Susan Luckie Reilly

Susan Luckie Reilly was a founding Board member of MBCA back in 1969, and a tireless leader for MBCA battles against power companies, toxic dumps and other desert-destroying plans.  She has been a champion of desert and Park protection and an inspiration for folks like us for decades.  Please read and enjoy the recent interview with Susan in the Desert Trail:

http://www.hidesertstar.com/the_desert_trail/news/article_dff230d6-e99e-11e2-ae21-0019bb2963f4.html

MBCA is also nominating Susan for Congressman Paul Cook’s inaugural “Women of Distinction” Award.   Attached to this email is our nominating statement.  There will be a ceremony for this award in Apple Valley at 10 AM on August 23, and we will notify you if Susan is one of those to be honored.

Winners of the Landscape Tour Essay Contest!

Congratulations to the three winners of the 2013 Post-Tour Essay Contest!  Many thanks to the “literary gentlemen” of MBCA who served as judges:  Curt Duffy, Greg Gilbert, and Mike Lipsitz.

1^st place winner, Susan Jordon, receives a $200 gift certificate for Unique Nursery.

2^nd place winner, Sylvia LaBonte’, receives a $150 gift certificate for Cactus Mart.

3^rd place winner, Carole Hiestand, receives a $100 gift certificate for Wind Walkers.

We will alert you when the winners’ creative submissions are posted on the MBCA website.  Reading them will make you happily reminisce about your experience if you participated in the Tour, and are likely to make you want to participate next year if you haven’t!

Desert Wise Landscape Tour a Success!

Dear MBCA Members and Supporters:

The Desert Wise Landscape Tour was absolutely spectacular!  The weather was perfect. Our volunteer docents were eager, helpful, and dedicated to the success of the event.  The garden site hosts were knowledgeable and generous.  And, it appears that the tour-goers were enthusiastic and appreciative!

We will alert you soon to some photos of the Tour on the MBCA website.  We are so grateful to our docent volunteers and garden site hosts.   We learned that many of the hosts spent lots of extra hours in their gardens recently to bring them into prime viewing condition – Thank You!   Docents’ roles were varied, as greeters, parking attendants, and check-in gurus, and some also assisted with garden tours – it couldn’t have happened without them.  Deepest thanks to our Site Hosts and Docents!

Docents

(alphabetical by first name)

Al Willcut	Danny Sall	Kathryn (Kay) Taylor
Almut Fleck	Esther Shaw	Ken Lair
Ann Murdy	Gayla Blanton	Marina West
Bonnie Brady	Ida Foreman	Meg Foley
Carol Damon	Janet Tucker	Pat Freter
Cynthia Anderson	Judy Corl-Lorono	Steve Rieman
Dan Grieser	Kathleen Lowndes	Sylvia LaBonte

Site Hosts

(in order of site number)

1 - Robin Kobaly & Doug Thompson	11 - Melva & Don Matthews
2 - Kat & Bill La Haye	12 - Phillip Mayberry & Scott Walker
3 - Nancy & George Huntington	13 - Mike Lipsitz & Phu Do
4 - Cathy & Stan Zarakov	14 - Rich Gerston
5 - Phyllis & Richard Schwartz	15 - Cheryl Montell & Brian Leatart
6 - Nora Lousignont & John Lauretig	16 - James Berg & Frederick Fulmer
7 - Bobette & Tony Milici	17 - Miriam Seger
8 - Ron Cousino & Sean Mylett	18 - Cathy Sheehe & Mark Butler
9 - Ruth & Steve Rieman	19 - Joan Robey & Steve Stajich
10 - Shelly & Dale Fredenburg	20 - Josh Hoines (Joshua Tree National Park)

Additional thanks are extended to Dave Miller for the beautiful and useful design of the Tour Guidebook, to Mike Lipsitz and Greg Gilbert for editing, and to Judy Litowitz for providing registration services at WindWalkers on Tour Day.  And finally, thanks to the Committee members who put in many hours to make the Tour successful: Sarah Kennington, Ann Murdy, Ruth Rieman, Cathy Sheehe, and Cathy Zarakov, under the stellar leadership of MBCA’s Events Director Claudia Sall.  Thank you all!

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!

Anza-Borrego's tough eradication project: Cutting the mustard

The invasion of Sahara mustard in Anza Borrego State Park is seriously threatening the wildflowers that grace the area each spring and draw visitors that are essential to the local economy. Details can be found in a recent article in the LA Times.

Is the Morongo Basin next? Please learn to identify and remove this plant from your property (you can find photos and facts at the MBCA website) and join us next Saturday, March 30th for a mustard pull in Joshua Tree National Park. The weed pull is from 8AM-1PM and volunteers meet at the Oasis Visitor center in 29 Palms to carpool to work sites.

RSVP for details and so we can anticipate equipment needs:
Kipp Callahan, 760-367-5575
Kipp_Callahan@partner.nps.gov

Our native flora and fauna thank you!

It's time to "Hold the Mustard"

Many thanks to Josh Hoines of Joshua Tree National Park for his informative and entertaining lecture on February 12, and to the Hi Desert Nature Museum for hosting the lecture.  Invasive species threaten native vegetation and provide fire fuel.  Learning to recognize and destroy them – early – was perhaps the most important lesson from the lecture. On that note----

Mustard Pulls

Joshua Tree National Park has partnered with MBCA for several years in the “Hold the Mustard” campaign. We received recent coverage in the Riverside Press Enterprise for this effort and YOU can be part of the solution!

There are mustard pulls in the Park every Saturday in March.  There is still time to join us on March 23rd and 30th.  This a great way to enjoy the recent warm weather in the company of kindred spirits, and eradiction of this invasive plant helps to preserve our glorious spring wildflower displays and to prevent fires. Find more details at:  MBCA Sahara mustard.

And don’t forget the closer-to-home MBCA Clean Team efforts to keep both mustard and trash from our assigned area on Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree.  Find out more via Deb Bollinger at stopinvasives@live.com or 760.819.9939.

Weeds, aliens, and exotic plants

Please join MBCA next Tuesday evening at a timely free lecture about the threat of invasive plants (coming soon to your neighborhood), given by entertaining speaker Josh Hoines of Joshua Tree National Park.  It will be held at the Hi Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley, Tuesday, February 12, at 6:30 p.m.  Hot cider will be served! 

FLOWERS VERSUS WEEDS – A RACE FOR RESOURCES

Want to know the difference between a weed, an alien plant, an exotic plant and an invasive?  Want to know the current threats to wildflowers at Joshua Tree National Park?  Join Josh Hoines, who will address invasive species and their threat to biodiversity, the economy, and the direct threats to the park.  Invasive species are considered the largest threat to biodiversity, second only to habitat loss.  Invasive species and their consequences are estimated to cost the American public an estimated $138 billion each year.

Josh is a vegetation ecologist with 12+ years of experience working with local, state, and federal partners to protect and preserve habitats and open space.  Currently, he manages the vegetation programs at Joshua Tree National Park including an active botany, restoration, invasive plant, native plant nursery, and recreation management.  Previously, Josh coordinated interagency habitat restoration across federal boundaries in southern Nevada.

Thanks to all who made our annual meeting a success!

Our Annual Meeting and Solar Seminar on Saturday provided the 70 or so folks in attendance with a wealth of information via three engaging speakers.  Although our Keynote Speaker, Angelina Galiteva, was unable to attend because of a family health emergency, the information-packed presentations of Chris Clarke and Steve Bardwell were accented by an additional presentation created that morning to help us out – an overview of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) by April Sall of the Wildlands Conservancy.  We thank all three of them profusely for their contributions to our understanding of renewable energy issues.  Chris spoke about trends in renewable energy internationally, nationally, and in California, and of the governmental and corporate politics that are heading us toward harmful mega-solar instead of distributed and rooftop solar.  Steve shared a step-by-step account of building his new house with a multitude of energy conservation methods, showing us photos of the process and the materials.  April brought us up to date on California’s lengthy (and frustrating) effort to assign public land locations to future renewable energy development (the DRECP).

We also had the opportunity on Saturday to introduce our 2013 Board of Directors and Board of Advisors, who are listed at the end of this email.  Volunteers were a key part of the success of this event.  Thanks to Cathy Zarakov, Robin Balch, Meredith Jones, Cathy Sheehe, and Ann Murdy for help with check-in and membership, Dave Miller for making the projection technology work, Victoria Fuller and Stephanie Weigel for staffing a table on Dark Night Skies, to the many folks who helped with early set-up, and to Anne Staley for providing a fabulous gourmet refreshment table!

Now back to work!

MBCA Annual Meeting and Solar Seminar

Please don'’t forget our MBCA Annual Meeting and Solar Seminar on Saturday, January 19, 9 am – 1 pm at the Joshua Tree Community Center. 

MBCA Board members are proud of our accomplishments during 2012.  The Annual Meeting portion of the event will provide introductions of new members of the Board of Directors and the new Board of Advisors, an illustrated overview of 2012 accomplishments, and an outline of 2013 goals.   

The Solar Seminar is bound to be illuminating (!). Our stellar keynote speaker, Angelina Galiteva, is knowledgeable about renewable energy and solar issues on both the state and international levels.  She will be joined by Chris Clarke, Joshua Tree resident and Blog Host for KCET’s ReWire feature and a Joshua Tree resident.  ReWire provides “news and analysis about renewable energy in California.”  Here is a link to the blog: Then, at the homeowner level of renewable energy interest, local resident Steve Bardwell will share his experience in building a new off-the-grid home in the Pioneertown area.  There will be some time for question and answer with the speakers. 

Desert-Wise Landscape Lectures – October 13

The MBCA’'s next event in the Desert-Wise Living Series is an afternoon of presentations and demonstrations of water-wise and energy-wise desert landscaping from many local residents and experts, on Saturday, October 13, in Joshua Tree.  It’s exactly at the right time of year to get the best results from planting and landscaping.  Go to the MBCA home page to learn more, then click the link to register via PayPal.

www.mbconservation.org

It’s only $10 for the general public and $5 for MBCA members-- it will be well worth your time and money!

UCR Master Gardener Program

As a follow-up to those of you who have enjoyed learning about desert-wise landscaping from MBCA’s Landscape Tours, we have learned that there is going to be a new Cooperative Extension master gardener program at the University of California, Riverside campus in the Coachella Valley.  The program is tailored to Coachella Valley gardening (with some overlap with our Mojave Desert environment), and there is a volunteer requirement upon completion of the program.

Here is UCR’s advertising about the program:UCR Master Gardener program

Date change for our May Board meeting

We are always happy to have guests at our MBCA Board meetings and hope that you will be among them.

Please be advised that THIS MONTH ONLY, OUR MEETING WILL BE CHANGED TO WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, instead of Thursday, May 10.  We meet at from 5-7 PM at the Center of Life, 7491 Barberry in Yucca Valley. Directions can be found at the MBCA website.

MBCA's 2nd Annual Desert-Wise Living Landscape Tour is Sunday April 22nd

Spend your Sunday on a self-guided tour of 20+ homes selected for their desert-wise landscape gardens. Become inspired to create your own vision of desert-wise landscape and learn how others have achieved unique sanctuaries using low water consumption with native, drought tolerant and water efficient plants. 

The gardens are located in Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, 29 Palms, Pioneertown, Landers, and Flamingo Heights. Tour hours are 9:00 – 4:00 pm. Tickets are $5 for MBCA members and $10 for the general public. (Discounted tickets are available when you combine the tour with a new MBCA membership). Visit the MBCA website to purchase your ticket on-line.

Registration will also be available at the following 2 locations on April 21:

Joshua Tree Farmers Market. Sign up at the MBCA table. 9am to 12pm

Yucca Valley Earth Day Celebration, Yucca Valley Community Center. Sign up at the MBCA table. 9am to 1pm 

After the tour, on Monday, April 23 – Sunday, April 30, you can purchase plants to fulfill your new vision and support the MBCA by heading over to the Cactus Mart in Morongo Valley. In support of the tour and as a fundraiser for MBCA, Cactus Mart will give a 10% discount for Landscape Tour participants and a 40% donation to MBCA, on plants purchased.

MBCA would like to thank AWAC, the Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation, for their generous grant in support of the tour.

Upcoming Earth Day Events

 Founded on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day marked the birth of the modern environmental movement. Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, developed the idea in response to the destruction caused by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. An estimated 20 million people participated and paved the way for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That number has grown over the decades, as citizen gather around the country to celebrate the planet and share information--and solutions-- to environmental concerns.


MBCA will have displays at two local Earth Day events, also including displays and information about the Morongo Basin Dark Skies Alliance (MBDSA):

Morongo Valley Spring Festival
Saturday, March 31, 10 AM – 3 PM
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Education Center (and also Covington Park)

Yucca Valley Conservation Fair and Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 21, 9 AM – 2 PM
Yucca Valley Community Center
Say Hi, and also get your Landscape Tour Tickets!

Desert-Wise Landscape Tour Sunday April 22nd

Last year’s MBCA Desert-Wise Living Landscape Tour was a great success, so the Second Annual Landscape Tour has been set for Sunday, April 22.  Spend a few hours enjoying some of the most beautiful and water-wise gardens created by your neighbors in communities across the Morongo Basin, and learn how you can do the same.  The cost is only $5 for members, $10 for others, and special deals are available, combining a tour ticket and MBCA membership.  Read more details and sign up at the MBCA website.  And while you’re there, you might want to read the clever and enthusiastic responses of last year’s post-Tour essay contest winners, also found on MBCA’s home page.

(below, Robin Kobaly's Water-wise garden)

Hold the Mustard Campaign-please join us for scheduled weed pulls

It may be the season of hearts and flowers (Happy Valentine’s Day!), but there is one flower that is not loved in our desert …. that of the Saharan mustard.  This aggressive plant reduces native wildflower abundance and creates fuel for wildfires.

Our annual “Hold the Mustard”  campaign is a cooperative effort with Joshua Tree National Park. Half-day weed pull parties are scheduled for the dates below. Please participate in one work parties listed to help “Hold the Mustard” and preserve the health and beauty of our desert.

8-11AM Saturday February 18th, 

8-11 AM Saturday February 25th

8-11AM Sunday March 4th

8-11AM Saturday March 17th

RSVP if possible so we can anticipate your equipment needs and notify you of any potential schedule changes. Contact Katie Kain 760-367-5575 or Katherine_Kain@nps.gov

We will meet at the oasis Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms prior to carpooling to work sites. Don't forget to bring water, sun protection, and snacks. Tools and gloves will be provided.

For each day that you volunteer, you will earn an entrance-free day pass to Joshua Tree National Park.

MBCA Board members Ruth Rieman and Pat Flanagan (with a very large Saharan Mustard) talk about the importance of eradicating this invasive plant at the recent MBCA Annual meeting.

Report on the MBCA Annual Meeting, held January 21st, 2012

Dear MBCA members and supporters:

Despite the huge windstorm provided by Mother Nature that weekend, we had about 50 hardy Morongo Basin residents at our Annual Meeting.  I think everyone would agree that there was a great sense of camaraderie and commitment in the room.  In addition to current Board members, we were glad to see long-time former Board members Chris Carraher and DJ Masker in attendance.  We also thanked D’Anne Albers for her recent service on the Board, and noted to the audience that we will be seeking another person to complete the 2 remaining years of this 3-year Board position.

MBCA has worked very hard in the past year to respond to what we learned from the “How are we doing?” survey last February (with thanks again to Curt Duffy for making it happen).  Via extra meetings and subcommittee efforts during 2012, the Board completed new Mission and Vision Statements, and has plans to expand our communication efforts.  We shared with Saturday’s audience how we have reactivated the website blog, and have begun using Facebook.  We hope these and future technology and communication improvements will help us gain a greater base of support for improving our communities.  Many thanks to Board member Catherine Svehla for getting us started on these efforts.

We then presented an overview of the large number of issues MBCA engaged in during the past year.   Board Members Pat Flanagan, David Fick, and Ruth Rieman provided information on actions taken and the current status of various issues. Seth Shtier of the National Parks Conservation Association also commented on several issues that are of shared concern between our organizations.  Here are the issues:

California Desert Protection Act
Cadiz Water Project
Saharan Mustard annual campaign
CalTrans Highway 62 concrete barrier reconstruction
County OHV Park Proposal in Gold Park
Solar PEIS around Morongo Basin
29 Palms Granite Construction Project
Eagle Mountain Dump, SB 108 mining bill, campaign for return of Park land
Inyo County OHV trial project
Wind towers project on Pioneertown Area Buttes
CEIYV, Super WalMart issue
JT Casino
Dollar General Stores

Board Member Claudia Sall then reviewed the planning, funding, and results of the 2011 Desert-wise Living Series, a new enterprise for MBCA.  She also shared a preview of our plans for a second Desert-wise Living Landscape Tour this spring and another event around November.

The Morongo Basin Dark Skies Alliance provided us with information about their efforts to increase awareness about appropriate outdoor night lighting.  Appropriate night lighting is needed not only to preserve the conditions that already bring tourists and photographers to our area, but also for reasons of safety, energy/cost savings, and health. Of special interest was their description of a new approach to the County Lighting Ordinance (Mountain and Desert Regions) based on land use zones. Within a few months, they hope to bring a draft ordinance proposal to County planning staff.  We give enthusiastic thanks to MBDSA members Victoria Fuller, Seth Shtier, and Stephanie Weigel for the presentation, displays, and handouts, including the colorful hot-off-the-press bumper sticker that reminds people to “Turn out a light, see the night.”  We were also glad that Alan Rasmussen attended.  In his role as field representative to Supervisor Neil Derry he has provided great support for MBDSA, and was also able to respond to some ordinance-relevant questions at the meeting.

Expanding volunteer involvement in MBCA was the final topic of our meeting, and is a key 2012 goal.  No matter what your interest or skills, we would like you to join a bank of MBCA volunteers, and we’re also seeking a volunteer coordinator.  Please respond to this email if you are interested or want more information.

We wrapped up the meeting with audience participation, and many folks shared comments, asked questions, and put forward ideas about improving life in the Morongo Basin.  Please consider attending our monthly Board meetings to learn more and share your ideas. We recently changed the start time from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (second Thursday of each month, see more details on our website), hoping it might offer more people a chance to visit our meetings occasionally. Although the Board has a preset agenda, a time for visitor input is provided at the start of every meeting.

Thanks go out to everyone who helped create this energizing annual meeting!  In addition to Board members and participants noted above, we give special thanks to Tom O’Key for setting up his solar telescope at the break and end of the meeting, to Steve Rieman and Steve Bardwell for setting up the International Dark Skies display, to Danny Sall for his special effort to deliver the brand-new Dark Skies Alliance bumper stickers to us “just in time,” and to Anne Staley for providing snacks and beverages to sustain us.  Also thanks to Charla Shamhart at the welcome table and Sarah Kennington and Deb Bollinger for handling the membership.  And finally, thanks to three very important behind-the-scenes volunteers, Gail Dallas, Harry Bowkley, and David Miller.

New materials will be on the MBCA website soon, including our new Mission and Vision, and new links to organizations and blogs that we believe will be of interest to you.

Thanks to all who attended.

Your 2012 MBCA Board
Laraine Turk, President
David Fick, Vice President
Ruth Rieman, Treasurer
Sarah Kennington, Recording Secretary
Claudia Sall, Events Director
Deborah Bollinger
Pat Flanagan
Charla Shamhart
Anne Staley
Catherine Svehla

Sahara Mustard: Hold the Mustard Campaign

The MBCA is working with Joshua Tree National Park staff to mobilize for this year’s “Hold the Mustard” campaign. We invite you to attend a presentation by JTNP’s Josh Hoines at 7 pm this Friday February 10 at the Old Schoolhouse Museum in 29 Palms.  Josh’s topic is “Flowers versus Weeds: A Race For Resources” and he’ll discuss current threats to wildflowers at Joshua Tree National Park by invasive species, with Sahara mustard prominently featured. We’ll pick up the $5 lecture fee for the first 20 members to join us in launching our campaign on Friday.  An MBCA representative will be at the check-in desk.

The Old Schoolhouse Museum is located at 6760 National Park Drive in 29 Palms.  Interested parties can meet with Josh at 5 pm for a no-host dinner at the 29 Palms Inn.  Contact Marion to RSVP for the dinner at 760.361.1202 or desert29palms@yahoo.com.

And there’s more!  Please join a “Hold the Mustard” work party on one or both of two Saturdays, February 18 or February 25.  We’ll work with park staff to pull mustard in high priority areas surrounding the park.  We’ll notify you of the specific meeting locations and times in the week prior to the event.

We have already had several sightings of mature, blooming Sahara mustard plants along Morongo Basin highways this year.  While we expect we’ll have a breather, with lower populations of mustard expected because of low precipitation, this gives us a great opportunity to regain control of this invasive, and to learn about a new, related species of mustard before it, too, takes over our beautiful desert lands.  Please let us know of any colonies of mustard that you see within the basin so that together we can ‘Hold the Mustard’!

Hope to see you at one or more of these events.

Annual Meeting Saturday January 21, 2012

All MBCA members and supporters are encouraged to attend our Annual Meeting on Saturday morning, January 21, at the Joshua Tree Community Center, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. What will you learn? You’ll hear what MBCA accomplished last year, what we’re planning for 2012 (and how you can help!), and as a bonus, a very timely update from members of the Morongo Basin Dark Skies Alliance.

The alliance is focused on promoting energy-saving lighting and improving the San Bernardino County lighting ordinance. Come to hear their creative proposal to improve the chances of maintaining our precious dark night skies and saving energy in the Morongo Basin.

 

The Milky Way over Hidden Valley image courtesy of Wally Pacholka

Issues: Year in Review

Our annual meeting is Saturday, January 21st from 9AM-1 PM at the Joshua Tree Community Center. The first part of our program will focus on our 2012 goals, followed by a presentations on Dark Skies and Lighting Ordinances. We have an interesting meeting planned and many challenges ahead---Please join us!

Part of planning for the future is evaluating past efforts. In 2011, a number of concerns were presented to MBCA and our high desert community. Here is a partial list of issues that we acted upon this past year:

o    Continued to support S. 138, the California Desert Protection Act of 2011
o    Supported Joshua Tree National Park in the ongoing campaign against invasive Saharan mustard
o    Requested modification of CalTrans’s Hwy. 62 concrete highway divider to accommodate wildlife crossings
o    Commented, in cooperation with NPCA, against creating a County OHV Park in the Gold Park area east of 29 Palms
o    Continued to review and comment on development of industrial solar in inappropriate places in the Mojave Desert
o    Commented with concerns about Granite Construction’s expansion in 29 Palms
o    Supported the fight against the Eagle Mountain Dump and supported return of that land in that area to Joshua Tree National Park
o    Commented, in cooperation with NPCA, against the proposed Cadiz Water Project
o    Partnered with Twentynine Palms Water District in updating and improving the 10-year old “Let’s Go Native” brochures
o    Commented against AB 628, which would allow Inyo County to expand OHV traffic on a trial basis
o    Commented against adoption of SB 108, a mining bill that could reopen the possibility of a dump at Eagle Mountain.

More information about these issues is available here or on the MBCA website. Thank you for your continuing support.