ORV tension highlighted in USA Today

The tensions between off-roader riders and homeowners is the focus of a new article in USA Today.

The ground-breaking efforts of Morongo Basin COW (Community ORV Watch) are highlighted:

In Southern California, property owners and others frustrated by illegal off-road vehicle use created Community ORV Watch, and the San Bernardino County chapter was among the voices calling for government action.

In 2006, San Bernardino County adopted an ordinance that requires off-road-vehicle riders on private property to have written permission from owners. The most controversial provision requires people planning a gathering of 10 or more riders to get a permit from the county for $155.

From January through October this year, the county issued 554 warnings and 209 citations, the vast majority for riding on private property without permission, says Randy Rogers, chief of code enforcement. Last year, the county issued 356 warnings and 133 citations, he says.

Despite enforcement and an aggressive education campaign, there's still tension. "We've found two-by-fours with nails driven in them" in the ground, Rogers says.

To find out more about ORV issues in the Basin and about COW, go to www.orvwatch.com.


MORE INFO ON THESE ISSUES: On Community ORV Watch and on the Off-Road Vehicle page of the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: Off-Road Vehicles.

Open Space and Economic Development

The Morongo Basin Open Space Group has posted a summary of their Dec. 16 meeting, which focused on "The Role of Open Space in Economic Development."

Green Path North opposition gaining steam

On the Green Path North front, the California Desert Coalition has been joined by a new ally: the just-formed Coachella Valley Coalition based in Desert Hot Springs.

And in other GPN news, Southern California Edison has made an offer that "bolsters the position of Green Path opponents," according to the Press-Enterprise.

Southern California Edison is offering an alternative to the Green Path North power line project that Los Angeles wants to build across San Bernardino County deserts and foothills.

Edison could add enough capacity on its power lines along Interstate 10 to carry electricity to Los Angeles from geothermal, wind and solar power projects planned in the desert, said Sandi Blain, manager of the transmission project licenses for Edison, an investor-owned utility.

However, officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power say they are not interested.

Any agreement with Edison would involve paying to use the power lines and could be suspended or terminated, leaving too much uncertainty for some 5 million Los Angeles-area customers, said David Nahai, DWP general manager.

MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: At California Desert Coalition and on the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts on this blog: Energy, Green Path North.

Wonder Valley mobilizes in response to Base expansion plans

Wonder Valley is beginning to mobilize in the face of MCAGCC expansion plans. Per the Desert Trail:

Citizens concerned about expansion plans of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center will meet to explore the issues and consider options from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20 at Wonder Valley Community Church, 82575 Amboy Road at Kuhn’s Road. It is the intention to organize a committee to address the expansion and its potential impacts on east Basin communities. Anyone interested in taking part is invited. For more information, call 367-7608.

The Combat Center has begun the environmental study process for the expansion, where it will compare possible combinations and alternatives to meet its expansion objectives. The study areas include over 300,000 acres of federal land and more than 70,000 acres of private lands, including to the west, south, and east of the current base boundaries. In Wonder Valley, the potential expansion lands include everything north of Poleline Road.The eastern study area extends all the way east to the Old Woman Mountains and north up to National Trails Highway, including Amboy Road, Amboy Crater, Bristol Dry Lake and several mining and farming enterprises.

The National Wilderness Areas are not included in the study zones.

“There are many questions to be answered,”said Chris Carraher, a Wonder Valley resident and one of the organizers of the meeting. “The people in Wonder Valley could be severely impacted by the expansion plans.”

An on-line discussion group about the Base expansion can be found here.

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.

Yucca Valley hillside reserve in peril

There is going to be a special Yucca Valley Town Council Meeting on December 17 regarding a General Plan Amendment to rezone a Hillside Reserve to subdivide into four lots instead of one house per 20 acres.

Residents are concerned this could be a starting point to set precedence for further development of the town's remaining hillside reserves. Hillsides buffer lands and ecological linkages. Also, the proposed lot #4 is situated at the base of an alluvial fan.

This project is at the most southern end of Valley Vista at Onaga, where there have been big problems with water runoff.

More information when we have it.


MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: See Grading/Clear-Cutting and Land Use/Development pages on MBCA Website. Additional posts: Yucca Valley, Grading/Clear-Cutting.

Take action on Green Path and energy in the desert

Action notice from California Desert Coalition:

Take Action Now
4 Minutes From Now You Can Have Sent Important Letters
to STOP Green Path North

In the next few minutes you can help STOP Green Path North by sending the following new letters directly from our website.

Send a Letter - Effect Renewable Energy Policy in the New Administration -- go to http://www.cadesertco.org/effectrep.php

As part of transition planning for the new administration, President-elect Obama has formed an Energy and Environment Policy Team, who is seeking suggestions on what the new administration should do on this important issue.The new administration is committed to moving forward on renewable energy development, a goal that CDC supports if done in a truly green way. However, with big energy corporations pushing to destroy millions of acres of California Desert, as well as desert communities, with their utility-scale energy projects and unnecessary transmission lines, it is important that our voices be heard. We believe you will find our letter informative. It describes a better way to develop renewable energy while leaving our communities intact and preserving pristine desert for future generations to enjoy.

Send a Letter - Support Proposal to Protect California Desert -- go to http://www.cadesertco.org/supportproposal.php

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, which is threatened by Green Path North transmission lines and a new energy corridor, is one of the areas included in a proposal initiated by the California Wilderness Coalition. The proposal recommends designating much of this preserve as a wilderness area and further recommends that Big Morongo Canyon Preserve be added to Joshua Tree National Park. These additional protections would make it much more difficult to get approval for an inappropriate Green Path North transmission line and energy corridor through Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. This proposal is supported by the Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, who see these added protections as a way to ensure necessary protection for the preserve. Other sensitive areas of the California Desert threatened by utility-scale energy projects are also included in the proposal. Please add your voice to the support for this proposal.

Thank you for your continuing support.

CALIFORNIA DESERT COALITION
www.cadesertco.org

MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: At California Desert Coalition and on the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts on this blog: Energy, Green Path North, Morongo Valley.

Coverage of Marine expansion scoping meetings

Last week's scoping meetings for the Marine Base expansion proposal is covered in the Desert Trail as well as the Press-Enterprise. The P-E covered the Victorville meeting:

Off-roading enthusiasts and military officials appeared to be on a collision course Thursday at a meeting hosted by the Marine Corps, which plans a major expansion of its training center at Twentynine Palms.

The Marines shared five expansion scenarios for enlarging the center, but the one that works best for maneuvers and live-fire training takes in all or part of the Johnson Valley, a 189,000-acre mecca for off-roaders in the San Bernardino County desert southeast of Barstow.

The revelation didn't go over well with many of the 167 people, most of them off-roaders, who attended the meeting in a hotel conference room.

[snip]

Officials determined the Johnson Valley is best for live-fire exercises and maneuvering because it provides a natural extension of training corridors on the base, [Lt. Col. James] McArthur said.

The "open house" format of the meeting was controversial. Again per the P-E:

Meeting participants were asked to make their comments in writing at several tables or to speak to a court reporter, who would create a transcript.

Marie Brashear, a rock collector from Lucerne Valley, said the comment format was self-serving for the military.

"The only purpose is to defuse and disarm people who may be opposed to the expansion," she said.

Helen Baker, director of the Partnership for Johnson Valley, said she liked the format because it prevents a few vocal people from taking over.

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.

Open Space Group meeting next Tuesday

The Morongo Basin Open Space Group is meeting next Tuesday, December 16th, from 1 pm to 3pm at the Yucca Valley Community Center, Yucca Room.

The program topic is “The Role of Open Space in Economic Development.”

You can view the Agenda at the MBOSG Website.

How to use this blog

New to blogs? It's easier than you may think. Here's a guide to using the MBCA blog.

This blog follows a standard format. Posts are in descending chronological order, meaning the newest post is at the top, and as you scroll down you will find older and older posts. You can keep up on the news by scanning the first several posts every day or each week.

The posts are also ordered by Category. If you're interested in a specific topic you can find all the posts connected with that topic collected together under a Category label. You'll find the Category labels for each post listed at the bottom of the post.

You'll also find a list of the Categories in the sidebar. If you're interested in, say, Twentynine Palms, look in the sidebar at the Category list and click on "Twentynine Palms." That will bring up all the posts that have been labeled "Twentynine Palms."

Want to get the news without coming to this site? You can subscribe to an Atom feed that allows you to automatically receive our posts in a Reader. Learn more here.

In the sidebar are also lists of Organizations that might interest our viewers. There is a Blogroll, as well, with links to other blogs.

Finally, at the top of the sidebar you'll find links to the MBCA Website, including to our Calendar and our Home, Meeting, Join, and Contact pages. And if you want to cut right to the chase, click on the Alerts! link for the latest important action that needs your attention.

Special note: We have many links on our blog to articles in the Hi-Desert Star. In December 2008 the Star began charging for access to archived articles. We will be adjusting our approach to referencing Star articles in the future and apologize for any inconvenience this causes readers of our past posts.

We hope you enjoy the MBCA blog. Please feel free to send us items you'd like us to consider posting. Thanks!

MBCA meets Thursday, December 11

The next regular board meeting of the Morongo Basin Conservation Association is December 11, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. at PFF Bank & Trust in Yucca Valley.

Please join us and add your voice and experience.

Visualizing the energy impact

Coyote Crossing has a nice post summarizing the size of the impact on the Mojave should the numerous solar and wind proposals now before the BLM come to pass. Most useful is the BLM map showing the location of proposed projects.

Note the overlap of energy projects in some places with the study areas proposed for the Marine Base expansion. At this week's Base expansion scoping meeting, it was clarified that the "segregation" enacted by the Marine Corps has preempted those projects. The Base will get "first dibs", even though those energy proposals had already been submitted.


MORE INFO ON THESE TOPICS: On the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts: Energy, Johnson Valley, Marine Base, Wonder Valley, Twentynine Palms.

Energy update

The desert as Ground Zero for the alternative energy future of America continues to take shape.

The Joshua Tree-based Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy have issued their latest newsletter.

And centered up in Antelope Valley, a High Desert Region Green Jobs Initiative is forming. Their goal, per their Website, is to "bring green industries to the high desert region with the purpose of growing our economy and using green jobs to create positive pathways for youth and unemployed adults. The Initiative will be achieved through public/private partnerships and guided by a collaboration of the private sector, government, community-based organizations, labor, educational institutions, youth, and unemployed adults."


MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts: Energy.

Watch out for your waste

In an article on catching illegal dumpers with hidden cameras, the Hi-Desert Star outlines some of the realities of dealing with desert waste.

A typical first-offense penalty to a guilty dumper is $330 to cover criminal and civil penalties. Fines can range up to $10,000 and six months in county jail for a third conviction. If perpetrators take code enforcement’s advice and clean up their trash, that fact is noted to the judge, but the criminals aren’t off the hook for their illegal act.

There is a potential financial incentive associated with identifying a dumper. Successful prosecutions can net a tipper up to a $1,000 reward.

[snip]

Disposers of green waste like tree limbs or other organic material are put on notice that code enforcement makes no distinction between yard waste, furniture, appliances, building material,
hazardous waste and whatever else gets tossed. “A dump site is still a dump site,” [code enforcement officer] Romage stated simply.

So what should desert dwellers do with their waste?

A tip for people who hire contractors for yard clean-up or renovation work that requires refuse removal: Agree to make payment after the contractor produces a receipt verifying the load was delivered to the dump that day.

Regarding used tires, the ideal situation is for responsible residents to accept the responsibility for the $5 per tire disposal fee (no rims.) Failing the ability (or desire) to pony up the fee, the county operates a drop-off location for used tires at the Copper Mountain Community Center from 8 a.m. to noon the first and second Saturday of each month or by appointment. The service is for residential, not business disposal. The site has taken in 20,000 tires so far this year.

Report illegal dumping to Code Enforcement.


FOR MORE INFO ON THIS ISSUE: See the Waste page on the MBCA Website.

Marine Base expansion: New discussion group

Dear desert neighbors,

As you may know, the Twentynine Palms Marine Base (MCAGCC) is planning to expand. The expansion could involve as many as 400,000 acres, including private as well as federal lands. Areas under consideration include lands to the west, east, and south of present MCAGCC boundaries. There could be many potential effects on Morongo Basin residents.

As part of the environmental review process (NEPA), there will be public Scoping meetings this coming week, including December 3 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Twentynine Junior High School, Hay's Gym, 5798 Utah Trail.

Because this is such a large and complex issue, involving many stakeholders and agendas, a new Google Group has been formed for local residents to inform one another on the issues. You are invited to join the Group and add to the discussion (see instructions below). There is no cost, and members can easily set when or if they want to receive email updates or just visit the site at their leisure. Also, anyone may simply view the Group posts and pages without joining.

Group Home page: http://groups.google.com/group/desertneighbors.

To join: From home page click on "Join this group" in the Sidebar. If you do not yet have a Google account you will be directed how to join.

To view more information on the expansion plans, including links and maps, as well as how to participate in the Scoping process, go to the Group Home page and click on "Pages" in the Sidebar.

I sincerely hope you will consider joining the Google Group, so that we may all learn from one another in the face of this major impact on the Morongo Basin.

Best wishes,

Chris Carraher
Communications Director
Morongo Basin Conservation Association


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.