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PROTECT THE ALGODONES DUNES

Peirson's milk-vetch, Andrew Harvey

Peirson's milk-vetch, photo by Andrew Harvey

You can help ensure that existing protections for the Algodones Dunes (Imperial Sand Dunes) stay in place as the Bureau of Land Management begins the process of writing a new management plan for the area. As the largest dunes system in the Southwest, the Algodones Dunes are certainly deserving of protection not only for their beauty, but also for the many unique plants and animals that make their homes here. They are also a wonderful place to visit on foot, if only the Bureau would make the area more easily accessible for hikers, birders and other passive recreationists. Instead, they are likely to try to increase areas for off-road vehicles by opening up areas closed in 2000 as a result of a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and others – unless they hear from people who want current protections to remain in place.

Our position is that the existing system in which roughly 50% of the dunes is open to foot travel only and the other 50% is open to off-road vehicles is a good one. It offers ample opportunity for all types of recreation while protecting the natural features of the area.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Attend one of three evening hearings next week that will help shape the developing management plan.

April 22^nd in San Diego
April 23^rd in Phoenix
April 24^th in El Centro

For full details, go to our Algodones Dunes page.

The Center for Biological Diversity's website has great background on the interim vehicle closures, as well as on the threatened Peirson's milk-vetch and the ongoing legal battle over its critical habitat designation.

For a narrative of a trip through the heart of the dunes, go here.

Have you been keeping up with DesertBlog?

We hope you've been following the development of our new blog, DesertBlog (www.dpcinc.org/blog or just click on “Blog” from our main website). If you have, you’ve probably noticed a preponderance of Sunrise Powerlink posts. But there's more to it than just fighting this destructive boondoggle, and we'll be broadening the focus with new writers and more topics in the future.

If you haven't been following the blog, then you've missed notices of two fun events over Earth Day Weekend, tips on where to see wildflowers after the peak in the low desert areas, and more.

An easy way to follow the blog
Are you one of those people who bookmarks a site and then forgets about it for six months? (This author certainly is.) You can solve this problem by keeping up with DesertBlog through a “feedreader” such as GoogleReader (but you have to check that regularly too) or through an e-mail subscription. Just click here for a menu of free subscription choices. Just as with your subscription to e-Paisano, you can stop your subscription at any time, and neither DPC nor the good people at Feedburner will share your e-mail addresses with anyone. (If you really don't want to give up your e-mail address with FeedBurner, click the link labeled “View Feed XML” and you can add the subscription directly to your browser's favorites.)

When reading the blog, we hope you'll join the conversation by registering to comment on the various desert topics we cover. Then you can share your thoughts with us and other readers. (We have to ask you to register to avoid potential problems with abusive behavior and “comment spamming.”)

For tech-geeks only: You can follow DesertBlog through Twitter.com. You’ll mainly receive reminders to check the most recent post, right after it's posted, and maybe the occasional “retweet” of interesting conservation news. Just follow this username: desertblog.

AND SPEAKING OF THAT PESKY POWERLINK…
Mark your calendars for Monday, May 12, in Borrego Springs:
the most important hearings yet on the Sunrise Powerlink!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMexQsFmsA

Sierra Club, ABF, and all the other groups involved turned out a huge number of people at Sunrise Powerlink hearings across the county in February. Now, we need to have that many people, or more, attend one of two hearings the California Public Utilities Commission has scheduled on the Powerlink.

The hearings will take place at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 12, in Borrego Springs.

These hearings are especially important because several commissioners will be present who have not attended any of the previous public participation hearings on the Powerlink. This is their first and only chance to hear from you, the public, up close and in person. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your voice doesn’t count! Every sign we’re getting from Administrative Law Judge Steven Weissman and lead Commissioner Diane Gruenich indicates they want to ensure that their fellow commissioners experience the amazing levels of public opposition to this boondoggle for themselves.

We’ll have full details up on our website soon.

Meanwhile, check out our new YouTube video on the Powerlink.