The matter was "indefinitely postponed until a later meeting, as county officials would like to further examine the consequences of backing an eastern expansion plan," per the Lucerne Valley Leader as posted on The Guzzler.
“I have expressed my concern with expansion into the Johnson Valley open area. But the eastern expansion currently could very likely close Amboy Road, which is a very significant highway. That is very worrisome to me and I think we need to address that as well in our position. As a former Marine, I'm very familiar with the type of training they do there. They do need more space, but we do need to study the impact on our constituents,” Mitzelfelt said at Tuesday’s meeting.
David Zook, spokesman for Mitzelfelt said that the Supervisor still believes that an eastward move away from Johnson and Lucerne Valleys is the way to go, but the county as a whole has not decided on a position.
[snip]
"Johnson Valley is ... providing economic benefits to the surrounding communities and opportunities for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts and many others to enjoy recreation in the desert,” the recommendation said. “Additionally, Johnson Valley is a popular site for photography and filming of movies, commercials and other productions which generates additional economic benefits.”
As to the push to move east, the report goes on to say that they are “mostly unpopulated, are not heavily used for recreation, and have been used in the past for military training. They do not have surrounding communities as is the case in the Johnson Valley, and they would provided a viable alternative to the original proposal.”
Now, looking at possibly having to close Amboy Road, which leads to Interstate 40, officials are saying they need more time to secure their position.“
Obviously we need to study a little bit more,” Mitzelfelt concluded.
Read more analysis of the issue and the County's response here.
In further coverage of last week's public information meeting in Twentynine Palms on the expansion, the Press-Enterprise states that desert residents said they fear the Marines Corps plans will "take their homes, curtail their off-road recreation and destroy wildlife habitat."The article quotes Wonder Valley artist Thom Merrick: "It's like living next to a giant that knows no end to its hunger."
[MBCA Boardmember] D-Anne Albers, who lives in Wonder Valley and works with Defenders of Wildlife environmental group, said the expansion area includes prime desert tortoise habitat north of Johnson Valley and bighorn sheep habitat east of the training center.
"The expansion could take territory the animals need at a time when desert wildlife habitat elsewhere is being claimed for solar and wind projects, Albers said."It would be very bad. The desert is just getting eaten up."
An earlier article in the Press-Enterprise quotes a study published this month by a North Carolina State University professor: "The military's contention that the training grounds are needed for national security isn't necessarily a slam-dunk justification."
"The government can no longer rely solely on the 'war on terrorism' and 'national security' as arguments to maintain a crisis situation where local people willingly sacrifice protection of their 'homeland,'" Kenneth Zagacki said in a university news release.
The study examined how the U.S. Navy abandoned plans this year to acquire more than 30,000 acres for a landing field in rural North Carolina -- land the Navy had been saying for five years was needed for national security, Zagacki said.
Residents there opposed the expansion and put the Navy in an "awkward position" by arguing that the landing field would destroy the very homeland the military was trying to protect, wrote Zagacki, a professor of rhetoric, in his study published in the Southern Communications Journal.
MORE INFO ON THESE ISSUES: On the Land Use/Development and Communities pages of the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: Johnson Valley, Marine Base, Wonder Valley, Twentynine Palms.
