Friday, January 23, 2009

Invasive Mustard Alert

The mustard is back. The invasive Saharan mustard is making an appearance all over the Basin and, unfortunately, inside the National Park, where it is coming up thickly in the eastern areas.

What can you do about this destructive invader? Learn how to identify and fight Saharan mustard on the MBCA Website Invasive Mustard page.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Christmas Bird Count in JTNP

Mark Wheeler gets a not-so-rare species in his sites this week: the birder. In an article in the Hi-Desert Star, he covers the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) as it took place January 3 in Joshua Tree National Park, with 23 birdwatchers helping out.

Chief of Interpretation for JTNP Joe Zarki organizes the park’s count, collects the data and forwards it to the national archive. He pronounced the results from this year’s census about average. Fifty species were seen on count day, which is within the normal range, and the total of 3,349 individual birds also fell within a normal range considering not only the weather on count day, but the recent snow and cold conditions in the park and Basin over the last few weeks.

Zarki praises the CBC as the “longest, on-going wildlife survey in the park.” As an illustration of how the count data has been of use to the park, he noted that mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) haven’t appeared on the park’s CBC list since 1994. Although there have been some sightings reported by individuals on an intermittent basis during the intervening years, none have been seen on CBC day.

This gives Zarki some concern that the species may be in decline here, and if it is, the park, as a professional resource manager, wants to know why. Could it be climate change? Invasive species? The decline of a certain seed source the mountain quail depend on for food?

This is how trends in population dynamics can sometimes inspire research which might eventually lead to the discovery of an important ecological change in a local or even wider-range environment.


The survey covers a circle 15 miles in diameter and includes a portion of Twentynine Palms, as well as the Park. Therefore, numerous "yard birds" dominate the count, including the rock dove pigeon, the mourning dove, the starling, and a new-comer, the Eurasian collared dove.

Mark Wheeler is also a boardmember of MBCA.


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

Friday, January 16, 2009

Annual Meeting tomorrow, Jan. 17

The Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA) will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, January 17, from 10 a.m. until noon at the Joshua Tree Community Center. This is an open meeting for Association membership and for anyone in the general public who wishes to learn about the MBCA.

Saturday’s meeting will include a video presentation about the current efforts to stop Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from routing its Green Path North transmission line project through Morongo Valley, Pioneertown and across sensitive wildlands.

The presentation will be followed by an open discussion about how grassroots action can successfully lead to change and positive outcomes. This discussion theme reflects MBCA’s long-term commitment to preserving conservation values in the Morongo Basin and will include further discussion on how we can more effectively achieve MBCA goals of healthy environment, rural character, sustainable communities and rich cultural heritage.

In addition to the presentation and discussion, the Marine Base expansion and Yucca Valley Wal-Mart Supercenter Status will be briefly covered and the election of Board Members and a vote on a constitutional revision will be conducted. Light refreshments will be served.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Stop Yucca Mesa Annexation Coalition

In response to an attempt by the Town of Yucca Valley to annex Yucca Mesa into its sphere of influence, residents have formed the Stop Yucca Mesa Annexation Coalition.

What the Coalition foresees if the annexation goes forward:
Yucca Mesa as we know it will cease to exist. The Town of Yucca Valley may choose and LAFCO may require the Town to prezone Yucca Mesa, which could include industrialization and tract homes on small lots. Prezoning is advantageous to the Town which would be effective immediately upon annexation and would be consistent with the Town's General Plan. There would be no distinction between Yucca Valley and Yucca Mesa. Dirt roads would be replaced with asphalt roads at the residents' expense. Street lighting, signs, and traffic signals would be installed. Sewers connecting to Yucca Valley's new Waste Treatment Plant could be required with the expense imposed upon Yucca Mesa residents. The keeping of horses and farm animals would no longer be allowed.

The Coalition responds to a recent "Chicken Little" broadcast on KCDZ here.

The Coalition Website is here. Read more about the annexation attempt and response, as well as the LAFCO process, on these MBCA blog posts.


MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the Land Use/Development and Communities pages of the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: Yucca Mesa, Yucca Valley.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Stand up for the desert this Saturday!

The desert as we know it is on the threshold of disappearing beneath transmission lines and massive industrial-scale energy projects. Although MBCA supports alternative energy, there are better ways to achieve energy independence than destroying the desert. You will have a rare opportunity to register your opinion on the destruction of the desert for the purpose of lighting up Los Angeles and other urban areas this Saturday, January 10, as detailed in the press release below from California Desert Coalition. Green Path North is only one of the projects threatening our local area. Learn more on the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, and keep up on desert Energy news on the MBCA blog Energy thread.

See you Saturday!

Calling all CDC supporters.
Let's show up in force on Saturday at the RETI meeting!!
See details below.

Opponents of LADWP Green Path North to Mobilize at Public Meeting January 10
Desert Citizens to Give Voice to Concerns About the California RETI Process

On Saturday, January 10, opponents of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) Green Path North energy transmission project will be out in force to give voice to their concerns about California's Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI).

RETI is a statewide planning process whose mission is to identify the transmission projects needed to accommodate California's renewable energy goals, and the public meeting will be held in Palm Desert.

The California Desert Coalition (CDC) is providing bus transportation to the RETI meeting in Palm Desert so that citizens in communities that would be affected by Green Path North can have their voices heard. The buses will leave from the Park & Ride in Yucca Valley promptly at 8:30 a.m. on January 10. Bus riders should bring their own lunch; the meeting will break for lunch. Further details are on the CDC website at
CaDesertCo.org.

As a show of unity, CDC suggests that its supporters wear red, which has become a signature color for CDC since the July LADWP public meeting in Yucca Valley where hundreds of red-appareled participants voiced their opposition to LADWP's plans for transmission lines and a new energy corridor through the high desert.

The California Desert Coalition was turned down for membership and participation in the RETI process in December of 2007. "As a diverse citizen action group, with members representing a region of the Mojave Desert we were very frustrated by this result," says CDC Chair April Sall. Because desert residents have therefore had no voice in the RETI process, participation at Saturday's meeting is deemed extremely important in stopping the Green Path North transmission lines and new energy corridor.

Sall is particularly concerned because the RETI Phase 1B Report issued in October assumes that the new Green Path North energy corridor is a "done deal." RETI is therefore misrepresenting the state and public processes for such projects, whose required review processes have not even begun. Sall is looking forward to making the same big splash on Saturday that was made back in July at the Yucca Valley High School.

The RETI steering committee, who will conduct Saturday's meeting, is predominantly made up of members from industry, most with a special-interest-driven agenda of maximizing energy development. There are no members representing ratepayers or taxpayers, and only two voting members from the environmental community, neither of which have specific expertise in the California Desert.

According to CDC Vice Chair Ruth Rieman, the RETI process is further flawed as "Its basic premise assumes that we need large-scale renewable projects in remote areas and new transmission to go with them." This premise ignores the potential for energy efficiency, California's mandated first priority, to eliminate dependence on fossil fuel, reduce greenhouse gases, and free up capacity on existing transmission lines. It also ignores the ongoing revolution in photovoltaic solar technology, which makes it possible to cost-competitively produce significant quantities of power right where the power is needed, i.e., within Los Angeles's boundaries and without scraping the desert.

What: RETI Public Meeting
When: Saturday,
January 10, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: Palm Desert City Council chambers in the Palm Desert Civic Center, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert.
Bus Transportation: Bus leaves promptly at 8:30 a.m. from Yucca Valley Park & Ride (northeast corner of Hwy. 62 & Kickapoo Tr.)



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.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

CDC responds to LADWP misinformation on Green Path North

Following is a press release from the California Desert Coalition:

Los Angeles Utility Spreads Misinformation
About Its Green Path North Transmission Project

On December 20, in an open letter to desert communities about the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power's (LADWP's) Green Path North transmission line project, LADWP and its partners provided false and misleading information about the proposed project.

The full-page open letter, published in the Hi-Desert Star, asserted that numerous false claims have been made about the project. Some of the claims derided in the letter are claims made by the California Desert Coalition, and therefore, CDC would like to set the record straight about the
veracity of its claims and also shed light on the actual false and misleading information contained in the open letter advertisement.

LADWP asserts that its transmission project would not require designating a new energy corridor where no energy corridor currently exists. The fact is, the proposed GPN transmission line route through the high desert cannot be approved by the Bureau of Land Management without designating the route an energy corridor. This is a requirement of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan. A BLM spokesperson has confirmed that this requirement applies to the Green Path North route. The CDCA Plan currently identifies a 2- to 5-mile-wide "contingent corridor" along the GPN route. Contingent corridors become designated by amending the CDCA Plan. CDC is fighting ardently to ensure this is not the future for our conservation lands, such as the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve (BMCP), our scenic vistas that provide the framework for Joshua Tree National Park, and our rural desert communities. (NOTE: The "contingent corridor" referred to is a relic of early 1980s planning, before much of BMCP was recognized as an area of critical environmental concern and before another private preserve along the route was established.)

LADWP, the Southern California Public Power Authority, and the other letter signatories say they are committed to selecting and designing a path that will have the least impact on local residents and the environment. However, Southern California Edison (SCE) recently announced that LADWP has flatly rejected SCE's offer of capacity on its power lines along the I-10 energy corridor. LADWP has clearly not listened to the voices of local residents or their county supervisors, who have implored the agency to use this already existing energy corridor for GPN transmission.

In rejecting SCE's offer, LADWP has exhibited the same arrogance, disregard for its ratepayers, and failure to participate in California state transmission planning recognized by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in its report to the California Energy Commission. This
report states, "The ISO's efforts with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) were also extensive and frustrating. The Department has a lot to gain from being part of the larger State grid as a way to minimize the need for new transmission, increase their access to renewable generation at lower cost to their ratepayers, and reduce their C02 footprint."

In its statements about undergrounding sections of the GPN line, LADWP ignores the evidence, confirmed by an SCE undergrounding specialist, that undergrounding power lines is even more environmentally destructive than overhead transmission. Thus LADWP has not addressed a key objection to the power line route: the project's immediate and long-term detrimental impacts on environmentally sensitive lands. Both San Bernardino and Riverside County supervisors have stated in their resolutions opposing GPN that these adverse impacts can be avoided by LADWP using available existing energy corridors.

While property owners may individually assume LADWP's claim to consider undergrounding sections of the line means their section of the line, when you consider that GPN would cross 30 miles of private land, it becomes apparent that this is a false hope. Add to this miles of viewshed on public lands and the vistas along desert highways that tourists so admire, and it becomes clear that a limited amount of undergrounding could have little effect on the overall impact of GPN.

At LADWP's July public meeting in Yucca Valley, David Nahai claimed that his agency is not "diabolically plotting" to destroy desert lands and communities. When the agency uses its deep pockets and advertising budget to spread fallacies and misinformation about the Green Path North Project, CDC asks, where is the dialogue and transparency that was promised to desert residents?


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.

Monday, January 5, 2009

MBCA meets Thursday, January 8

The next regular board meeting of the Morongo Basin Conservation Association is January 8, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. at PFF Bank & Trust in Yucca Valley.

Please join us and add your voice and experience.

Yucca Valley Hillside Reserve on agenda for Thursday

There has been a rescheduling to Jan. 8 of the special Yucca Valley Town Council Meeting regarding a General Plan Amendment to rezone a Hillside Reserve to subdivide into four lots instead of one house per 20 acres. That meeting had been scheduled for Dec. 17 and was canceled due to weather.

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.

UPDATE: Apparently this issue will NOT be on the Jan. 8 agenda after all.


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

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Notice of Dues Renewal and Annual Meeting, January 17, 2009

Dear Morongo Basin Conservation Association Member:

The MBCA 2009 Annual Membership meeting is Saturday, January 17, 2009 at the Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst Ave., from 10:00 A.M. to noon. This is an exciting time to address conservation issues and concerns in the Morongo Basin and beyond.

The MBCA renovated website and blog have been informing visitors about MBCA's activities and providing information about issues affecting the Morongo Basin. Our website is an informational and educational instrument for networking the conservation concerns of the entire Morongo Basin.

The important conservation issues of 2008 include several proposals: Green Path North, the 29 Palms Marine Base Expansion, the Yucca Valley Wal-Mart SuperCenter, the 29 Palms NuWu Casino, the Joshua Tree Villas by Katz Development and a number of questionable housing developments in Yucca Valley.

Most notably, MBCA joined the Coalition for Environmental Integrity in Yucca Valley in their CEQA lawsuit opposing Yucca Valley's approval of a WalMart SuperCenter. MBCA collected signatures for the Yucca Valley citizens' petition to force the Town to hold a special election for the contested Wal-Mart approval. The petition failed by just 50 signatures.

MBCA joined several states' Attorney Generals, major environmental groups and others in a legal challenge to the ill-formed 2005 Energy Act that gives eminent domain and other overreaching powers to Big Energy and Federal bureaucracies. The lawsuit is pending in the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

MBCA sponsored conservation education for local schools and a water district and worked with several like-minded organizations including California Desert Coalition, Mojave Desert Land Trust, Community ORV Watch, Morongo Basin Open Space Group, Defenders of Wildlife and others. Several MBCA board members are officials within these organizations, creating strength through networking.

Two boardmembers are retiring: Esther Herbert, Secretary/Treasurer for sixteen years, will spend more time with her family; Harry Bowkley, Membership Coordinator, will seek projects in Information Technology. Esther and Harry will be missed.

January is the MBCA membership anniversary. If you received an MBCA Membership Card in your packet, your membership is current. If not, your membership is due for renewal and enclosed is a 2009 MBCA Membership Form. Also enclosed are the 2009 Directors Ballot and the 2009 Calendar of Events.

Watch for our e-mail announcement and agenda for the January 17, 2009 MBCA Annual Membership Meeting.

Sincerely,
David Fick, President
Morongo Basin Conservation Association

Friday, January 2, 2009

Base expansion Scoping workshop in Wonder Valley

Residents concerned about the expansion plans of the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center into Wonder Valley will be meeting to continue organizing a response on Saturday, January 3, 9 a.m., at the Wonder Valley Community Church, 82575 Amboy Road. Anyone interested in taking part is invited.

A special Scoping workshop will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. to help residents participate in the important Scoping process. Scoping is part of the environmental analysis required by law and allows stakeholders to state the issues they feel the analysis must address. (Learn more about the process here.)

At 10 a.m., following the Scoping workshop, the group will look at creating a name and a Mission and breaking into committees to address the issues.

Learn more in the Desert Trail.

The Trail also had an extensive report on the initial Dec. 20 meeting of the nascent Wonder Valley group.


MORE INFO ON THESE ISSUES: On the Land Use/Development and Communities pages of the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: Marine Base, Wonder Valley, Twentynine Palms.