Friday, April 19, 2013

Third Annual MBCA Desert-Wise Landscape Tour this Saturday, April 27th


Dear MBCA Members and Supporters:

It’s only a week away!  The Third Annual MBCA Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is Saturday, April 27. 

If you’ve been on a previous Tour, you know how enjoyable and educational it is.  If you haven’t made it yet, please consider it this year.  The owners of twenty Morongo Basin homes are showing off their water-wise garden achievements, including long-time fully mature desert gardens, art-and-sculpture filled gardens, small all-native gardens, and everything in between. The program descriptions will help you choose which sites would be of most interest to you.  We encourage you to register now.

A donation of $10 per person is requested to register for the Tour.  There are two ways to sign up:

1)        Pay in Person on April 20 or April 27.

Just come to the locations during the times listed below to register, and get all the necessary items (Program, Map, and wristband).

Saturday, April 20, 2013
MBCA Table at Yucca Valley Earth Day Celebration     9AM – 12NOON
Joshua Tree Farmers’ Market                                   9AM – 12NOON

Saturday, April 27, 2013 – Day of the Tour
WindWalkers in Joshua Tree                                    9AM – 12NOON

2)        Pay Online via Paypal at http://www.mbconservation.org/tour2013.html

Those who sign up through PayPal will receive an email receipt and then a follow-up email with a link to a PDF version of the Program & Map to print at home and bring to the Tour.  You can get your wristband at the first site you visit by showing your receipt.  Or, you can visit one of the locations above at the listed times and show your printed receipt to pick up your Program, Map, and wristband.

Please join the Morongo Basin movement to save water and energy by developing a fabulous water-wise garden.  You will be inspired and informed by this tour.

See you on the Tour!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Important hearing on the DRECP next Tuesday, April 16th

Dear MBCA members and supporters:

MBCA has partnered with the National Parks Conservation Association on many issues, and we hope you will consider the following request for support from our local NPCA Field Representative Seth Shteir.   Your appearance at the San Bernardino County Supervisors’ DRECP hearing next Tuesday afternoon would be incredibly helpful if possible.  See details below.

NPCA will also be presenting at this Thursday’s California Desert Coalition (CDC) program about DRECP, at 6:30 PM at the Yucca Valley Community Center.  Hope to see you there.

Thank you,
Board of Directors, MBCA



Dear Friends,

I hope you are enjoying this fantastic spring weather and what one national park biologist has called the best Joshua tree bloom in 25 years!

Perhaps no other issue in the California desert is as important as the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), which seeks to identify the best locations for wind, solar and geothermal renewable energy on 22.5 million acres in seven California counties.  This plan has the potential to profoundly alter our desert landscape and our desert communities.  I’m writing you today to urge your attendance at a critical Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan San Bernardino County Board of Supervisor’s Hearing on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 1:00 PM in San Bernardino. 

Our County Supervisors are influential decision makers in the DRECP plan and they need to hear from you about the value of protecting our desert national parks, public lands, communities and recreational tourism economy.  We are currently organizing people from the Morongo Basin to attend this meeting via vans and carpools.  Please RSVP as soon as possible to sshteir@npca.org.  Once you’ve RSVP’d, I’ll provide information on rides, as well as some key talking points that can help you craft your public comment for the meeting.  Please plan on leaving the Morongo Basin at approximately 10:30am and returning by dinner.  A bag lunch, snacks and a drink are encouraged!
 
Respectfully,

Seth Shteir

Seth Shteir
California Desert Field Representative
National Parks Conservation Association
61325 Twentynine Palms Highway, Suite B
Joshua Tree, CA 92252
760-366-7785- Office
760-332-9776- Cell

Sunday, April 7, 2013

WANTED: 1000 Morongo Basin Voices

WANTED
1000 Morongo Basin Voices
It’s time for us to be heard.
Come find out what WE all need to do to make the
DESERT RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSERVATION PLAN
The one we want and that will protect our communities
from outside exploitation.

When: 6:30PM, Thursday, April 11, 2013
Where: Yucca Valley Community Center

Early versions of the DRECP will not achieve the protection in the Morongo Basin that its goals set.
A letter will be available for you to sign that asks for a better plan. We need to be heard NOW.

This meeting is hosted by the

info@cadesertca.org