Looking for clothing with conviction?  Sustainable style with sense?  Apparel with altruism?  Join SLO Green Drinks and HumanKind Fair Trade for the Eco Fashion Show on Thursday, May 31 at the Steynberg Gallery (1531 Monterey St) from 6-9pm.  The event will feature attire from local retailers, including HumaKind Fair Trade, Hemp Shak, Curio, Nekkidd and yours truly, Bambu Batu! Mingle with your fellow fashionistas as you watch the night’s lineup of dance and music performances, take part in the silent auction, and grab a drink or a bite to eat from the cafe.  All proceeds will benefit HumanKind Fair Trade, a non-profit store that provides vital income for artisans and farmers in the developing world.

Tickets are $10 presale (available at Steynberg and HumanKind) or $15 at the door.  See you by the runway!

Nestled into the Santa Lucia Mountains of the Los Padres National Forest sits the Hi Mountain Condor Lookout, a fully restored fire tower, research facility, and tracking station.  Sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Morro Coast Audubon Society, US Forest Service,  Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the Ventana Wildlife Society, Hi Mountain is right in the middle of prime habitat for the endangered California condor and the peregrine falcon.  In addition to observing these magnificent birds, the organization offers internships for biology students and public outreach programs throughout the year.

It is no mystery why people flock to Hi Mountain.  Aside from the stunning views atop their 3198 foot perch, the Lookout offers the opportunity to glimpse the majestic California condor, a bird with an impressive 9.8 foot wingspan and weight of nearly 30 pounds.  With jet black feathers contrasted with white patches on the underside of its wings, and reddish-orange bald heads, these scavengers are certainly a noteworthy sight in the skies over Big Sur.  While these birds can live up to 60 years, their mere existence has been in peril over the last century.  Due to poaching, habitat destruction, and lead poisoning, their numbers dwindled to only 22 in 1987.  Facing extinction, the US Government captured the remaining wild individuals in order to create a critical captive breeding program led by the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos.  As of last year, there were 310 condors known to be living, with 210 of them having been reintroduced to their native ecosystems.

Join the Hi Mountain Lookout crew this Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19th, and Sunday, May 20th for a weekend remembering a remarkable man.  The Mike Tyner Memorial Event begins at 5:30 on Friday evening for a potluck and owl observation.  Continuing into Saturday, the gathering will feature opportunities to share memories of Mike, conduct repairs on the station, hiking tours, birding, and potluck. A condor biologist, naturalist, and Hi Mountain intern, Mike will be sorely missed by his friends and family.  To make a tax deductible donation to his Memorial Internship Fund, send contributions by mail to the Morro Coast Audubon Society, PO Box 1507, Morro Bay, CA 93443 or online.

For questions and details, contact Steve Schubert at (805) 628 6138, Francis Villablanca at (805) 748-1014, Marcelle at (806) 927-1017, or Joel Weiss at (805) 801-6236.

Have any condor sightings?  There has been a recent report of one over Diablo Canyon Power Plant, a spectacle that has not been glimpsed for over 40 years!

San Luis Obispo is a county of people who truly care about their surroundings.  Blessed with some of the most stunning scenery on the continent, we as residents of the Central Coast take great pride in our land.  Knowing that all beautiful and valuable things are open to exploitation by forces larger than any individual, concerned citizens, like those involved with SLO Transition Towns, gather together to identify and address the threats facing our natural heritage.

With the topics of peak oil, climate change, and economic instability at the forefront of their agenda, SLO Transition Towns  will present an evening of information, discussion, and a call for action this Wednesday, May 16 at the Ludwick Center (864 Santa Rosa St.) beginning at 6:59pm.  The event will address issues of corporate personhood, fracking, water rights, and overall environmental protection.

Keynote speaker Shannon Biggs will discuss her current work which focuses on helping communities confronted by corporate power to assert their rights and enact binding law that places the well-being of people and landscapes above profit.  Her methods of organizing stem from an understanding of the origins of corporate power as developed by the Community Environmental Defense Fund (CELDF).   Biggs is the director of the Community Rights program at Global Exchange and is the copauthor of Building the Green Economy; Success Stories from the Grass Roots and The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth.  Joining her will be Kylie Nealis, the Community Rights Program Associate from Global Exchange.

For more information, contact June Cochran at (805) 773-2847.