The Desert Protective Council | e-Paisano 003

Hint: Network for Good is also the easiest way to join DPC or to renew your membership with a credit card.

Special Advance Showing: Spring in the Desert!
Starring Desert Lily and more!


Desert lily in the Desert Cahuilla area. Photo by Deborah Knapp

Spring has arrived early in the Anza-Borrego desert, with flowers like this desert lily blooming a bit early. The spring bloom is even more advanced in parts of the Mojave. Whatever desert you’re near, we hope you have a chance to get out there to enjoy the spring bloom.

And let’s hope the above-average temperatures our deserts are experiencing don’t burn up all the annuals before they have a chance to bloom!

Dr. John Wehausen made a similar point at the recent “Global Warming and the California Deserts” conference. Increased temperatures in December could be good for plant growth, but increased temperatures in the spring could cut the growing season short, with implications for animals that depend on the plants, such as the desert bighorn sheep. You’ll find a full report on the conference in our current Ed Bulletin, available online now.

Our current El Paisano newsletter is also available online, with a review of the new coffee table photo book, Anza-Borrego: A Photographic Journey by Ernie Cowan, the latest on the Desert Cahuilla issue, happenings around the desert, and a report on upcoming field trips for Imperial Valley students. This online version is web-enhanced, with clickable links and color photos.

I Want My Smart Energy! ACT TO STOP THE SUNRISE POWERLINK

SDG&E, the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and the Union-Tribune continue to tell us that the only alternative to the desert-destroying Sunrise Powerlink is to dry our laundry on a clothesline (not a bad idea, in itself!). Fortunately, as the Environmental Impact Report on this project tells us, there are many more environmentally friendly options for clean, reliable power in San Diego. We think the best one is San Diego Smart Energy 2020, but the EIR lists others. All of them beat the Sunrise Powerlink hands down. The EIR also points out that, even if it carried 100% solar power (which it won’t), Sunrise would still create more greenhouse gas emissions than it would save.

Our website has two ways you can encourage the California Public Utilities Commission to reject the Sunrise Powerlink and put San Diego on the path to a 21st-century energy system.

BLM-El Centro offers wilderness hikes


Hikers pause on a dunes trek. Photo by Andrew Harvey

The Bureau of Land Management’s El Centro Field Office is offering two wilderness hikes this season, one into the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness (March 8) and one into the Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness from McCain Valley (April 12). Check the BLM’s website for more details.

SAN BERNARDINO ORV CONFERENCE!
Saturday, April 5 – "Desert Communities Under Siege"

Desert Communities Under Siege
This conference will address ORV abuse of our private and public lands.

Saturday, April 5th from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst Road in Joshua Tree. Organized by Community ORV Watch and other desert conservation groups.

Check our events page to find out more.