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Featured post
Report Outlines Critical Role of Desert Region in 30x30 Effort
Posted by Laraine Turk · February 07, 2024 4:06 PMAdd your reaction ShareThe report, “The California Desert’s Role in 30X30: Carbon Sequestration and Biodiversity” presents a comprehensive explanation of the vital role the Desert Region plays in carbon sequestration and biodiversity as part of California’s goal of “conserving and protecting 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.” The report’s recommendation is: “intact desert lands need to be left undisturbed.” MBCA is proud that Board members Pat Flanagan and Arch McCulloch were members of the team producing this critically important study.Featured post
Update and History of Cadiz Water Project
Posted by Laraine Turk · January 25, 2024 2:34 PMAdd your reaction ShareThis January 25 column in the Los Angeles Times updates the status of the Cadiz Water project and provides a good overview of its decades-long attempts to "mine" water from the Mojave Desert. MBCA has frequently provided public comments and joined group comments against the project, most recently in August 2023. While the pipeline approval we opposed was granted, the column points out that "Last month (December 2023) the agency reissued the approval for Cadiz to acquire the gas pipeline, but not to convert it for water." (our emphasis)
Featured post
Supervisors Deny Flamingo 640 Glamping Project
Posted by Laraine Turk · December 19, 2023 10:04 PMAdd your reaction ShareIn a 3-2 vote on December 19, San Bernardino County Supervisors denied RoBott Land Company's appeal of the Planning Commission's earlier denial of their "campground" project in Flamingo Heights. MBCA's December 17 comments summarize the many concerns voiced by hundreds of area residents. All of the related documents are included on the County's page for this agenda item, including the video of the meeting. (Here is a timestamped list of the video of the Flamingo 640 Agenda Item). Supervisor and Chair Dawn Rowe introduced a substitute motion to replace Supervisor Hagman's motion to send the project back to the Planning Commission. Supervisors Cook and Baca joined Rowe in the majority decision to deny the RoBott Land Company's appeal. Extensive details can also be found on the Save Our Deserts FH 640 page.Featured post
County Will Delay Presenting STR Report to Supervisors
Posted by Laraine Turk · December 17, 2023 5:01 PMAdd your reaction ShareOn December 14, MBCA sent to Supervisor Dawn Rowe and County staff a detailed critical analysis of the recently-released Short Term Rental Technical Memorandum prepared by consultant firm PlaceWorks. MBCA's extensive evaluation, summarized here, refutes the PlaceWorks study conclusion that “The County could not find clear and empirical data that indicates that short-term rentals (STRs) have a substantial impact on the availability of long-term, rental housing options in the unincorporated Mountain and East Desert communities.” Our conclusions are also supported by a letter from the Center for Biological Diversity. MBCA's full analysis will be made available here soon.
On December 15, MBCA President Steve Bardwell received communication from Land Use Services Planning Director Heidi Duron that the Short Term Rental PlaceWorks report scheduled to be on the Supervisors’ December 19 agenda will be postponed until the January 23 meeting “to allow for additional time to evaluate and address your comments.”Featured post
MBCA Comments on Landers Eco Dome Project
Posted by Laraine Turk · November 03, 2023 10:18 AMAdd your reaction ShareCovering multiple areas of concern, MBCA has submitted two comment letters challenging the Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration/Initial Study (MND/IS) and in opposition to the granting of a Conditional use Permit (CUP) for this "Eco Dome Campground" project in Landers. One letter notes both the inappropriate designation as a campground, and the inaccurate characterization of the "Eco Domes" as related to the Integratron, a totally unique historic building that has nothing but the shape in common with the proposed domes. The second letter, which includes illustrations, cites many other concerns about the project, including likely negative effects on the community related to noise, dust, traffic, wildlife corridors, and impaired views.Featured post
Easley Solar Project Comments Emphasize Dust and Environmental Justice
Posted by Laraine Turk · October 24, 2023 8:44 PMAdd your reaction ShareMBCA's October 23 comment letter about the proposed Easley Solar Project near Lake Tamarisk and Desert Center explains how the proposal will add to the already excessive dust problems in current projects nearby, affecting residents' health and violating concepts of environmental justice. Additionally and critically, undisturbed desert land provides carbon sequestration that has far more value and far less harm than scraping more desert for industrial scale solar.Featured post
Supervisors Approve RCIS Resolution without Recommended Change
Posted by Laraine Turk · September 27, 2023 9:28 AMAdd your reaction ShareA resolution to support the Regional Conservation Investment Strategy was on the September 26 agenda of the San Bernardino County Supervisors. While MBCA joined other organizations in supporting the RCIS in an August 2023 comment letter, one of the provisions in the Supervisors’ resolution negated much of the value of the plan. Comments from MBCA and the SummerTree Institute, among others, requested deletion of Provision 7, which would disastrously limit the types of vegetation to be conserved. The comments emphasized the importance of preserving the desert’s ability to sequester carbon, provide essential biodiversity, and enable the future translocation of the endangered Western Joshua trees. The resolution was approved by the Supervisors unanimously without change.
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The Water Flows Always - Native American Land Conservancy Video
Tuhaymani'chi Pal Waniqa or The Water Flows Always is a video from the Native American Land Conservancy and the Wayfinders Circle highlighting tribal connections to water in the desert and documenting the Cadiz corporate water mining project in particular. A father-daughter family story is also portrayed.MBCA Joins 21 Groups to Correct Inaccurate Desert Land Classification in California’s Climate Smart Strategy
In a recent update to California’s Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy, a group of 22 organizations including MBCA have replied to the state’s request for comment with serious concerns about how desert lands are inappropriately classified as “Sparsely Vegetated Lands.” This inaccurate classification greatly reduces the carbon sequestration and other critical values gained by conserving desert lands in the state’s response to climate change. Our February 27 letter clearly...Wonder Inn Appeal Pulled by Developer
According to the grassroots group that fought the Wonder Inn for several years, the developers have retracted their appeal, so it appears that the ill-suited resort project in its current form has been stopped. Congratulations to the volunteers of the Stop Wonder Inn organization! More details here from radio station Z107.7.Report Outlines Critical Role of Desert Region in 30x30 Effort
The report, “The California Desert’s Role in 30X30: Carbon Sequestration and Biodiversity” presents a comprehensive explanation of the vital role the Desert Region plays in carbon sequestration and biodiversity as part of California’s goal of “conserving and protecting 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.” The report’s recommendation is: “intact desert lands need to be left undisturbed.” MBCA is proud that Board members Pat Flanagan and Arch McCulloch were...Slide Shows from Annual Meeting Now Available
About 80 people attended MBCA’s 55th Annual Meeting on February 3, 2024. Ten presentations covered topics focused on “Keeping It Local” and also addressing wider issues of desert preservation and government regulation.Here is the Annual Meeting program, and below are brief summaries and links to PowerPoint presentations where available for each topic.Eblast: January 20, 2024
Plan to Attend MBCA’s 55th Annual Meeting February 3 ! County Misrepresents Reality in Program 4 STR Impact Study County Misrepresents Reality in Program 4 STR Impact Study Darker Skies Ahead with Light Trespass Ordinance Now in Effect Support Lake Tamarisk in Addressing Air Quality Threats Mark your Calendar for the 2024 Desert Wise Living Landscape TourUpdate and History of Cadiz Water Project
This January 25 column in the Los Angeles Times updates the status of the Cadiz Water project and provides a good overview of its decades-long attempts to "mine" water from the Mojave Desert. MBCA has frequently provided public comments and joined group comments against the project, most recently in August 2023. While the pipeline approval we opposed was granted, the column points out that "Last month (December 2023) the agency reissued...MBCA Provides Comprehensive Critique of Program 4 STR Report
MBCA reported on December 17 about our response to the flawed Program 4 report commissioned by the County. The report concluded, "The County could not find clear and empirical data that indicates that short-term rentals (STRs) have a substantial impact on the availability of long-term, rental housing options in the unincorporated Mountain and East Desert communities."We are now providing the full 62-page response letter that details what MBCA believes are fallacious arguments,...
Issues
Articles about MBCA's most recent issues of concern are listed in chronological order. To read a series of articles about a particular issue, navigate using the buttons above.
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