MBCA has published its latest YouTube video on desert-wise landscaping. "Getting to the Root of Fall Planting/Working with Nature" offers tips and suggestions on design by MBCA's gardening expert Miriam Seger, as well as steps to prepare in fall for a healthy and vibrant spring bloom. For a preview, watch this short video on design, and another on why fall is the best time to plant in the desert. 

In partnership with several other organizations and individuals, MBCA filed an appeal of the County Planning Commission's October 23 approval of a Conditional Use Permit for the 1,854-acre Sienna Solar and Storage Project, including gen-tie lines to the future Southern California Edison Calcite substation in Lucerne Valley. Should these projects be constructed it would fundamentally change the character of the already-disadvantaged Lucerne Valley Community, creating the potential for severe dust and air pollution and opening the door to additional utility-scale solar projects on undisturbed desert land.

An additional concern is that Land Use Services failed to inform the Planning Commission of the September 4 official CalTrans designation of Highway 247 as the High Desert State Scenic Highway, as reported on local radio station Z107.7. The project is within the designated scenic view shed.

The appeal has been accepted and a hearing date will be set.

Alianza Coachella Valley’s Campaign for Thriving Salton Sea Communities is advocating for a Trail Network that will bring much-needed environmental, economic, and recreational benefits to desert communities near the Salton Sea. MBCA’s support letter notes that California’s Prop 4 Climate Fund would be a great source of funding for the project. You can learn more and personally add your support at this link.

 

 

After learning of an operating motocross park on Sunfair Road in Joshua Tree, MBCA sent the County a letter opposing approval of any permit for the park/raceway and asking that operation cease until review and permitting can be accomplished. Such a commercial usage is not permitted in a rural living zone without approved permits. According to a report by Z107.7 local radio, the owner Neil Rauschenberg "says that Sunfair 42 operates 'transparently and in full cooperation with San Bernardino County officials, following current OHV regulations while our minor use permit moves through the review process.'" 

MBCA President Steve Bardwell sent an email to County Supervisor Dawn Rowe and Yucca Valley Town Manager Curtis Yakimow about the County Planning Commission’s October 9 agenda item “AB 98 Transportation and Mobility Study Session." President Bardwell repeated concerns MBCA expressed in January 2025, and annotated the Staff Report  to highlight major concerns. He further noted that two major new transportation hubs, Barstow International Gateway (BIG) and the Amazon warehouse in Desert Hot Springs, will inevitably affect traffic in Morongo Basin. The recording of the Planning Commission meeting including the presentation of the Staff report can be accessed here. The Planning Commission recommendations to the Supervisors are anticipated to be adopted at the October 23, 2025 meeting, then adopted by the Supervisors on December 16.

The proposed Cactus Club Hotel is a complex of structures with a total of 20 hotel rooms in the Panorama Heights area of Joshua Tree. The project description also lists other structures for "accessory uses" that seem to indicate a resort rather than just a hotel. A Mitigated Negative Declaration is recommended by County staff. MBCA's letter registers concern about the relatively large scale of the project compared to the rural residential living community around it. Additional topics that MBCA recommends for review, clarification, or explanation through an amended environmental analysis include native plant destruction, parking, traffic safety, and wastewater. The Center for Biological Diversity also filed a comment letter. 

A notice issued on August 29, 2025, by the Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, announced the intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The intent of the Rule is "to provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System in the context of multiple-use management." MBCA's opposition letter describes the likely negative consequences of rolling back this rule, including environmental harm to wildlife, watersheds, and water quality, plus increased fire danger (not less). Recent polling concludes that there is also widespread public support for maintaining designated roadless areas. 

MBCA submitted a letter to California's Wildlife Conservation Board in support of grant funding to plan two wildlife crossing overpasses on Highway 62. Mojave Desert Land Trust is spearheading the effort. Learn more about the proposal from MDLT's August Press Release and this story from local radio station Z107.7. In MBCA's Wildlife Corridors map below, notice the bright pink area in the lower left, representing an area of "Irreplaceable and Essential Corridors" between Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley, the targeted area. Additional detailed maps can be found in MDLT's Press Release.

A revised plan for the Soda Mountain Solar Project in the Mojave Desert near Zzyxx is being reviewed by the California Energy Commission. In MBCA's short comment letter (which includes links to background research and data), MBCA focuses on two critical issues. One is the question of whether additional such projects are even needed in California, as questioned in Melody Peterson's LA Times article "California has so much solar power that increasingly it goes to waste." The second major concern is the inevitable damage to desert ecosystems. If left undisturbed, this land could provide significant carbon sequestration, as described in the report The California Desert's Role in 30x30: Carbon Sequestration and Biodiversity.