapted to winter travel.¹
Competition and predation — Coyotes have increasingly been documented at higher elevations, intensifying competition for food and territory.¹
Genetic vulnerability — Prolonged small population size has reduced genetic diversity, increasing susceptibility to disease and limiting resilience.¹
Human disturbance — Recreation, forest management activity, and landscape fragmentation further affect high-elevation habitats.¹
Recent Sightings in the Lake Tahoe Region
For decades, there were no confirmed detections in the Tahoe Basin. That changed in 2025, when wildlife officials documented a Sierra Nevada red fox via trail camera in the Blackwood Canyon area along the west shore of Lake Tahoe — the first confirmed record in the basin in many decades.4
Additional detections near Donner Pass and other high-elevation areas of the northern Sierra suggest that
Sources
remnant populations persist.4 In the southern Sierra, biologists also successfully captured and fitted an individual with a GPS collar, providing valuable new data on movement patterns and habitat use.5
Each confirmed sighting offers cautious optimism. The Sierra Nevada red fox remains one of California’s rarest carnivores — a symbol of the fragile and evolving ecosystems of the high Sierra.
1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Endangered Species Status for the Sierra Nevada Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes necator). 2021.
2. National Park Service. Sierra Nevada Red Fox – Natural History Overview.
3. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Sierra Nevada Red Fox Monitoring and Conservation Information.
4. CBS News Sacramento. “Rare Sierra Nevada Red Fox Detected in Lake Tahoe Area for First Time in Decades.”
5. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “First Capture and GPS Collar of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in the Southern Sierra Nevada.”
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WESTERN BRONZE
by ROBERT Piercey
Going Beyond Aesthetics: Home Design Trends for 2026
Now into the third month of a new year, home design is once again evolving. Homeowners are blending comfort, personality, sustainability and connections to the outside world this year. More than just aesthetics, these trends are warm, intentional and rooted in real life.
Whether you’re refreshing a room or planning a fullblown makeover, consider these ideas for inspiration that feels both timeless and fresh.
Warm, Earthy Palettes
This year, say goodbye to whites and cool grays. Instead, cozy earth tones like clay, sage, caramel and rich neutrals
create a grounded, inviting atmosphere. Refresh walls or cabinetry with these earthy hues or try color-drenching –using a single hue in varying tones across walls, trim and ceilings – for a bold new vibe.
Flowing, Curved Shapes
As homes trend more toward feeling lived-in rather than staged, hard edges and rigid forms are taking a backseat. In 2026, curves are everywhere: soft archways, rounded furniture and curved statement pieces – think circular mirrors or oversized armchairs – create fluid, comforting spaces.
Natural Materials and Textures
Designs this year celebrate materials that age beautifully, like natural stone, reclaimed wood and textiles that tell a story. Consider woven pillows and throws, handmade pottery, textured walls and wood with visible grain to enrich rooms with sensory detail and an artisanal feel.
Personalized Nostalgia
Blend vintage finds with contemporary art to create a space that’s truly your own. That means vintage finds, heirloom pieces and decor that evokes memory – even quilted textiles or classic checkered tiles – styled in fresh, modern ways to add individuality.
Attention to Statement Details
Small details are getting big attention this year. Swapping out basic cabinet hardware and lighting fixtures for artsy, tactile metals can help elevate kitchen cabinets or bathroom vanities, turning them into design statements.
Flexible, Multifunctional Spaces
With hybrid work and lifestyle blending continuing into 2026, rooms should be designed to serve multiple purposes. Reading nooks can double as workstations. Living rooms effortlessly transition from day to night. Adaptable furniture, hidden storage and smart layouts help make multifunctional spaces feel uncluttered.
Outdoor-Inspired Interiors
The connection to nature grows stronger inside homes with greenery, natural light and materials that echo the outdoors. From indooroutdoor flow to plant-rich spaces that feel alive and tranquil, biophilic design promotes calm, comfort and connection.
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