Public meetings planned on land segregation for Base expansion

The Bureau of Land Management has issued a press release announcing public meetings on October 23 and 24 to "present the proposal for possible expansion of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base and to discuss the legislative withdrawal process of the public lands in San Bernardino County. The locations, times, and formats for the meetings will be announced in the near future."

A Federal Register notice published [September 15] segregates the public lands identified by the Marines for possible expansion for two years. Under the segregation, the lands are no longer available for settlement, sale, and location of claims under the mining laws. However, the lands remain open to public access and recreation use.

The notice [available online here] also explains the withdrawal process, which requires full environmental and public review and congressional approval as required by the 1958 Engle Act. The publication of the Federal Register notice begins a 90-day comment period regarding the proposed withdrawal.

After the comment period, the Marine Corps will be preparing a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for further public review to identify a range of alternatives for meeting the Corps' training requirements and analyzing the environmental impacts.

Read the rest in the BLM press release. To learn more about the EIS process and your part in it, see our Website.

ADDENDUM: Read more in this story in the San Bernardino Sun.


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.

Update on California Desert Coalition

The following announcement is from the California Desert Coalition, an organization fighting "to save our desert from the invasion of LADWP's Green Path North transmission lines."

MBCA is a proud supporter of CDC and its efforts to defend our desert ecosystems from devastation.

CDC Supporters,

I would like to extend my personal thank you to each and every one of you for your ongoing and essential support in our fight to save our desert from the invasion of LADWP's Green Path North transmission lines. Our efforts have caused politicians and the media, as well as Los Angeles Department of Water & Power officials, to take notice. I also want to tell you about two important upcoming events.

This Friday (September 26) at 2:00 p.m., the Healthy Planet, Healthy Me! show on Los Angeles radio station KPFK FM will be discussing the Green Path North Project and how it really isn't green at all. I and CDC Vice Chair Ruth Rieman will be interviewed on the program, and you can call in with your questions. Tune in to 90.7 FM or listen online at www.sherrybeall.com (click the Live tab at the top, then click the microphone icon).

On November 6, CDC will hold its next public meeting to share with you the status of the Green Path North Project and how your donations have helped us broaden the base of support against it. Please hold open the evening of Thursday, November 6, for this event. More details will be sent to you in late October.

Finally, I want you to know that a new partnership begins for CDC on October 1 as we separate from The Mojave Desert Land Trust and join The SummerTree Institute as our nonprofit umbrella organization. Be assured that your donations will follow the CDC and continue to receive tax deductible benefits.

Robin Kobaly, Executive Director of The SummerTree Institute (and Morongo Valley native), welcomes CDC with the following message:

"The SummerTree Institute is extremely pleased to provide a supportive platform for the CDC to continue its impressive campaign.

We support their dedicated and highly professional efforts to inform individuals, officials, local governments, organizations, and agencies about the potential negative impacts of GPN as proposed. We also commend the CDC's efforts to empower all involved entities at their respective levels to take appropriate actions to ensure that this project does not damage our most treasured desert resources.

Under this new relationship, the CDC will be able to continue their campaign without any interruption in momentum. We are very proud to welcome the CDC to SummerTree."

I know that in SummerTree we have found a strong and supportive parent organization that shares our concerns and will provide resources and energy for the challenges ahead in fighting LADWP. Again, thanks for your ongoing support. I hope to see you on November 6.

April Sall
Chair, 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.

JTDOG fundraiser Tuesday night

JTDOG is having its first fundraiser this Tuesday, and you're invited!

Joshua Tree Development Oversight Group, which is watch-dogging the Katz development, will screen the award-winning documentary, The Unforeseen. From the film Website:

An ambitious west Texas farm boy with grandiose plans tires of living at the mercy of nature and sets out to find a life with more control. He heads to Austin where he becomes a real estate developer and skillfully capitalizes on the growth of this 1970s boomtown. At the peak of his powers, he transforms 4,000 acres of pristine Hill Country into one of the state’s largest and fastest selling subdivisions. When the development threatens a local treasure, a fragile limestone aquifer and a naturally spring-fed swimming hole, the community fights back. In the conflict that ensues, we see in miniature a struggle that today plays out in communities across the country.

You can watch an online trailer of the movie here.

Volunteers to help with the fundraiser are needed; contact JTDOG at their Website.

Tuesday, September 23, at 6 p.m. Donation: $10. Cocktail reception: 6:00-7:15 (cash bar). Welcoming Remarks: 7:15-7:30. Screening: 7:30-9:30. Joshua Tree Retreat Center (Mentalphysics), 59700 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree, CA 92252.


FOR MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: See the Land Use/Development and Joshua Tree Community pages of the MBCA Website. View previous blog posts: Joshua Tree, Katz Development/Section 33.

Base expansion plans and maps on Website

The U.S. Marine Corps has moved forward with their study on acquiring more land in the Morongo Basin for MCAGCC. Their "Application for Withdrawal of Public Lands" is now posted on their 29 Palms Training Land/Airspace Acquisition Study website, along with maps of the study area. Areas being studied are to the west, south, and east of the current Base, including portions of Johnson Valley and Wonder Valley.

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

Joshua Tree Design Guidelines on County Website

The "Joshua Tree Downtown Design Guidelines" now has a page on the County Website, viewable here. From the webpage:

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008 and Tuesday, September 9, 2008, the County conducted two workshops presenting various ideas for possible design guidelines for the downtown area of the community of Joshua Tree. The first workshop was directed toward the business community and the second toward the Municipal Advisory Council and the public. These workshops were presented by representatives of Hogle-Ireland Inc., the consulting firm hired by the County to prepare the guidelines. The goal of the workshops was to solicit input from the business community and the public for the direction for the community.

The webpage contains links to summaries of the two workshops as well as results of the "Priorities Game Analysis" and the various "display boards" that were prepared for these workshops. There is also a link for sharing comments with County staff.


FOR MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: See the Joshua Tree Community and Land Use/Development pages of the MBCA Website. View previous blog posts: Joshua Tree.

Wal-Mart Referendum: What happens next?

The Coalition for Environmental Integrity in Yucca Valley has turned in 1296 signatures on a referendum to force the Town of Yucca Valley to revisit its approval of the Wal-Mart Supercenter. What happens next?

Per the Hi-Desert Star:

At least 957 valid signatures are needed for the county registrar of voters to accept the referendum and send it back to the Town Council for action...[forcing] the Town of Yucca Valley to either repeal its approval of the Supercenter and put the project on hold for one year, or put it to the Yucca Valley voters in a special election.

MBCA President David Fick says "he understands that if the Town Council decides to put the Supercenter’s approval to a public vote, the Town then will have 88 days to hold a special election," according to the Star.

Depending on how quickly the registrar can verify the signatures, and if sufficient signatures have been collected, the decision could be on the Town Council’s next agenda.

[snip]

Should the Supercenter’s approval go to a special election and the voters side with the Town in approving the project, the coalition’s lawsuit would still continue to challenge Wal-Mart’s Environmental Impact Report and conditional use permit.

[snip]

The Town also is facing a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, which is challenging the project’s environmental impact report. In particular, the group challenges that greenhouse gas emissions and the possibilities the Supercenter would contribute to urban blight weren’t adequately explored in the Environmental Impact Report.

The retailer is required, by its agreement with the Town of Yucca Valley, to cover all legal costs that ensue due to approval of the Supercenter.

MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the WalMart page on the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: WalMart, Yucca Valley.

Energy corridor 2-5 miles wide?

From the California Desert Coalition:

Do you know the answer to the following question? A clue -- the answer is real scary!

How wide a path is Green Path North -- 330 feet? 3,500 feet? 2 to 5 miles?

CDC has learned from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that approval of Green Path North transmission lines along LADWP's preferred route would necessarily entail an amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan. This amendment would designate a new 2- to 5-mile-wide energy corridor through the high desert; all future transmission line projects in the region, as well as all oil, water, and gas line projects would be built in what would then be this approved corridor.

So, while the LADWP right-of-way (ROW) application requests a 330-ft ROW, and LADWP's request for a new energy corridor through the West-Wide Energy Corridor process relates to a 3,500-ft-wide energy corridor, the bottom line is if we don't stop Green Path North our communities and desert will be designated as the place for an energy corridor 2 to 5 miles wide.

To visualize what this new energy corridor would look like and for further information, please go to our website at 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.

Yucca Valley Wal-Mart Supercenter Referendum Submitted

The Yucca Valley Town Clerk, Jamie Anderson, received Yucca Valley’s first ever referendum to challenge a project approved by the Town Council, the Wal-Mart Supercenter EIR.

The Coalition for Environmental Integrity in Yucca Valley (CEIYV) organized 35 referendum-signing sessions that gathered 1296 signatures from Yucca Valley registered voters, submitted to the Town Clerk on 9/15/08.

The referendum documents will be sent to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters where signatures will be validated to be Yucca Valley registered voters.

The minimum number of signatures required to establish the referendum is 957. We collected 339 signatures above the required number and will succeed if the invalidation rate remains below 26%. The validation process may take two weeks before we find out if we are successful.

These signatures were acquired through the blood, sweat and tears of too few volunteers who had to refuse too many people from Joshua Tree, Landers, Flamingo Heights, Johnson Valley, Morongo Valley and Twentynine Palms who wanted to sign the referendum.

We wish to thank the concerned voters of Yucca Valley for their efforts to have their Town Council do the right thing.


MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the WalMart page on the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: WalMart, Yucca Valley.

Alert! Last Chance to Sign Wal-Mart Supercenter Referendum

Dear Yucca Valley Registered Voters,

Saturday and Sunday are the last two days to sign the Wal-Mart Supercenter Referendum. The signatures must be turned in on Monday, September 15th.

We are very close to our goal but we need your help.

The Joshua Tree Farmers Market and Sue's Health Foods are the Saturday-only locations to sign the Wal-Mart Referendum.

The Yucca Valley Old and New Stater Bros Supermarkets are the Saturday and Sunday locations to sign the Wal-Mart Supercenter Referendum (10 AM till 8 PM).

Please tell your Yucca Valley friends and neighbors to support this effort.

Sincerely,

David Fick, President
Morongo Basin Conservation Association


MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the WalMart page on the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: WalMart, Yucca Valley.

PASS Eco-Summit coming in Joshua Tree

MBCA is helping to sponsor the PASS Eco-Summit in Joshua Tree this October, focusing on "Practical Advances in Southwestern Sustainability" ("PASS"). Per the Hi-Desert Star, this conference offers "tools for ways of doing business and living that help rather than harm the surroundings."

Basin Wide Foundation organizers promise a day of collaborative solutions and examples of methods to address current situations in the desert. For people who want practical examples of what they can do in their daily lives, the conference will include a 3 1/2-hour Green Living Workshop available separately for people who do not attend the full conference.

A concert, Eco-Fair, and Eco-Home Tour will be part of the events October 10-12 at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. Early registration with special rates ends September 20. Find out more at the Eco-Summit Website.