Please take a couple of minutes right now to call :

California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg: Phone: (916) 651-4006
California Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass: Phone: (916) 319-2047

and ask them to appropriate this funding from the OHV Trust Fund and put it toward State Park Funding as intended by California Senate Bill SB 742.

Background for the call:
• All Californians who use vehicles off the pavement have a portion of their fuel sales taxes paid into the OHV fund.
• Fees from “Green Sticker” (non-street legal vehicles) registration account for only 12% of the OHV Trust Fund.
• The OHV Division uses these funds exclusively to support green-sticker activities. This is a violation of state law, which says: “The department shall support both motorized and nonmotorized recreation related to off-highway vehicle use.”
• More than four fifths of off-highway vehicle use has nothing to do with green-sticker activities. Most off-highway vehicle use in California involves street-legal driving on dirt roads, either for pleasure or to get to a destination for non-motorized recreation.
• The California Legislature should make the OHV Division abide by the law of the land. $49.8 million in OHV funds has been paid by street-legal vehicle users engaging in non-green-sticker activities. That money should be reallocated to the Department of Parks and Recreation, in accordance with California law, to support the full range of recreational activities.
• Non-street-legal vehicles are used by fewer than 1 in 16 California households. California’s non-OHV parks and public lands are available for all Californians to use. Those parks should get the bulk of the tax dollars derived from recreational driving, not the facilities closed to all but the select few who own green-sticker vehicles.

If you have questions or comments please call or email Terry Weiner of the Desert Protective Council ((619) 342-5524.)

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The tracts, called Solar Energy Study areas, will be scrutinized to see whether it is feasible to build large-scale power plants of three square miles or more in area on the lands.

In a press release issued by the DoI, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said:

“President Obama’s comprehensive energy strategy calls for rapid development of renewable energy, especially on America’s public lands. This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources or land users. The two dozen areas we are evaluating could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity. With coordinated environmental studies, good land-use planning and zoning and priority processing, we can accelerate responsible solar energy production that will help build a clean energy economy for the 21st century.”

Note the phrasing: “rapid development of renewable energy, especially on America’s public lands.”

The press release also claims that

Only lands with excellent solar resources, suitable slope, proximity to roads and transmission lines or designated corridors, and containing at least 2,000 acres of BLM-administered public lands were considered for solar energy study areas. Sensitive lands, wilderness and other high-conservation-value lands as well as lands with conflicting uses were excluded.

I took a look at the maps of the Solar Energy Study Areas (available as large PDFs here) and found that the folks at the Interior Department didn’t do a particularly exhaustive job of excluding lands with high conservation values. The PDFs themselves are a bit cryptic if you’re not familiar with the lands at issue, so I took the data in them and laid them over more familiar maps to give a rough idea of the lands being talked about.

There are four tracts in the California desert: the Pisgah between Newberry Springs and Ludlow, the massive East Riverside tract running from Blythe to Desert Center, the Iron Mountain tract near Rice and surrounding Danby Lake, and Imperial, which runs from I-8 to the Mexican border south of Holtville. (Links go to the maps I adapted.) Take a look at this detail of the west end of the East Riverside tract:

The base map, from National Geographic’s TOPO software, pre-dates the 1994 California Desert Protection Act and thus shows a smaller Joshua Tree National Monument. Current boundaries of the National Park are shown as a purple overlay. The Solar Energy Study area is indicated by the red hatching. As you can see, the Interior Department’s notion of excluding sensitive areas apparently doesn’t rule out building industrial facilities abutting National Park boundary lines. The Eagle Mountain area, long beset by destructive projects ranging from hydroelectric power generation to a proposed landfill for Los Angeles’ trash, is some of the “non-sensitive” land being eyed for solar development.

Other lands of environmental importance have been included in the tracts as well.

The Iron Mountain tract overlies the southern part of the Cadiz aquifer, which is critically important to wildlife in the ranges just north of Joshua Tree. It also lies within the southern end of Ward Valley, sacred land to the Mojave people and excellent habitat for the desert tortoise.

The eastern end of the East Riverside tract would seem to include a significant portion of the ironwood bosques near the Palen and McCoy ranges. (Ironwood, Olneya tesota, is of sufficient ecological significance that President Bill Clinton established the Ironwood Forest National Monument to protect an important part of the plant’s range near Tucson.)

The broad sweep of bajada along the southern flank of the Cady Mountains, included in the Pisgah tract, is a remarkably intact creosote “forest” that may seem unassuming to casual passersby on I-40, but which shows its vibrance in “bloom” years: the region’s soils are a significant seed bank for native annuals.

The Interior Department is accepting public comment on the sites until the end of July. They’ve made it easy to submit those comments by offering you a webform. The DPC will be keeping you updated on the process as it moves forward.

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The ancient plants are dying in the park, the southern-most boundary of their limited growing region, scientists say. Already finicky reproducers, Joshua trees are the victim of global warming and its symptoms — including fire and drought — plus pollution and the proliferation of non-native plants. Experts expect the Joshuas to vanish entirely from the southern half of the state within a century.

The article is erratic in quality. The reporter, Janet Zimmerman, says in one paragraph that Joshua trees are very likely to be wiped out in southern California; a few paragraphs down she quotes the Palm Springs Desert Museum’s former natural history curator Jim Cornett as saying the trees are reproducing well, and otherwise thriving, in southern California’s Mojave National Preserve.

There’s also a weird insinuation that saguaros are spreading throughout the southern range of the Joshua tree, which isn’t so: Californian saguaros are still restricted to the a tiny part of the easternmost tip of the Whipple Mountains across the river from Parker, Arizona, and saguaros are every bit as threatened by climate change, in the long run, as are Joshua trees, due to invasive-plant-fueled wildfires and threats to the species’ pollinators.

The article is good press for the beleaguered trees nonetheless, and touches on the main issues placing the species in peril, fire and drought chief among them. Zimmerman mentions assisted migration and revegetation of burned areas with blackbrush, Coleogyne, which acts as a nurse plant for Joshua tree seedlings, keeping them protected from marauding jackrabbits. It may be that the scientific models she mentions are too optimistic — I reported on that here last year — but whatever the caveats, the Press-Enterprise piece is worth checking out.

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It’s been a great 2-1/2 years with DPC. I’ve enjoyed the work I’ve done on this blog, and all the connections I’ve made through it and through our DesertBlog twitter account (@DesertBlog). I may post here very occasionally as my time and blog space permits.

If you’d like to follow my future writing endeavors, I have a site on FreeWebs. It’s pretty out of date right now, but I should be updating it soon. I also post occasionally on The Clade, and you can follow me on Twitter: @LarryHogue. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll join the 21st century and get my own blog.

For those of you concerned about what will happen to DesertBlog, El Paisano, and DPC’s other communications efforts — not to worry, we’re handing these tasks over to the very capable Chris Clarke. Chris has posted here before, and you may have seen his Coyote Crossing site through frequent links from here, or his essay in our most recent Ed Bulletin. Chris has a wealth of writing, editing, photography, and social media experience that make him perfect for taking DPC to the next level. I’m excited to see what he’ll bring to the organization.

If you’re also excited about these developments, and want to support DPC in advancing its message of conservation for our desert landscapes, I hope you’ll take a moment to donate right now. You can do so quickly and easily with a credit card through the very secure, Guidestar-sponsored Network for Good site, or with an old-fashioned check using this printable form.

Hoping we’ll meet up again down the trail,

–Larry Hogue

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After years of population decline due to habitat loss, disease (possibly spread by domestic livestock), and some mountain lion predation, the Peninsular bighorn numbered just 276 individuals in 1996, before beginning to rebound to a population of 800 today. That recovery was brought about by a combination of environmental factors and conservation efforts. Bighorn experts saw the designation of 845,000 acres of critical habitat in 2001 as a key conservation tool.

The habitat reduction came as a result of a lawsuit by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and industry groups in the Coachella Valley. The reduction to just 377,000 acres places the interests of urban sprawl development over those of the bighorn, removing some of the most important habitat for summer-time foraging as well as corridors that allow movement between isolated bands of sheep.

Read more about the notice here.

(Photo of Peninsular bighorn sheep in Borrego Palm Canyon by Larry Hogue.)

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Great news for desert wilderness in Imperial County! The NAFTA Tribunal found that the U.S. government has the right to deny Glamis Gold’s proposed mine at Indian Pass, an area sacred to the Quechan tribe and adjacent to the existing Indian Pass Wilderness Area. Our deep thanks go to Courtney Coyle for her long years of dedication on behalf of the Quechan Tribe in pursuing the protection of this sacred area. Edie Harmon - DPC Life Member, past board member and Sierra Club activist - also deserves major credit for leading the opposition to this mine when almost no one else was listening.

Congratulations and abiding gratitude, Courtney and Edie!

DPC believes this is the opportune moment to pursue permanent protection of the sacred sites and trails in the Indian Pass Area through legislative means.

The press release from the Quechan Nation is reprinted below. The Yuma Sun also covered the decision.

PRESS RELEASE:

NAFTA TRIBUNAL RECOGNIZES SACRED PLACE OF QUECHAN TRIBE - DENIES GLAMIS GOLD’S CLAIM IN FULL

Fort Yuma, California/Arizona (June 9, 2009). Today, the NAFTA Tribunal in the Glamis Gold dispute against the United States released its long-awaited decision.

The Tribunal found that the State of California’s and the United States’ actions in regulating hard rock mining on public lands did NOT violate provisions of NAFTA.

“We were the first tribe to have our briefs accepted in a NAFTA claim dispute,” stated Mike Jackson, Sr., President, Quechan Nation. ” The award shows that the Tribunal understood that the Indian Pass area is a sacred area to the Quechan people, worthy of protection from hard rock mining. After battling the mining company for nearly fifteen years, it is good to have this decided. We encourage Glamis (now GoldCorp) to take immediate steps to put the matter behind all of us.”

Such steps could include GoldCorp not appealing the decision and abandoning or otherwise relinquishing its mining claims so that the existing withdrawal of the area from new mining claims would absorb the area proposed for the mine. Glamis must also pay two-thirds of all proceeding costs.

“We are very pleased to see that an international tribunal recognized the obligation of state and local governments to respect indigenous cultural rights. We also note the United States Government worked with the Quechan Tribe in defending its interests, and that the Tribe’s voice was heard at the hearing,” stated Courtney Ann Coyle, Attorney for the Tribe. “We sincerely hope that the Tribe’s actions will pave the way for increased participation by other indigenous peoples in international economic law disputes.”

However, the ruling does not appear to affect GoldCorp’s mining claims in the land. The Tribe has continued its strong opposition to mining - or any development - in this sacred place. The Tribe will be examining its options to further ensure protection of this place in perpetuity.

Preservation would be consistent with the United States’ position in the dispute that, “Glamis’s unpatented mining claims . . . never included the right to mine in any manner which interfered with the state’s ability to accommodate the free exercise of religion, injured Native American sacred sites or endangered the environment or public health and safety.” Thus, use of the land cannot proceed in violation of those tribal rights/interests. The international tribunal found Glamis’s claims wanting, as the Clinton Administration found their claims under domestic land use laws equally flawed.

The Tribe intends to call upon the Obama Administration to confirm the validity of the original Solicitor’s Opinion in this matter, which determined that BLM has the ability and indeed the obligation to deny mines that would impair or degrade native sacred places. A federal court agreed with the original Opinion, application of which would lead to another denial of the mine, should GoldCorp or another company foolishly seek to permit it in spite of the site’s history.

The Quechan Indian Nation is a federally recognized Tribe. About 3,000 Tribal members live on the reservation. The Quechan is the third largest California land-based tribe, with about 45,000 acres in reservation status. Their aboriginal lands include the area protected in the Clinton-era decision originally denying the Glamis Gold mine, a denial that was later rescinded by the Bush Administration, and lands which became the poster child for successful hard rock mining reform in California. The Tribe has utilized the Indian Pass area since time immemorial for religious, ceremonial and educational purposes. The Indian Pass area was also designated as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2002 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Tribe offers its deep appreciation to all of its supporters who helped protect this sacred area.

For additional information, please contact:

Mike Jackson, Sr., President Quechan Nation 760.572.0213
Pauline P. Jose, Quechan Culture Committee 760.572.0661
Courtney Ann Coyle, Attorney Quechan Nation 858.454.8687 or CourtCoyle@aol.com

(Photo of the Indian Pass area courtesy Monica Argandoña / CWC).

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The five principles of Solar Done Right are:

1. Focus on Efficiency
2. Generate Locally
3. Share The Profits
4. Use Brownfields For Solar
5. Don’t Use High-Quality Habitat

Following these principles, we can transition to a low-carbon society without sacrificing our fragile and biologically rich desert landscapes.

Click here to join the campaign now!

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May 12 2009- the California Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing did not take a vote on Senator Roy Ashburn’s Senate Bill 615. When legislators calculate that their proposed legislation will not pass the challenge of committee review, they pull their bills rather than suffer a humiliating vote. Ashburn retreated after an OUTPOURING of opposition to his bill.

SB 615 would have allowed off-road vehicles on city streets in California cities of 200 square miles in size under specified circumstances.  The poorly crafted bill was put on 2-year review to work out the problems with it.  If passed, this legislation would have increased local ORV noise, air pollution, public safety issues and trespass in the desert city of California City and in Los Angeles and one other 200 square mile city. Local residents in California City opposed to allowing ORVs on the streets have been afraid to speak out against SB 615 for fear of retaliation. One outspoken critic of the bill has been awakened every 2 hours from midnight until 4AM by dirt bikes revving up near his house.

In days leading up to the hearing, the Transportation Committee was inundated with our calls.   The Alliance for Responsible Recreation, a coalition of conservation and property owner groups, of which DPC is a member, sent a letter to the Committee in April.  The legislative Analyst used parts of our letter verbatim to recommend against the bill. This is a huge defeat to the ORV lobby that will remind them that we are organized and activated to protect our private property and public lands from ORV abuse.

Congratulations and many thanks to all who wrote letters and made calls.  This is a huge victory for the desert!

Terry

For the analysis of SB 615 go here.

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Imperial County has many exquisite wild areas that are unlike places anywhere else in the world. These unique landscapes in Eastern Imperial County include Milpitas Wash, with towering palo verde, mesquite and ironwood trees; the Indian Pass area, with its wind- and water-sculpted canyons and places that the Quechan Tribe still use for cultural purposes; and the rugged volcanic landscape of Vinagre Wash (pictured above - thanks to John Dittli and the California Wilderness Coalition for the photo).

Right now, these special places are threatened by indiscriminate off-roading, mining, and other activities. Yet a loud minority of the public remains opposed to new wilderness, and they’re contacting their elected officials right now. That’s why it’s so important for you, the majority of the public that supports expanded wilderness designations, to let your representatives know how you feel.

Please take a moment to write a letter urging your representatives, both local and national, to permanently protect these places as wilderness. Full instructions are on our main DPC website. Please respond by e-mail by Monday, May 11.

TELL BLM TO PROTECT SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS - TODAY!

While we’re trying to get more designated wilderness here in Imperial County, things aren’t looking so good for existing protected areas in Utah.

Land around the Paria River has been a Wilderness Study Area since the early 1980s. By law, WSAs are supposed to be managed to protect their wilderness values until a decision is made, one way or the other, on their status. That means no off-roading. In 2000, Bill Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) designated this same area as a “primitive zone.” Again, no vehicles allowed.

Yet off-roaders have continued to use the area during all these years, with the BLM essentially looking the other way. Here’s a video of what that off-roading directly through the river looks like (the off-roaders call this river a “road.”)

Now, a judge has ordered the BLM to follow the law, and off-roaders have responded by organizing a rally — set for tomorrow! — of potentially 1000 riders travelling in the area illegally. The BLM’s response? Monument managers will seek “voluntary compliance.”

Please act immediately to tell the BLM to enforce the law. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has a simple form for you to fill out asking the BLM to protect these wild areas from further destruction.

For more details, see this article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

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More from Denis:

I’m doing a 50-mile run this weekend which is part of an organized run called the Pacific Crest Trail 50 Mile Run. It starts on Saturday at 6am along I-8, goes north to Mt. Laguna and beyond for 25 miles, then returns to I-8 when it’s warm and toasty; all info about the run is at www.pct50.com [NOTE: the run has been moved to Cuyamaca due to the Marine helicopter crash in the Laguna Mountains]. We need your “per mile” pledge to help us with the legal effort in process to stop SDGE’s T-Line. Barring a Rattlesnake bite or a hard fall, I fully expect to finish the run; it will be warm, but the heat never stopped me before, so when you pledge, figure that I will finish the run.

If you think the T-Line will not affect you, then you’re dead wrong. The initial transmission line will go through South County, with future plans to cut through the same places in the original “Preferred Northern Route”. If you reside in the Desert, then it’s true that you will be an “island”, but your island will be surrounded by massive wind turbines, solar farms, and power lines for you to see each day.

If we let SDGE get the T-Line in South County, with all the various agency Permits from BLM, USFS, Fish and Wildlife, etc, the next lines through North County will be a “slam dunk” application process with the precedent set in South County.

This is all about Passion over Greed, David over Goliath and the People over the 900 pound gorilla (Sempra) who is running scared right now. Our Board has the Passion, our hired experts have the Passion, our Attorneys have the Passion and most importantly the People have the Passion. Now with a little money, let us move forward with our Passion. So to summarize:

1. Email me back with a “per mile” pledge.

2. Send this message to your Group list.

3. I’ll send you my results on Monday, with instructions on how/where to send your pledge money.

Denis Trafecanty

Protect Our Communities Foundation

PO Box 305

Santa Ysabel, CA 92070

Cell 760-703-1149

Email - denis@vitalityweb.com

Denis aimed his message at a San Diego County audience, but if you’re a ratepayer to any California publicly-owned electric utility, then the Sunrise Powerlink will bring you higher electric bills. And if you live anywhere in the country and don’t like to see companies dress up the same old outdated dirty technology in faux “green,” “renewable” clothing, then you should be concerned as well. Many “green” power lines are being proposed around the country that are either unnecessary, or, like the Sunrise Powerlink, begin conveniently close to dirty power.

And if you’re wondering whether the Protect Our Communities Fund is really the right organization to give your anti-Sunrise Powerlink money to, consider that Michael Shames, the leader of that other big anti-Sunrise outfit, the Utility Consumers Action Network, said at a public meeting that UCAN is all set for funds, and people should donate to POC. So go ahead and e-mail Denis with your pledge today. You can find out more about the Protect Our Communities Fund here.

Another option is to donate to the Desert Protective Council, the funder of the first rounds of the Sunrise Powerlink campaign. You can donate to us through the secure, Guidestar-sponsored Network for Good site. Mark your donation “Sunrise Powerlink,” and we’ll make sure it gets spent in the right place.

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