Happy New Year! It promises to be a doozey, right? From the looks of it, the new President and his Cabinet aren’t going to make our conservation work any easier. Luckily, we are organized and will do everything in our power to advocate for a healthy desert environment in the days ahead. This may include fighting to secure protections already in place for the desert. I keep thinking, thank goodness for everything accomplished last year – in particular the Monuments. Now even those are under attack – not specifically our desert monuments that I know of, but generally the lands secured under the Antiquities Act. Let’s stay energized, respond as needed and keep our eyes on the prize!

WHEN: Saturday, January 28, 2017, 9:00AM – 12:30PM

WHERE: Center for Healthy Generations, 57121 Sunnyslope Dr., YV

 

Annual Meeting program elements will include a brief overview of MBCA's accomplishments and goals, recognition of local teacher Cindy Zacks for her years of providing ecology education to YVHS students, and the announcement of the Ruth Denison Scholarship.

 

Speakers for the Water Symposium that follows the short business meeting include Tony Culver (Hi Desert Water District), Curt Sauer (JBWD), Matt Shragge (29 Palms Water District), and Marina West (BHDVWA). The panel, moderated by Stacy Moore, will respond to the question "What about my water?" and discuss "The story about Morongo Basin Water Districts." We will open to audience questions.

 

View the flyer for the MBCA Annual Meeting and Water Symposium (no longer available). Also, while you’re at our website (mbconservation.org), scroll down the home page for a calendar of community events we think will be of interest to our members and supporters. There’s a lot happening in the days ahead!

WHEN: January 18, 2017, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

LOCATION: UC Riverside, Palm Desert campus – 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive.

 

This Wednesday THIS WEEK is the evening to speak in support of returning BLM Eagle Mountain lands back to Joshua Tree National Park. This link will provide background information from David Smith, Superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park Service.

 

NOTE: Contact Seth Shteir, NPCA at [email protected] ASAP for talking points and carpool reservations (depart from Mojave Desert Land Trust building at 4PM.) If you can possibly attend this meeting, please do to show our numbers and speak up. We are needed!

 

WHAT: Desert Hot Springs (DHS) City Council meeting

WHEN: February 22, 2017; 6:00 PM

WHERE: DHS City Council Chambers, Carl May Community Center, 11711 West Drive, Desert Hot Springs, CA.

 

Jack Thompson, Desert Regional Director of The Wildlands

Conservancy reports: As some of you may know, in 2007 the City of Desert Hot Springs approved the subdivision of 481 acres for the construction of 2,220 homes at the corner of Mission Creek Road and Highway 62.  This development is called Mission Creek Trails, and falls under a larger plan called Rancho Royale.

 

DHS Planning Commission recently voted to deny the developers’ request for extensions to their entitlement for their project. However, the developers are back to request the City Council to appeal the Commissioners’ decision in an attempt to revise the project.

 

This massive development would sit at a key gateway to the new Sand to Snow National Monument, as well as The Wildlands Conservancy’s Mission Creek Preserve. Our voices are needed at the DHS Council meeting to let them know we feel this is not the place to develop. DHS lobbied strongly for Sand to Snow – it’s in the interest of DHS to protect this gem. It’s time for this project to expire!

 

For more information contact: Jack Thompson, Desert Regional

Director, The Wildlands Conservancy – (760) 325-7222

 

Apple Valley signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 15, 2016 with San Bernardino County to implement a habitat conservation plan – the first of its kind in the high desert.

 

The Multi-Species Habitat/Natural Communities Conservation Plan- includes 347 square miles in the town's sphere of influence. The intention, in part, will be to aid in the recovery of endangered, threatened and at-risk species by conserving and connecting natural and semi-natural landscapes. Good work and good luck Apple Valley!

 

MBCA continues to keep an eye on California's Renewable Energy planning process.  In this letter crafted by our Board member Pat Flanagan, MBCA comments on concerns with the current planning process that, among other things, overlooks the extent of dust pollution created by excessive large-scale renewable energy projects.

 

I hope to see many of you at our Annual Meeting on Jan. 28th. It will be a great opportunity to start our work for 2017, educate and recharge our activist selves and connect with like-minded folks. Note a new location this year: The Center for Healthy Generations in Yucca Valley.

 

Sincerely,

Sarah Kennington, MBCA President

 

Your 2017 MBCA Board

David Fick, Vice President

Steve Bardwell, Treasurer

Marina West, Recording Secretary

Pat Flanagan, Director

Meg Foley, Director

Ruth Rieman, Director

Seth Shteir, Director

Claudia Sall, Events

Laraine Turk, Director

MBCA advocates for a healthy desert environment 

that nurtures the region’s rural character,

cultural wealth and economic well-being.