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.

Bobcat trapping

Upon discovery of a trap on his private property, Joshua Tree resident Tom O’Key researched the regulations and found, to the surprise of many, that the Asian market for furs has increased the presence of trappers in the Basin.   And, of course, trapping on private land is illegal.  A local group is forming to investigate changing bobcat hunting regulations in the Basin, especially around the Park and other conserved lands.  We will provide more information about their work in future emails.

Here is the link to the Hi Desert Star article on the topic.

Coronus solar proposal in Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree residents near the border with Yucca Valley learned recently that a Canadian company, Coronus Solar, plans to use sizable acreage to construct three 1.5 megawatt installations on the corner of Alta Loma and Olympic Roads.  This is very close to homes and to newly-conserved lands purchased by the Mojave Desert Land Trust. For more details check out a recent KCDZ story on the project. Note that the story concludes with this statement: 

Speaking at the Morongo Basin Conservation Association annual meeting, renewable energy blogger and JT resident Chris Clark, who has written extensively about several much larger energy projects, said, "The 20-to-50 acre installations may well be the worse threat, in the long term."

Also check out the short article (and many community comments) in the Hi Desert Star. 

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. 

No wind towers on the buttes!

Dear MBCA members and supporters:

Late breaking news that we all wanted to hear:  Element Power has asked BLM to terminate its right-of-way grant for wind testing on the Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa, essentially closing the door on its plan to cover the Buttes with wind towers. 

Bravo and thanks to the California Desert Coalition and Save Our Desert, who fought the project together.    

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!

Update on the Joshua Tree casino issue

Governor Brown unfortunately made a bad decision.  Per the LA Times,  “Gov. Jerry Brown approved a plan for two tribes to open casinos away from their ancestral lands, a move that he said would create jobs and help local communities.  But critics say the plan could lead to a massive expansion of gambling in California.”  Here is a link to the rest of the LA Times article on his recent decision: LA Times blog

This does not bode well for the Joshua Tree Casino.  However, the conditions cited by Gov. Brown in his decision letters describe situations quite different from Joshua Tree. Links to his full letters of approval are below, but here are some excerpts (underline added for emphasis):

·        “A large tribal population will directly benefit from the gaming facility.”  (The 29 Palms Band is very small.)

·        “The gaming facility is supported by both Madera County and the City of Madera.”  (Joshua Tree residents have come out in great numbers against the Casino.)

·        Each tribe “has a significant historical connection with the land.” (This does not seem to be the case in Joshua Tree.) 

·        “The gaming facility has increasing public support…”  (Not in Joshua Tree!)

·        “The facility will be located within a sports-and-entertainment zone created by Yuba County.”  (There’s no situation like that in Joshua Tree.)

Here are the actual letters sent by the Governor:

http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17699 

http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17700