It’s Thursday, and while Northern California continues its slow melt into the earth’s crust, this weekend could shovel a little relief our way. Just think “cool” and maybe everyone gets out alive…

Those who might not survive include a lot of birds and animals who count on the annual upwelling off the California Coast. For the second year in a row, it’s not happening. Via blogfish – an excellent conservation blog – we bring you this story about two years of starvation for some animals off the California Coast.

In a lighter vein comes this story from Moldy Chum: When Good Mayflies Turn Bad

And because we all love learning more about our country’s simple, uncomplicated legal system, MidCurrent covers the story regarding the ongoing fight over access to a ditch slough in Montana. It’s the Stars vs. the Rest of the World in yet one more example of people moving somewhere beautiful and deciding to reserve all that beauty for themselves.

And just so our backpacking friends at GetOutdoors.com (one of the last pockets of backpackerism in the world) don’t feel left out, we’ve got what amounts to a working model of what happens to Northern California’s water table every time some bastard waters his acre of green lawn in the SoCal desert. Ladies and gentleman, the Fishing Toilet… (no, I am not making this up).

That’s it for now. I’ve got a fishing report to write. See you on the Internet, Tom Chandler