by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on May 15, 2025
Joshua Tree Village Neighbors filed a petition with the County of San Bernardino Superior Court of the State of California on May 9 challenging the approval of the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Lovemore Ranch subdivision and development. (Background and a link to the appeal hearing can be found in our April 8 News post. (MBCA co-filed the unsuccessful appeal but is not involved in this legal action.) Key points of challenge are that the County violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it relied on its role as the lead agency in the preparation of the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration instead of an Environmental Impact Report and that the County violated some of its own regulations in the approval. The petition contains extensive details leading to these contentions. JTVN is requesting donations to support their legal actions via a Go Fund Me page.
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on May 09, 2025
Morongo Basin Conservation Association has awarded college scholarships to three local graduating high school seniors.
Recipients demonstrate commitments to include conservation and environmental interests in their education and career plans. Each $1,000 scholarship goes toward the student's higher education expenses in the 2025-26 academic year.
MBCA's Conservation Scholarship is the continuation of our commitment to educate the next generation of conservation-conscious citizens. Jocelyn Gonzalez of Yucca Valley High School is the recipient, planning to study biological sciences at Cal State Fullerton.
The Women's STEAM Scholarship (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is provided anonymously by two generations of women who held careers in STEAM fields. Molly Brown of Yucca Valley High School is this year’s recipient. The scholarship will help fund her study at University of Utah in Chemical Engineering.
Donations in memory of renowned local artist, conservationist, and longtime MBCA member Steve Rieman make it possible to offer the Steve Rieman Scholarship, intended for a student who will incorporate their conservation commitment into fields requiring environmentally-conscious creativity. The Rieman Scholarship this year goes to Meghann Arballo of Yucca Valley High School. She will study dance and psychology at San Diego State University..
MBCA's mission is to advocate and educate for a healthy desert environment which nurtures wildlands and our communities’ rural character, cultural abundance, and economic well-being.
Our heartiest congratulations to the scholarship recipients!
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on April 20, 2025
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on April 08, 2025
After hearing three hours of public comment, the San Bernardino County Supervisors unanimously denied the appeal of the Planning Commission's approval of the Lovemore Ranch housing project. The
appeal was filed by MBCA and supported by the Joshua Tree Village Neighbors group and others. Public comments were almost entirely in support of the appeal. You can view the entire hearing by clicking "video" on the April 8 line of the list of Supervisor meetings at
this page; timestamps for various stages of the appeal are shown below. Read or listen to the Z107.7 radio report
here.
Appeal Item #42 begins at 30:40
32:05 – Mark Wardlaw, head of Land Use Services, responds to MBCA’s appeal specifics.
44:40 – Begin presentation by appellant (MBCA and Joshua Tree Village Neighbors)
1:00:36 – Begin presentation by project proponent (Lovemore Ranch)
1:13:13 – Begin public comment at San Bernardino Location
1:47:11 – Begin public comment at Joshua Tree Community Center
2:27:15 – RECESS
2:43:00 – Restart public comment at Joshua Tree Community Center
3:06:00 – Final comments from project proponent (Lovemore Ranch)
3:15:09 – Final comments from appellant (MBCA and JTVN)
3:21:52 – Board Chair Dawn Rowe begins questions to Staff
3:33:50 – Chair Rowe asks County Counsel about State Housing Affordability Act
3:35:12 – Chair Rowe asks for Supervisor Questions
3:44:25 – Public Hearing is Closed and Supervisors vote to deny the appeal.
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by Steve Bardwell
354sc
on April 07, 2025
- Appeal of LoveMore Ranch Hearing Set
- Attend California Desert Coalition Meeting on changes to NEPA
- Desert Wise Living Landscape Tour April 27, 2025
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on March 25, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date of Event: Sunday, April 27, 2025
Contact:
Steve Bardwell: 818-516-1437
Laraine Turk: 760-799-2951
MORONGO BASIN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION 2025 DESERT-WISE LANDSCAPE TOUR
Morongo Basin, CA – March 25, 2025
The annual Desert-Wise Landscape Tour offered by the Morongo Basin Conservation Association is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The public is invited to visit five creatively landscaped home sites and two public gardens located across the Morongo Basin. A new element of the Tour this year is the Coyote Hole Experience, a separately-ticketed opportunity to walk through the natural and cultural features of Joshua Tree’s Coyote Hole, led by experts from the Native American Land Conservancy and the California Native Plant Society.
Each Tour site provides a unique perspective on desert-wise landscaping that is both creative and water-conscious. Native and drought-tolerant plants are emphasized along with architectural and artistic features.
Among the sites are a newly-built home in Yucca Valley with a carefully developed native landscape where the homeowner will share her home and landscape design process. In downtown Joshua Tree an artist’s “work-in-progress” garden demonstrates creative use of a small space. A long-time family property in Twentynine Palms showcases both large mature plantings and newer expanded areas created from local native plant sales. The outdoor venue Wind Walkers Medicine Wheel in Joshua Tree has been lovingly expanded over a number of years by the owner, and provides meditative features and extensive native plant arrays. A minimalist modern house designed to make the most of naturally-occurring desert plants rounds out the five home sites.
Self-guided and docent-guided tours will also occur throughout the day at the Mojave Desert Discovery Garden at the Mojave Desert Land Trust and at the Demonstration Garden at the Joshua Basin Water District. A special chance to view a “world premiere” video of a unique site in Morongo Valley and also to “Meet MBCA’s Filmmaker” will be held at MDLT at 2:30 PM. Cole Gibson has been working with MBCA creating both tour site and “How-To” videos for five years. Detailed information and directions to all sites will be provided upon registration.
Advance online registration for the Tour is available at the organization’s website, MBConservation.org. Registration for MBCA members is $15, while non-members are $20 each, with options to purchase membership and registration together.
A digital Tour Guide with descriptions and directions will be provided to online registrants, with printed copies available on the day of the Tour. Late registration on the Tour Day will be available at Mojave Desert Land Trust between 9 AM and Noon only.
Tickets for the Coyote Hole Experience can be separately purchased on the MBCA website for $35 per person. Only 20 spaces are available so early registration is suggested. The proceeds will fund ongoing restoration efforts at Coyote Hole.
The Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is supported by water agencies of the Morongo Basin: Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency, Golden State Water Company, Hi-Desert Water District, Joshua Basin Water District, Twentynine Palms Water District, and the Mojave Water Agency.
Morongo Basin Conservation Association Board of Directors
Steve Bardwell, President
Stacy Doolittle, Vice President
Laraine Turk, Secretary
Bob Wold, Treasurer
David Fick, Director
Pat Flanagan, Director
Brian Hammer, Director
Janet Johnston, Director
Sarah Kennington, Director
Arch McCulloch, Director
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by Steve Bardwell
354sc
on March 20, 2025
- Saturday Rally, March 22, Supporting Chuckwalla National Monument
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by Steve Bardwell
354sc
on March 04, 2025
- Video and PowerPoint slides from 56 th Annual Meeting available!
- MBCA joins in appeal of approval of Lovemore Ranch
- Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act Workshop March 10, 2025
- Attend California Desert Coalition Meeting on changes to NEPA
- Desert Wise Living Landscape Tour April 27, 2025
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on March 04, 2025
In
this letter to San Bernardino County Senior Planner Maryn Wells, MBCA expresses concerns about a proposed Development Code amendment that would permit expansion of the generating capacity of wind turbines Countywide. With the potential for placement of
100-foot tall wind turbines within the Rural Living Zone, MBCA is calling for the imposition of a Conditional Use Permit for the permitting of wind turbines throughout the County. Especially in desert communities, the installation of 30 to 40 foot diameter turbines presents health and safety concerns as well as threats to wildlife and the natural environment.
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by Laraine Turk
1404sc
on February 28, 2025
MBCA is one of 495 organizations which have signed on to
this letter from the
National Parks Conservation Association to Senators and Congressional representatives. The letter requests immediate reversal of the recent federal workforce reductions, "
particularly those individuals who had been employed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), USDA Forest Service, (USFS) and the National Park Service (NPS). The letter states that the reductions "will have devastating effects on the protection and management of (public lands)
and cause economic hardship to the communities that surround them."
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