Control burn planned in San Simeon today

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• Dead vegetation to be burned in state parks along North Coast

  Dead vegetation to be burned in state parks along North Coast

  California State Parks plans to burn piles of slash at Hearst San Simeon, Montaña de Oro and Morro Bay state parks sometime between now and May 1, according to information released to the media Monday.

  The burning of dead, downed and diseased trees, bushes and other plant life is designed to reduce greatly the amount of fuel for fires in the two park areas.

  When the work actually will happen — in the areas of the Washburn Day Use Area in San Simeon, Shark’s Inlet/Butte Drive and Camp KEEP horse corral in Montaña de Oro, and Black Hill in Morro Bay — will be determined primarily by the weather, according to Vince Cicero, a State Park environmental scientist.

• Controlled burn at Morro Bay State Park jumps its lines before being put back under control

  Controlled burn at Morro Bay State Park jumps its lines before being put back under control

  A controlled burn in the Morro Bay State Park grew out of control this morning burning roughly an acre on Black Hill before it was under control around 2 p.m., said officials with the Morro Bay Fire Department.

• Burn near Islay Hill sucessfully reduced invasive grass, Cal Fire says

  Burn near Islay Hill sucessfully reduced invasive grass, Cal Fire says

  A prescribed burn conducted last summer near Islay Hill to test whether fire would be an effective way of controlling medusahead grass has been called a success.

• Officials proceed with Oceano Dunes dust rule work

  Officials proceed with Oceano Dunes dust rule work

  Despite two legal challenges, local agencies are moving full speed ahead to implement a new requirement to reduce dust blowing off Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

  State Parks is working to set up some mobile monitoring stations in the Dunes that will measure dust levels during the windy springtime when dust emissions are highest, said Dunes Superintendent Andy Zilke.

  Meanwhile, the county Air Pollution Control District is beginning a separate project to establish a series of temporary monitoring stations on the Nipomo Mesa that will allow the district to map the dust plume coming off the park, said Larry Allen, air pollution control officer.

• Whale washes ashore near San Simeon

  Whale washes ashore near San Simeon

  A dead gray whale just over 30 feet long was discovered on the beach south of San Simeon on Saturday, April 21.

  By Monday morning, the leviathan was reportedly already fairly decomposed and stinky. It’s on a State Parks beach about 300 yards south of Vista Del Mar, the southernmost street in San Simeon’s motel and residential areas, and approximately a mile north of San Simeon Creek.

  The whale appears to be a 2-year-old female, according to Wayne Perryman, leader of the Cetacean Health and Life History Program for Southwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He said there’s no obvious cause of death, as the marine mammal appears to be of healthy weight, and there’s no sign of it being hit by a ship or a recent killer-whale attack.