DesertBlog

Pointless Political Grandstanding

As if the proposed expansion by the Marines at 29 Palms into 450,000 acres of desert public lands weren’t bad enough, a San Bernardino County Supervisor now wants that expansion directed away from the Johnson Valley ORV area and into designated wilderness areas in the Sheephole Mountains and Cadiz Dunes.

According to an article in the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt contends that the Sheephole Valley and Cadiz Dunes wilderness areas hold little value, saying “There needs to be some flexibility with some of the wilderness areas that just might not be of the highest quality.” (The article has some great photos showing just how wild and scenic the areas are, and the text points out their value as habitat for a variety of plants and animals, including desert bighorn.)

Fortunately, Senator Dianne Feinstein gave little hope for Mitzelfelt’s idea to succeed, stating, “Any proposal to remove protections for desert wilderness should not be part of [the base expansion] conversation.” Senator Feinstein is always diplomatic, but one can imagine that she was tempted to add, “Over my dead body!”

In related news, the Morongo Basin Conservation Association reports on its blog that Mitzelfelt’s proposed resolution preferring “expansion to the east” was indefinitely tabled by his fellow Supervisors.

The surprise is that Mitzelfelt is not even up for re-election (having won 62.5% of the vote in June), as this seems to be more of an empty gesture aimed at playing to his base than a serious proposal. As it stands, the idea of a military expansion into desert wilderness is probably a non-starter. But in these crazy political times, you never know what will happen. We’ll keep you up-to-date if this zany idea does gain any traction.