Posted February 9, 2009
During the fall of 2008, the U.S Navy announced plans to expand the Twentynine Palms Marine Base Into 350,000 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Navy filed an application with BLM to withdraw the 350,000 acres from all other forms of appropriation while it pursues the acquisition. It also published a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement covering the expansion.
The Marines say they need to expand in order to better conduct field training exercises. The Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center is near the town of Twentynine Palms in the eastern Mojave Desert and a few miles north of Joshua Tree National Park. At 595,000 acres, this Marine Base is already the Navy’s largest. They have proposed a number of alternatives for expansion to the north, west, east and south. This fragile desert is home to an array of desert species, including our endangered state reptile, the desert tortoise, and desert bighorn sheep. The impacts of this proposed expansion would be immense and must be questioned. The reason the Navy gives for the expansion is that it is essential for three battalion units of 1,000 troops each, supported by air cover, to train simultaneously. They do not offer a convincing justification for the need to train three battalions simultaneously, although one of the alternatives they propose, Alternative 5, shows how they could accomplish this on the land they already have. You can find details of the military proposal at http://www.29palms.usmc.mil/las/
Please write a short letter telling the Navy that you are not in favor of expansion because of the lack of justification of the need for the expansion and because of the many serious, irreparable impacts to the Mojave desert, such as impacts to sensitive and endangered species, noise and night light impacts to nearby rural desert communities and to Joshua Tree National Park, and to the air quality of the Morongo Basin. Ask the Navy to add you to their mailing list to receive a copy of their draft EIS and all other documents and notices of meetings relating to this proposed expansion. Please send your comments to this address:
Joseph Ross, Project Manager
Box 788104, Bldg. 1554, Rm. 138
MAGTFTC/MCAGCC
Twentynine Palms, California 92278-8104
SMBPLMSWEBPAO@usmc.mil
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(Photo by SDG&E) |
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Posted February 9, 2009
On December 18, 2008, the southern route of the Sunrise Powerlink was approved with no conditions by the California Public Utilities Commission, on a 4-1 vote (Commissioner Grueneich dissenting). While this routing does avoid Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, this decision ignored the conclusions of the voluminous EIR on the project, thousands of pages entered into the administrative record by a variety of groups and experts, and the will of the people. The decision paid heed only to the political clout of Sempra Energy and Gov. Schwarzenegger, along with an alliance of business and labor interests. Extensive litigation is assured, with the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and Utility Consumers Action Network filing proceedings with both the California Supreme Court and the Public Utilities Commission.
The article linked here, by Diane Conklin, sums up the post-decision situation nicely. It originally appeared in the Ramona Sentinel.
Donate to the Protect Our Communities Fund for upcoming legal actions. Or donate to DPC and we’ll pass the funds on for you. Just note “Sunrise Powerlink” on your check or online form.
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Posted February 9, 2009
The Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Division of State Parks is once again embarking on a long-delayed Strategic Plan for the CA OHV Program. The Division was legislatively mandated to do a Strategic Plan over 10 years ago, with a most recent deadline of January 2009, which has not been met. The OHV Division is inviting public comment on the draft plan. Three public workshops on the Draft Plan were conducted in January. Though there was a loose deadline of February 13, comments are still being accepted. Send comments to info@ohv.parks.ca.gov. Public comment will be heard at the next OHV Commission meeting on March 13/14. The Division has not yet chosen a venue. DPC urges you to read and send comments to the OHV Division on this draft plan. You can download a copy of the plan on the OHV Division web site. Or you can call the OHV Division at (916) 324-4442 and ask them to mail you a copy of the 2008 Draft Strategic Plan and ask to be placed on the mailing list for all notices of meetings.
DPC finds a large numbers of flaws in this draft plan, a major one of which is that the plan does not address OHV recreation in the context of the increasing pressures from many sources on California’s finite supply of land and resources. It neither addresses Governor Schwarzenneger’s Climate Change Plan nor does the plan give equal importance to the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s mission to protect California’s natural and cultural resources. The goal of the OHV Division is to expand OHV Recreation without consideration of the myriad environmental impacts of motorized recreation, and the fact that recreating on off-road vehicles is enjoyed by a very small percentage of the California recreating public.
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Posted February 9, 2009
In 2008, while great progress was being made on wilderness bills covering 700,000 acres in Riverside County, the eastern Sierra, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, the San Gabriel Mountains, and northern San Diego county (now being debated as part of the Omnibus Public Lands bill in the House of Representatives), the California Wilderness Coalition (CWC) launched a new campaign to designate additional wilderness exclusively in the desert, including locations in eastern San Diego and Imperial counties. The 111th Congress looks like the best opportunity for designating new wilderness in the desert since the passage of the CDPA, and we hope legislators will take up a desert wilderness bill soon. To that end, the CWC has requested DPC’s partnership in the Imperial County portion of the new campaign to develop public support for these new wilderness areas.
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DPC and CWC, with the help of some of our Imperial County members, set up a “wilderness house party” in December to introduce about a dozen people to the areas of eastern Imperial County that are being proposed for wilderness protection. These include areas near the Palo Verde Mountains, Indian Pass, and the Vinagre and Milpitas Wash areas. On Saturday following the house party, Laurel Williams of CWC and Craig Deutsche of Desert Survivors conducted a very enjoyable hike and tour with a dozen residents to these areas. The CWC and its partners will be conducting more hikes to proposed desert wilderness areas this Spring. For the hike schedule, visit www.calwild.org.
The CWC is planning to hire a paid organizer for Imperial County for a period of six months with the goal of building local support for the proposed Imperial County wilderness areas. They have obtained seed money for this position from the Campaign for America’s Wilderness and will be circulating a job announcement in upcoming weeks. The DPC has agreed to contribute funding for this position if a bi-lingual local resident of Imperial County with organizing experience can be recruited. DPC will be assisting in the outreach. If you are interested in this position or in finding out more about it, please contact Terry Weiner at terryweiner AT sbcglobal DOT net or Laurel Williams of the CWC at lwilliams AT calwild DOT org or at (909) 946-1855; or send a letter of inquiry to CWC 167 N. Third Avenue, Suite M Upland, CA 91786.
For the wilderness bills currently being considered by Congress, call or e-mail your U.S. representative to support passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Bill. See the California Wilderness Coalition website or DesertBlog for more details. And keep checking back in coming months to find out how you can help get wilderness protection for even more desert wilderness.
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CALIFORNIA OHV PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN
